Panama Independence Organization

On April 9, 1880, the Colombian Government severed trade ties with Peru on the pretext of its previous border conflict with Peru.

When the news reached Vienna, the Austrian Government was in an uproar, with everyone clamoring to teach the Colombian Government a lesson.

Anyone with even a little political sense understood what Colombia's choice meant.

Before this, the Austrian Government had promised Peru and Bolivia that it would ensure their foreign trade routes remained open during the war.

When the British blockaded the coastline, it was because the Royal Navy was simply too formidable and the Austrian Navy could not hold them off; yielding had been unavoidable.

Now that the land trade routes had been cut off as well, did the Vienna Government no longer care about its reputation?

The French had the same concern. The Paris Government had likewise made similar promises to Peru and Bolivia.

Now that it had been slapped in the face by the Colombian Government, how could it still show its face on the international stage if it did not retaliate?

It had to be said that the Colombian Government had made the wrong decision at the wrong time. If it had not been the last to announce the severance of trade routes, it probably would not have drawn so much hatred.

Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Ecuador, which had made similar decisions earlier, had likewise aroused the displeasure of France and Austria.

However, France and Austria had little influence in those countries, and since all four had jumped out together, retaliation would have been troublesome. That debt was temporarily left on the books.

This was not President Raphael Núñez's fault. The reason Colombia had not acted together with the four countries and had dragged things out until the end was entirely the previous government's