Chile and Bolivia planned trade and security talks during a visit AP called the first Chilean leader’s state visit to La Paz in 71 years; Bolivia routes much of its foreign trade through Chilean ports.
Chilean President José Antonio Kast and Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz were expected to cover trade and security, including organized crime along the 861-kilometer border, AP reported. They were also due to sign agreements on mining and energy cooperation.
AP put the share of Bolivia’s foreign trade handled by ports in Chile’s north at about 70%. Bolivia lost its Pacific coastline during the 1879-84 War of the Pacific. Paz also offered Chile access to the Paraguay-Paraná waterway, a river network linking several South American countries with Atlantic routes, AP reported.
Since 1978, the countries have maintained consulates rather than ambassador-level relations and have cooperated on immigration and trade, AP reported. Officials said restoring full diplomatic relations was not on the visit’s agenda. Bolivian Minister of the Presidency Fernando Aramayo said improving relations would take time. “It’s too early,” he said.
Bolivia’s demand for a land corridor to the Pacific was not part of Friday’s agenda, AP reported. Aramayo said the government still backed the demand but needed more groundwork before pursuing it. Bolivia previously brought the dispute with Chile to the International Court of Justice, seeking to compel negotiations; it lost the case in 2018, according to AP.
AP situated the visit within a wider shift toward conservative leadership in South America. AP reported that the two recently elected conservative presidents are aligned with U.S. President Donald Trump and that their governments joined his administration’s Shield of the Americas, a coalition focused on curbing drug trafficking.
