Chile President Makes First State Visit To Bolivia In 71 Years, Signs Key Agreements

Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast met his Bolivian counterpart, Rodrigo Paz, in La Paz on Friday during the first official visit by a Chilean president to Bolivia in 71 years, as the two conservative leaders seek to reset relations strained by a historic territorial dispute.

The visit on October 16 marked a significant step towards improving ties between the neighbours, which have lacked ambassador-level diplomatic relations since 1978. Both leaders are allies of US President Donald Trump and members of his administration’s “Shield of the Americas” coalition against drug trafficking.

Kast and Paz signed four memorandums of understanding covering mining cooperation, electricity interconnection, the Sica Sica-Arica oil pipeline, and transit and security. They also agreed to update their existing trade framework, established in 1993, and signed an agreement on digital connectivity for a fibre-optic corridor linking Bolivia to Pacific submarine cables through Chile.

The leaders tasked their political consultation mechanism with advancing discussions towards the full normalisation of diplomatic relations. Kast also invited Paz to make a state visit to Chile in 2027. However, the two countries have not yet restored full diplomatic ties.

Bolivian authorities welcomed Kast with military honours at Plaza Murillo, outside the presidential palace. The leaders also discussed trade, energy, border security, migration and cooperation against organised crime along their 861-kilometre border.

The rapprochement carries economic significance for landlocked Bolivia, which routes about 70 per cent of its foreign trade through ports in northern Chile. Paz has also offered Chile access to the Paraguay-Parana waterway, connecting Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay to the Atlantic Ocean.

However, Bolivia’s longstanding demand for sovereign access to the Pacific was not included in the talks. The country lost its coastline to Chile during the 1879-84 War of the Pacific. Former Bolivian president Evo Morales criticised the omission as “an affront to historical memory”. Bolivia lost its case seeking negotiations over the maritime claim at the International Court of Justice in 2018.

Bolivian officials said the claim had not been abandoned but that conditions needed to be created for further discussions.

Meanwhile, Paz faces domestic protests over his decision to scrap fuel subsidies as Bolivia struggles with fuel shortages and declining hydrocarbon production.