Foreign relations of Bolivia

This article is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline citations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (November 2008)

This article may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (November 2008)

Bolivia

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Bolivia

President Evo Morales Vice President Álvaro García Linera National Congress Senate Chamber of Deputies Political parties Elections President 2005 Congress 2005 Bolivian autonomy referendums, 2008 Vote of confidence 2008 Referendum 2009 General election 2009 Departments Provinces Municipalities Cantons Human rights Protests and unrest Bolivian gas conflict 2005 Protests 2008 unrest Foreign relations Foreign aid

Other countries · Atlas Politics portal view • talk • edit

Bolivia traditionally has maintained normal diplomatic relations with all hemispheric states except Chile. Relations with Chile, strained since Bolivia's defeat in the War of the Pacific (1879-83) and its loss of the coastal province of Atacama, were severed from 1962 to 1975 in a dispute over the use of the waters of the Lauca River. Relations were resumed in 1975 but broken again in 1978 over the inability of the two countries to reach an agreement that solved the Atacama border dispute, that might have granted Bolivia a sovereign access to the sea. In the 1960s, relations with Cuba were broken following Castro's rise to power but resumed under the Paz Estenssoro Administration in 1985.

Bolivia pursues a foreign policy with a heavy economic component. Bolivia has become more active in the Organization of American States (OAS), the Rio Group, and in MERCOSUR, with which it signed an association agreement in 1996. Bolivia promotes its policies on sustainable development and the empowerment of indigenous people. Bolivia is a member of the United Nations and some of its specialized agencies and related programs; OAS; Andean Community; INTELSAT; Non-Aligned Movement; International Parliamentary Union; Latin American Integration Association ALADI; World Trade Organization; Rio Treaty; Rio Group; MERCOSUR; and Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia (URUPABOL, restarted in 1993). As an outgrowth of the 1994 Summit of the Americas, Bolivia hosted a hemispheric summit conference on sustainable development in December 1996. A First Ladies' hemispheric summit was also hosted by Bolivia that same month.

Bolivia is also a member of the International Criminal Court with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military (as covered under Article 98).

United Nations involvement

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (November 2008)

Bolivian troops' involvement with the UN has been regular and without distaste. In November 2008, the Bolivian U.N. contingent of peacekeeping troops in Congo DR was relocated to safety, as at least one other regional state was also reviewing its own mission’s security. The country had a detachment of 130 soldiers that was working in Bukavu, but was moved to a location near Goma.^[1]

International disputes

Bolivia has wanted a sovereign corridor to the South Pacific Ocean since the Atacama area was lost to Chile in 1884; dispute with Chile over Rio Lauca water rights.

Since the accession of Carlos Mesa to the Presidency, Bolivia has pressed its demands for a corridor to the Pacific. In March 2004, Mesa announced that the government would stage a series of public rallies across the country and in Bolivian embassies abroad in remembrance of those who died in the War of the Pacific, and to call for Chile to grant Bolivia a seacoast.

Mesa made this demand a cornerstone of his administration's policy.

Illicit drugs

Bolivia is the world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Peru and Colombia) with an estimated 218 km² under cultivation in 1999, a 45% decrease in overall cultivation of coca from 1998 levels; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported to or through Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile to the United States and other international drug markets; alternative crop program aims to reduce illicit coca cultivation.

Bilateral relations

Brazil

Brazil and Bolivia have been working on expanding and diversifying trade between the two countries in the last quarter of 2008. The 6th Meeting of the Commission for Monitoring Brazil-Bolivia trade was used to this end. As it stood, at the time Brazil was the main destination for exports from Bolivia, having bought, in 2007, 35.7% of the products that Bolivian companies sell to other countries. They were also the main exporter to Bolivia, sending 24.7% of products imported into Bolivia. As industrialized products represented 94.6% of Brazilian sales up to September of the year, Bolivian sales in the same period were limited largely to natural gas, which accounted for up to 92.7% of the total purchased from the country, or US$1.89 billion. The products with the greatest scope for an increase in trade from Brazil to Bolivia were crude oil, insecticides, aircraft, vehicle engines, soy in grain, vegetable oils and ironworks products, amongst others. From Bolivia to Brazil, producs such as animal feed, vegetable oil, crude oil, tin, ores of precious metals, precious gems, dried and fresh fruit, plants, leather and garments were also capable of seeing sales grow.^[2]

Chile

Bolivia and Chile have had strained relations ever since independence in the early 19th century because of the Atacama border dispute. Relations soured even more after Bolivia lost its coast to Chile during the War of the Pacific and became a landlocked country (Bolivia still claims a corridor to the Pacific Ocean.) Chile and Bolivia have maintained only consular relations since 1978 when territorial negotiations failed. Recently with the rise of Evo Morales in Bolivia and Michelle Bachelet in Chile relations have improved, although the border dispute is still pending.

