History of Leticia

Early Leticia history mentions a Portuguese explorer who, after becoming lost on the Amazon, died of starvation at the present site of Leticia with the rest of his crew. The Peruvian captain Benigno Bustamante, then governor of the Peruvian department of Loreto, founded the city itself on April 25, 1867. Legend has it that when the Peruvian government decided to colonize the area (in order to prevent the Colombian government from claiming it first), they found a cross inscribed with