Read about the man who gave his name to Iquitos Airport (IQT).
An ace pilot in the early years of the Peruvian Air Force.
A hero of the Leticia War with Colombia, fought in Amazonia, 1932-33.
Passenger terminal at Iquitos Airport.
As we continue our investigation of the names behind Peru’s airports - this time that of Iquitos, the largest city in the Peruvian Amazon - once again we find references to Peru’s military history. In this case, a short border war with Colombia from 1932 to 1933, over the ownership of the city of Leticia, is brought into the spotlight.
Variously known as the Leticia Incident, Leticia War or Colombia-Peru War, this is one of many territorial disputes in South America (past and present) over ill-defined borders in remote rainforest areas.
Map of The Trapezoid allowing Colombia access to the Amazon River at Leticia.
Leticia was the largest conurbation in an area of Amazon jungle known as ‘The Trapezoid’ on account of its shape, that had been controversially handed to Colombia in the Salomon-Lozano Treaty of 1922.
In return, Colombia ceded another remote Amazon region to Peru, and agreed to support Peru in its ongoing territorial disputes with both Chile and Ecuador.
However, many Peruvians felt this treaty to have been one-sided - especially the citizens of Leticia who were aggrieved at having to change nationalities at the whim of the politicians in Lima.
On September 1st, 1932, they took matters into their own hands by overwhelming the police station in Leticia and forcing any representative of Colombian authority to leave the city.
At first, the Presidents of both Colombia and Peru did not consider this a matter of national importance, but popular opinion forced them to take action.
The remoteness of the jungle region made it difficult to transport men and materiel - which was in short supply, in any case - but eventually a Colombian force was assembled.
In February 1933, it captured Tarapaca, a town on the banks of the Putumayo River; followed in March by Gueppi, another port town on the Putumayo, next to the Ecuadorian border. But it was unable to take the heavily-defended Leticia from the Peruvian forces.
Given the difficulties and remoteness of the terrain, this was a war of minor engagements between small forces, and luckily battle casualties were low. Nonetheless, tropical diseases - especially beri-beri - were an omnipresent threat to the health of the soldiers and sailors.
At the end of April 1933, Peruvian President Luis Miguel Sánchez, was assassinated and his successor, Oscar Benavides, immediately arranged a meeting with his Colombian counterpart - and personal friend - Alfonso López.
It was agreed at this meeting that Leticia would be handed over to the League of Nations (the forerunner to the UN), and that the Salomon-Lozano Treaty would be reaffirmed.
Thus the war was ended. But it was during this violence that Francisco Secada Vignetta made his name.
He was born in Iquitos, Loreto in 1900, but moved to Lima to enter the Naval School there in 1915.
In 1929, he moved to Las Palmas, the Lima base of the newly-formed Fuerzas Aerea del Peru (FAP) (Peruvian Air Force); and in 1931 he graduated as a pilot.
Francisco Secada with his two-person Vought Corsair bi-plane.
During the war with Colombia, as a Lieutenant in the FAP, he flew a number of reconnaissance and bombing sorties.
But he entered Peruvian aviation folklore on Feb 14th, 1933, in the skies above Tarapaca, when he and three other pilots engaged in dogfights with three planes from the Colombian air force.
This was the first aerial combat in Peruvian airspace … and in the whole of Latin America. The Colombian planes - Curtiss Hawks - were more modern and piloted by German veterans of the First World War. Nonetheless, Secada was credited with having downed a Colombian fighter, which convinced the other two fighters to disengage.
In 1966 he retired from the Peruvian Air Force with the rank of Colonel, and soon after was elected Senator for Loreto, his home province.
He died in Lima in 1972, and the following year, Iquitos Airport was re-named Aeropuerto Internacional Coronel FAP Francisco Secada Vignetta in his honour.
The welcome at Iquitos Airport is always friendly … even if the spelling is not 100% accurate!
The airport that bears his name is small and user-friendly, and does not currently have any passenger flights to or from overseas destinations, despite claiming to be ‘international’!
There are plenty of taxis and mototaxis waiting outside the baggage hall to offer transport to the centre of Iquitos (a journey of about 25 minutes).
If you have booked an Amazon Lodge or River Cruise, they will have their own transport to take you to Iquitos Port or Nauta, to begin your adventure.
Many of them also have a small booth in the baggage reclaim hall, where you can make contact with their staff.
The better-known hotels in Iquitos will often include an airport transfer in their room price.