No. The most accepted version is that Brazil proposed a slightly less absurd deal to Bolivia: it ceded land, promised to build a road and paid some money in exchange for Acre. To embellish the story, there is the detail that this bundle of “gifts” would include two horses. But not everyone agrees that there was an equine involved in the exchange.
The story of the horse, mentioned by Bolivian President Evo Morales during Bolivia’s recent oil crisis, doesn’t have much historical foundation. According to the Treaty of Petrópolis, signed on November 17, 1903, Brazil received definitive possession of the territory of Acre, ceded by Bolivia, in exchange for areas in Mato Grosso, plus the payment of 2 million pounds sterling and the commitment to build the Madeira-Mamoré railroad.
“Although some historians make reference to the donation, by Brazil, of two white horses as a symbol of the friendship between the two peoples, the Treaty of Petrópolis does not contain any reference to the fact raised by Evo Morales”, says historian Oscar Medeiros Filho , from the University of São Paulo.
Acre, by the way, has always been in practice more a Brazilian territory than a Bolivian one. Since the middle of the 19th century, Brazilian migrants, coming mainly from the Northeastern states, occupied the area, officially under Bolivian control, working in the extraction of rubber. At the end of that century, Bolivia tried to implement a system that would allow it to maintain that territory, but its difficulties were many, as the Bolivian State did not have an effective presence in the region.
The Bolivians then decided to lease the area to a company with foreign capital, the Bolivian Syndicate, an Anglo-American conglomerate. But the measure was not accepted by Brazilian rubber tappers. The heightening of tensions led to revolts and combats, culminating in the attempt by Brazilians to make Acre an independent state. The conflict ended with the diplomatic signing of the Treaty of Petrópolis between the governments of Brazil and Bolivia.’
READ TOO
– The 10 Greatest Revolutionaries in History
– What is the Death Train?
– How does a pipeline work?
– What is the strongest alcoholic beverage in the world?
CONSULTANCY: VIRGÍLIO ARRAES, PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRASÍLIA