Killing Dr. da Cunha - The Scramble for the Amazon and the Lost Paradise of Euclides da Cunha - page 360

On July 9, in a truly Solomonic decision by the Argentine adjudication, the contested
territories between Bolivia and Peru were split. Of the 6,432 leagues at stake, Peru got
3,322whileBoliviareceived3,100. 16 ThecourtrecognizedsomeofthePeruvianclaims,
invoking the 1810 holdings of the Viceroyalty and of the audiencia of Charcas based
on uti possedetis . Bolivia had tried to extend its claims well into the Andes and almost
to Cuzco with the 1810 agreements at the moment of revolutionary transformation, as
Spain's empire began to crumple. Da Cunha's widely read, dramatic, and controversi-
al rendering of Bolivian rights in his Peru versus Bolivia had been countered by the
drier legalistic efforts of the Peruvians and the Ecuadorian precedent. La Paz erupted in
riots. Rio Branco was furious, although Brazilian territories remained secure. Most of
Bolivia's Amazon holdings were upheld, thanks in no small measure to the efforts of
the House of Suárez and its tappers. 17 Still, Rio Branco was unhappy about the adju-
dication, especially since one of his archrivals, Estanislao Severo Zebellos, was foreign
minister of Argentina and perhaps had persuaded the plenipotentiaries and taken his re-
vengeforRioBranco'searliertriumphintheMisionesadjudication.Clearlythedecision
must have increased general anxiety about the ongoing negotiations between Brazil and
Peru. 18 The disappointment cannot have been very salutary for da Cunha, given the tur-
bulent state of his mind and body.
Ana and Solon spent time in São Paulo addressing family concerns and returned. But
a later crisis ensued, and on July 31 Ana and Solon went back to São Paulo, this time
in the company of Dilermando. Ana charged Angelica and Lucinda Ratto with manage-
ment of her household during this absence, since both Euclides and his youngest son,
Manoel Afonso, were ill and in bed.
Someone must have informed Euclides that Ana was traveling with her lover, and
Dilermando's relatives noted that they were in São Paulo and dining with various Assis
relatives. 19 A terse telegram to Otaviano Vieira on August 3 indicated that Euclides was
too sick to travel: Ana needed to return home at once, and Euclides asked Otaviano to
advance the money for the return trip. 20 By August 6 the trio was back in Rio at their
respective abodes, but the da Cunha domestic situation was spiraling out of control.
Once Solon and Ana returned, Euclides's vituperation was vicious and constant. “Dis-
cord reigned in that house,” and they snarled at each other on any pretext. 21 This rancor
was inevitably witnessed by the Rattos, who, Ana was to testify later, went out of their
way to inflame Euclides's jealousy. 22
Expenses from the trip that Ana and Dilermando took together to São Paulo in early
August so she could attend to da Cunha family matters included a bill from Dilermando
that exceeded her entire monthly household allowance. 23 As with Emma Bovary, for
Ana money was a linchpin in the dynamics of deception and the unraveling of her do-
mestic life. Angelica (Neném) Ratto later reported that Ana showed her invoices for