Leo Johnson – BBC News, 9/21/2012
Tres Fronteiras lies on smuggling routes for illegally logged timber
We are in a city deep in the Amazon rainforest, at the point where Brazil meets Colombia and Peru.
The Brazilian town of Tabatinga vies for size and importance with Colombia’s Leticia. While on the Peruvian side – across the mighty Amazon River – is the tiny hamlet of Santa Rosa. Together they form a unique ‘triple town’ known as Tres Fronteiras.
Though far from the glamour cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro – the engines of Brazil’s economic miracle – Tabatinga is experiencing a period of extraordinary growth. This is a city with three universities, a deep-water port, and an international airport – all built within the last five years to serve a population that has doubled in size since 2000.
Tabatinga is now more than a match for its neighbour Leticia, though the capital of Colombia’s Amazonas state has also changed beyond recognition in recent years.
