Peru
Postal Tax Stamp of 1926
Morro Arica depicted on 1926 postal tax plebiscite issue.
No country is identified on this stamp bearing the slogan "por Tacna y Arica." The marginal inscription "Lima" hints that the stamp is from Peru. It is not a regular postage stamp; it is a postal tax stamp used in Peru (but not in Chilean occupied Tacna and Arica) to help pay the costs of a plebiscite. Tacna and Arica were occupied by Chile as a result of the Treaty of Ancon which ended the War of the Pacific in 1883. The final status of the territories was to be determined by a plebiscite after ten years but political differences between the countries prevented the plebiscite from taking place. Chilean colonization of the region led to a termination of diplomatic relations between the nations in 1911. Arbitration initiated by the United States in 1925 led to a settlement in 1929 that returned Tacna to Peru and gave Arica to Chile.
The final settlement granted Tacna to Peru and Arica to Chile.