“Una frontera en movimiento”. La conformación del puerto de Riohacha en el siglo diecinueve

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the port space of Riohacha (Colombian Caribbean) and how it was formed at the border from the traffic of the Brazilwood (Caesalpinia echinata) towards the middle of the 19th century, when the merchants of the Dutch island of Curaçao began to settle in this port in order to monopolize the export of said wood. The period varied from the arrival of Curaçao merchants in Riohacha in 1830 to the period of commercial boom of Brazilwood in the years 1840 to 1850. An era marked by the rise of the Industrial Revolution and the constant movement of people and goods around the export of forest products in the Guajira peninsula. We maintain that during this period the construction of Riohacha as a frontier space was given by the search and extraction of natural resources. In this process, certain traders of Curaçao played an active role for their presence in Riohacha, and for their role in the creation of new routes for Brazilwood traffic.

Keywords

• border towns
• 19th century.