Nicaragua

Relations between Bolivia and Nicaragua have improved since the election of Daniel Ortega. In 2007 President Evo Morales stated that "Daniel Ortega's win gives strength and hope not only to Nicaragua but to all of Latin America." Both countries are members of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA).

Paraguay

In 2009 Bolivian President Evo Morales and Paraguayuan President Fernando Lugo signed an agreement settling a border dispute, which led to a war in the 1930s. President Lugo expressed the hope that natural resources could now "be developed and used by both countries" ^[3]

Russia

Morales meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on 16 February 2009.

Russia has an embassy in La Paz, and Bolivia has an embassy in Moscow.

With Bolivia the focus on relations with Russia is mainly economic, as opposed to political and strategic, as an agreement to invest in Bolivia's natural gas fields shows. It is seen to "help Latin America...[as it] expands Latin America's economic opportunities, diversifies its relationships...that's healthy."^[4]

2008 saw, as a first step to re-establish ties with Russia, the Bolivian government had plans to purchase a small batch of Helicopters. Ambassador Leonid Golubev told The Associated Press that he would like to see Russia's ties to Bolivia one day "approach the level" of its growing partnership with Venezuela.^{[5] [6]}

In 2009 amid improving relations between the two countries Bolivia and Russia signed various agreements pertaining to energy and military ties, mining activities and illegal drug eradication. ^[5][5][7]

Spain

A diplomatic crisis with Spain in 2005 due to a misunderstanding was quickly resolved by Zapatero and Spain became the first European country visited by Evo Morales in January 4, 2006. However, there remain problems surrounding the exploitation of oil and gas fields in the country by Spanish corporations like Repsol.

Bolivian President Evo Morales met King Juan Carlos and held talks with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero during a vist to Spain in September 2009 with the intention of resolving issues concerning the nationalisation of the Bolivian energy sector. The move has the potential to hurt some Spanish companies however relations were said to be "positive" between the Bolivian state and Spanish private sector energy companies. Evo Morales said that Bolivia is ready to accept outside investment in its energy and natural resource industries as long as foreign firms do not act as owners and that Bolivia is "looking for investment, be it from private or state sector. We want partners, not owners of our natural resources."

It was suggested that Bolivia would also negotiate with Spanish companies to produce car parts and lithium batteries in the future.^[8]

Bolivia – United States relations

Bolivia traditionally has had strong ties to the United States. Economically, the United States has been a long-standing consumer of Bolivian exports and a partner in development projects. In 1991 the United States forgave more than US$350 million owed by Bolivia to the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Presently, the United States leads an international contingent pressuring Bolivia to curb its illegal drug trade.

The election of Evo Morales strained relations between the two countries. Morales rose to power as the head of a trade union of coca growers. He has campaigned against coca eradication on behalf of the growers, citing the legitimate uses of coca leaves in traditional Aymara and Quechua culture. His policies directly conflict with the eradiction policy of the United States. In 2008 the Bolivian government suspended the operations of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) accusing the organisation of being a front for violating the country's sovereignty and supporting an unsuccessful coup d'etat. Bolivia's government also expelled the US ambassador.^[9] In 2008 Gustavo Guzman, the Bolivian ambassador to Washington said "The U.S. embassy is historically used to calling the shots in Bolivia, violating our sovereignty, treating us like a banana republic."^[10]

References

Much of the material in this article comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Country Studies.

See also

• Foreign policy of Evo Morales
• Bolivia
• Bolivian diplomatic missions
• List of diplomatic missions in Bolivia

v • d • e Foreign relations of Bolivia Bilateral Argentina · Brazil · Chile · Peru · Russia · United States  · Venezuela Other Diplomatic missions of / in Bolivia

v • d • e Foreign relations in South America Sovereign states Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil · Chile · Colombia · Ecuador · Guyana · Panama · Paraguay · Peru · Suriname · Trinidad and Tobago · Uruguay · Venezuela Dependencies Aruba (Netherlands) · Falkland Islands (UK) · French Guiana (France) · Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands) · South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK)