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| Huallaga River | |
|---|---|
 A view of the Huallaga | |
 Map of the Amazon Basin with the Huallaga River highlighted | |
| Location | |
| Country | Peru |
| Region | Huánuco Region,Loreto Region,Pasco Region,San Martín Region |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mouth | Marañón River |
| Length | 1,100 km (680 mi)[1] |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 3,800 m3/s (130,000 cu ft/s) |
TheHuallaga River is a tributary of theMarañón River, part of theAmazon Basin. Old names for this river includeGuallaga andRio de los Motilones. The Huallaga is born on the slopes of theAndes in centralPeru and joins the Marañón before the latter reaches theUcayali River to form theAmazon. Its main affluents are the Monzón, Mayo, Biabo, Abiseo and Tocache rivers.Coca is grown in most of those valleys, which are also exposed to periodic floods.
Although it runs for 700 miles (1,100 km), the Huallaga remains unnavigable for the most part.[2] For nearly its entire length the Huallaga is an impetuous torrent running through a succession ofgorges. It has forty-two rapids (pongos) and it crosses the Andes, forming the Pongo de Aguirre gorge. From this point, 140 miles (230 km) from the Amazon, the Huallaga can be ascended by larger river boats (lanchas) to the port city ofYurimaguas,Loreto.
Although there are no defined boundaries, the river is commonly divided into two or three sections. From the town of Tocache in San Martin to the source of the river, it is generally referred to as the Upper Huallaga. Regions of the river are also referred to as the central Huallaga (usually from Tocache or Juanjui to Chazuta), and the lower Huallaga (usually from Chazuta to Yurimaguas where the Huallaga meets the Marañon). These divisions are for general reference, and are independent of the "highland" and "lowland" jungle regions of the Amazon Rainforest.
Between the Huallaga and the Ucayali lies the famous "Pampa del Sacramento," a level region of stoneless alluvial lands covered with thick, dark forests, first entered by Christian missionaries in 1726. It is about 300 miles (480 km) long, from north to south, and varies in width from 40 to 100 kilometers. Many streams, navigable forcanoes, penetrate this region from the Ucayali and the Huallaga. In addition to peasants, it is still occupied by manyindigenous communities, such as theCocama-Cocamilla[citation needed] and Kichwa-Lamista communities.[3]
The river and the riversides sufferpoint source pollution, utilized as an interminable garbage dump. At least one chute for garbage trucks is installed.[4][5]
The Huallaga River supports a myriad of wildlife and vegetation. The river is especially rich in amphibian life. A total of 18 species of frogs have been recorded from it, including theEpipedobates boulengeri,Hyloxalus pulchellus andRanitomeya reticulata.[6]
Since the 1980s, the primarycoca growing anddrug trafficking activities in Peru have been in the Upper Huallaga Valley.[7]
The coca is flown toColombia, where it is used to createcocaine, which is subsequently shipped to theUnited States.
Vladimiro Montesinos, ex-head ofPeru's intelligence service, is reported to have received $50,000 for everyplane laden with drugs allowed to leave the Huallaga Valley.[8]
On 27 August 1994, aDrug Enforcement AdministrationCASA 212 Aviocar light transport aircraft (reg. N119CA) crashed into a mountain (or at the end of abox canyon) north of Puerto Pizana,San Martín,Peru. The crash reportedly happened while on a flight from Santa Lucia toPucallpa, in the Huallaga River Valley region, and apparently owed to bad weather and low visibility (rainy and foggy) conditions during a counter-narcotics reconnaissance operation.[9][10][11][12] The plane's five occupants, DEA Special Agents Frank S. Wallace, Jay W. Seale, Juan C. Vars,Meredith Thompson, and Frank Fernandez Jr., were killed.[13][14][15][16][17] This accident precipitated the end of the US anti-drugOperation Snowcap, under which the ill-fated flight was taking place.[18]
Eric Fleming who played trail boss Gil Favor in the long-runningWestern TV seriesRawhide drowned in the Huallaga River. During the shooting of location shots for an MGM film titledHigh Jungle on the Huallaga River on September 28, 1966, Fleming fell from a capsized dug-out canoe after paddling it beyond the rapids. His body was lost in the turbulent water and was only recovered three days later.[19]
5°13′33″S75°44′53″W / 5.22583°S 75.74806°W /-5.22583; -75.74806
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