La tragedia del Adolfito, o de cómo un naufragio cambió la historia amazónica

Abstract

One of the most crucial geopolitical milestones in the history of Amazonian rubber exploitation was the shipwreck of the steamship Adolfito in 1897, which caused the deaths of rubber barons Carlos Fermín Fitzcarrald and Antonio Vaca Diez. The tragedy changed forever the history of Amazonian Bolivia: besides leaving unfinished infrastructure projects such as telegraph and railroad lines, it marked the end of a binational extractive endeavor with Perú, Nicolás Suárez became the main rubber monopolist, and border conflicts with Peruvians and indigenous revolts against rubber tapping abuses were significantly intensified.