Oceans apart
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 1904 treaty by which Bolivia formally ceded its coastline to Chile, and the centenary is providing the focus for renewed Bolivian efforts to reassert their claim to access to the sea.
The issue had been played down during President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada's brief period in government, with the president instead seeking to normalise relations and conclude a free-trade treaty with Chile. But Sánchez de Lozada underestimated popular antipathy towards Chile, which took Bolivia's coastline after winning the 19th century War of the Pacific (see below), and he was forced from office amid widespread opposition to plans to export Bolivian gas via Chile. His replacement, Carlos Mesa, is unwilling to make the same mistake, and Bolivia's desire to recover its maritime access is back on the agenda once more, while trade talks are on the back burner.
The loudest proponents of Bolivia's claims are the leftist indigenous groups, such as Evo Morales's Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS). But the issue is one of the few that unites all sides of Bolivia's political spectrum, and so the anniversary of the 1904 treaty provides an ideal rallying point for Bolivians at a time when political tension is still running high.
There are also suggestions that some elements of the Bolivian armed forces have become dissatisfied in the wake of the previous government's chaotic response to the recent demonstrations. Some analysts therefore see the renewed concentration on Bolivia's claims to the Pacific coast as designed to provide the military with a focus that will distract them from the possibility of intervening in the government's direction.
Foreign interest
The issue has also received international attention for the first time in many years, with former US president Jimmy Carter backing Bolivia's case for maritime access. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez also weighed in, and thoroughly annoyed the Chilean authorities by describing his dream of swimming on a Bolivian beach.
Brazil's foreign minister Celso Amorim, noted that, although the issue is a bilateral one between Chile and Bolivia, 'we are all involved, because maintaining stability in Bolivia is in all our interests'. And the US ambassador in Santiago, William Brownfield, has expressed his willingness to mediate between the two neighbours, if talks go ahead.
Petition
The leftist mayor of the Bolivian city of El Alto, José Luis Paredes, has sought to capture the mood in Bolivia by launching a nationwide petition in early January designed to pressure the Chilean authorities into renegotiating the 1904 treaty. Paredes said he would bind all the signatures into books and send a copy to President Ricardo Lagos to show the strength of popular feeling in Bolivia about the issue. Evo Morales is also planning to highlight the issue during his visit to Chile later in January.
Proposals
A number of proposals have emerged from the Bolivian side. Former president Jaime Paz Zamora, who leads the leftist MIR, has suggested that the two neighbours could share sovereignty over one of the coastal port cities. And Morales has suggested that Bolivia could supply natural gas to Chile and export its gas via Chile in exchange for maritime access.
In response, the Chilean authorities have said they are prepared to discuss Bolivia's demands, but they have made it very clear that they will never cede sovereignty of the coastline. In any case, the residents of the region would be highly unlikely to swap Chile's prosperity for the uncertainties of government from La Paz.
Free-trade agreement
The heightened tension between the two neighbours has already claimed its first victim - the proposed bilateral free-trade treaty. Bolivian President Carlos Mesa told the Chilean authorities that he was pulling out of the trade talks in early January. Chile's foreign minister, Soledad Alvear, said that the Bolivian government had requested instead that the two countries should further develop their existing economic cooperation treaty.
The Bolivian authorities gave no explanation for their decision to abandon the trade talks, which had reached a very advanced stage. But Mesa was clearly unwilling to be seen publicly negotiating with Chile in the current atmosphere of mutual suspicion. Chilean President Ricardo Lagos had made signing a free-trade agreement with Bolivia one of his key foreign policy objectives for 2004, after the two countries missed their original deadline, which was to sign a treaty by the end of 2003.
Sánchez de Lozada had been a major supporter of the treaty, but Mesa has responded to popular pressure by prioritising Bolivia's claim to sea access rather than seeking a trade agreement. Chile's spokesman on foreign economic relations, Osvaldo Rosales, noted that 'commercial agreements are like the tango, it takes two to dance.' The Chilean authorities have said that they understand and respect the Bolivian decision, but Rosales said they still hoped the talks would restart once 'the political climate has changed.'
The only issue that had remained to be settled was the size of Bolivia's yearly sugar export quota. The two neighbours will now look at developing their existing economic cooperation treaty, which regulates duty on individual goods, but lacks the broader clauses regulating market access and investment that a free-trade treaty would have included.
The War of the Pacific
Bolivia ceded its access to the sea to Chile after losing the catastrophic War of the Pacific. The war began in 1879 after the Bolivian government imposed new taxes on the Chilean mining companies that dominated Bolivia's coastal regions. The new taxes contravened an earlier agreement and the Chilean government immediately sent troops to occupy the port city of Antofagasta. In response, Bolivia invoked its secret alliance with Peru, which joined the conflict.
Chile quickly defeated the Peruvian navy and invaded Peru, capturing Lima in 1881. Peruvian resistance continued for three years, but in 1883 Peru ceded its coastal province of Tarapacá to Chile under the terms of the humiliating treaty of Ancón. In 1884 Bolivia also ceded its coastal province of Litoral to Chile in exchange for a truce. This arrangement was later confirmed by treaty in 1904.
The disastrous loss of its coastal access forced Bolivia into an ill-fated attempt to gain access to the Rio de la Plata, which flows into the Atlantic. This failed initiative brought Bolivia into conflict with Paraguay and led to the 1932-35 Chaco War.
The issue had been played down during President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada's brief period in government, with the president instead seeking to normalise relations and conclude a free-trade treaty with Chile. But Sánchez de Lozada underestimated popular antipathy towards Chile, which took Bolivia's coastline after winning the 19th century War of the Pacific (see below), and he was forced from office amid widespread opposition to plans to export Bolivian gas via Chile. His replacement, Carlos Mesa, is unwilling to make the same mistake, and Bolivia's desire to recover its maritime access is back on the agenda once more, while trade talks are on the back burner.
The loudest proponents of Bolivia's claims are the leftist indigenous groups, such as Evo Morales's Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS). But the issue is one of the few that unites all sides of Bolivia's political spectrum, and so the anniversary of the 1904 treaty provides an ideal rallying point for Bolivians at a time when political tension is still running high.
There are also suggestions that some elements of the Bolivian armed forces have become dissatisfied in the wake of the previous government's chaotic response to the recent demonstrations. Some analysts therefore see the renewed concentration on Bolivia's claims to the Pacific coast as designed to provide the military with a focus that will distract them from the possibility of intervening in the government's direction.
Foreign interest
The issue has also received international attention for the first time in many years, with former US president Jimmy Carter backing Bolivia's case for maritime access. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez also weighed in, and thoroughly annoyed the Chilean authorities by describing his dream of swimming on a Bolivian beach.
Brazil's foreign minister Celso Amorim, noted that, although the issue is a bilateral one between Chile and Bolivia, 'we are all involved, because maintaining stability in Bolivia is in all our interests'. And the US ambassador in Santiago, William Brownfield, has expressed his willingness to mediate between the two neighbours, if talks go ahead.
Petition
The leftist mayor of the Bolivian city of El Alto, José Luis Paredes, has sought to capture the mood in Bolivia by launching a nationwide petition in early January designed to pressure the Chilean authorities into renegotiating the 1904 treaty. Paredes said he would bind all the signatures into books and send a copy to President Ricardo Lagos to show the strength of popular feeling in Bolivia about the issue. Evo Morales is also planning to highlight the issue during his visit to Chile later in January.
Proposals
A number of proposals have emerged from the Bolivian side. Former president Jaime Paz Zamora, who leads the leftist MIR, has suggested that the two neighbours could share sovereignty over one of the coastal port cities. And Morales has suggested that Bolivia could supply natural gas to Chile and export its gas via Chile in exchange for maritime access.
In response, the Chilean authorities have said they are prepared to discuss Bolivia's demands, but they have made it very clear that they will never cede sovereignty of the coastline. In any case, the residents of the region would be highly unlikely to swap Chile's prosperity for the uncertainties of government from La Paz.
Free-trade agreement
The heightened tension between the two neighbours has already claimed its first victim - the proposed bilateral free-trade treaty. Bolivian President Carlos Mesa told the Chilean authorities that he was pulling out of the trade talks in early January. Chile's foreign minister, Soledad Alvear, said that the Bolivian government had requested instead that the two countries should further develop their existing economic cooperation treaty.
The Bolivian authorities gave no explanation for their decision to abandon the trade talks, which had reached a very advanced stage. But Mesa was clearly unwilling to be seen publicly negotiating with Chile in the current atmosphere of mutual suspicion. Chilean President Ricardo Lagos had made signing a free-trade agreement with Bolivia one of his key foreign policy objectives for 2004, after the two countries missed their original deadline, which was to sign a treaty by the end of 2003.
Sánchez de Lozada had been a major supporter of the treaty, but Mesa has responded to popular pressure by prioritising Bolivia's claim to sea access rather than seeking a trade agreement. Chile's spokesman on foreign economic relations, Osvaldo Rosales, noted that 'commercial agreements are like the tango, it takes two to dance.' The Chilean authorities have said that they understand and respect the Bolivian decision, but Rosales said they still hoped the talks would restart once 'the political climate has changed.'
The only issue that had remained to be settled was the size of Bolivia's yearly sugar export quota. The two neighbours will now look at developing their existing economic cooperation treaty, which regulates duty on individual goods, but lacks the broader clauses regulating market access and investment that a free-trade treaty would have included.
The War of the Pacific
Bolivia ceded its access to the sea to Chile after losing the catastrophic War of the Pacific. The war began in 1879 after the Bolivian government imposed new taxes on the Chilean mining companies that dominated Bolivia's coastal regions. The new taxes contravened an earlier agreement and the Chilean government immediately sent troops to occupy the port city of Antofagasta. In response, Bolivia invoked its secret alliance with Peru, which joined the conflict.
Chile quickly defeated the Peruvian navy and invaded Peru, capturing Lima in 1881. Peruvian resistance continued for three years, but in 1883 Peru ceded its coastal province of Tarapacá to Chile under the terms of the humiliating treaty of Ancón. In 1884 Bolivia also ceded its coastal province of Litoral to Chile in exchange for a truce. This arrangement was later confirmed by treaty in 1904.
The disastrous loss of its coastal access forced Bolivia into an ill-fated attempt to gain access to the Rio de la Plata, which flows into the Atlantic. This failed initiative brought Bolivia into conflict with Paraguay and led to the 1932-35 Chaco War.