La Paz (AFP) – Bolivia and Chile have the will to move forward in reestablishing diplomatic relations interrupted 50 years ago, Bolivian Foreign Minister Fernando Aramayo said this Thursday, after meeting in La Paz with his counterpart Francisco Pérez Mackenna.

First modification: 04/24/2026 - 02:59 Last modification: 04/24/2026 - 11:02

The two countries broke formal diplomatic relations in 1975 due to the impossibility of reaching an agreement to restore the access to the sea that Bolivia lost in the war that confronted them at the end of the 19th century.

That year, right-wing dictators Hugo Banzer Suárez of Bolivia and Augusto Pinochet of Chile unsuccessfully negotiated to resolve Bolivia's centuries-old maritime claim.

With the arrival to power of the far-right José Antonio Kast in Chile and the center-right Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia, bilateral ties have gained new momentum.

The presence in Bolivia of the Chilean Foreign Minister "represents the expression of the will that we have at the highest level to be able to carry out a set of actions that are conducive to the reestablishment of our diplomatic relations," said the Bolivian minister.

For his part, the Chilean Foreign Minister indicated that they project "a positive agenda with a view to the future," at the end of a meeting at the headquarters of the Bolivian Foreign Ministry in La Paz.

Aramayo and Pérez Mackenna met early in a border town and then traveled to the Bolivian government headquarters to address a broad bilateral agenda.

After the meeting, both appeared at the Foreign Ministry to give a joint statement, in which, in addition to the desire to advance diplomatic relations, they expressed their desire to strengthen commercial ties and coordination in matters of immigration control.

The Paz government did not present any objections to its neighbor's initiative.

© 2026 AFP

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