Share

Are Bolivia and Chile Ready to Dispel Rising Border Tensions?

By Myles McCormick

Bolivian and Chilean border authorities are meeting for the first time since 2011, but their relationship is as strained as ever.

LA PAZ – When Bolivian and Chilean border officials gather on July 25 – their first meeting in six years – they will have a seemingly simple agenda: to restore functional relations along their border without regular resort to courts, threats or name-calling.

It won’t be easy. The 528-mile border has been a source of tension since Bolivia lost its coastline to Chile in a 1904 treaty, and conflict has flared up in recent months, with 11 officials – soldiers, police officers and customs officers – detained by their counterparts on the other side.

The scuffle came with the...

Read this article on the Americas Quarterly website. | Subscribe to AQ.

Related

Explore