La cuestión Cerruti y la crisis diplomática entre Colombia e Italia (1885-1911)

Abstract

In february 1885, during the civil war between the conservative and the upleaved liberal party in the Colombian federated state of Cauca, the real estates and properties of the Italian subject Ernesto Cerruti were destroyed and impounded, under the charge of cooperation with the insurgent liberal forces. The measures taken by the Caucan authorities and the subsequent demand for compensation by Cerruti were the cause of the 26 years longlasting diplomatic clash between Colombia and Italy, which led to the intervention of Spain and USA as arbitrators as well as to a myriad of official publications, civil lawsuits at Italian courts and warships sent to Colombian harbours in order to uphold the claims of Italy. No doubt the "Cerruti case" was one of the most complicated of international cases Italian diplomacy ever had to face, in which the Italian government also had to confront the rising North American imperialism.