Chile’s president makes first state visit to Bolivia in 71 years as region shifts right

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Chilean President José Antonio Kast arrived in neighboring Bolivia on Friday for the first state visit by a Chilean leader in more than seven decades, as a rightward realignment in South America reshapes long-standing rivalries.

Kast and Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz, both recently elected conservatives allied with U.S. President Donald Trump, are seeking to thaw relations strained since Bolivia lost its Pacific coastline to Chile in a 19th-century war. The two governments have joined the Trump administration’s “ Shield of the Americas ” coalition against drug trafficking, part of a broader push by Washington to build security partnerships with like-minded leaders across Latin America.

The neighbors have not had ambassador-level relations since 1978, though they maintain consulates and cooperate on issues such as immigration and trade. Restoring full diplomatic ties was not on the agenda, officials said.

“It’s too early. There’s a path to work on to change the approach to relations, and it will take time,” Bolivian Minister of the Presidency Fernando Aramayo said. “It’s about signing mutually beneficial agreements.”

Bolivian authorities rolled out a red carpet in Plaza Murillo, the square outside the presidential palace, where Paz greeted Kast with military honors. The two leaders were scheduled to discuss trade and security, including efforts to combat organized crime along their porous 861-kilometer (535-mile) border, and to sign deals on mining and energy cooperation.

“Today, after 71 years, a president of Chile returns on an official visit to La Paz,” Kast wrote on X. “Let’s begin to build the future of our nations together.”

The talks come as Paz faces protests over his decision to scrap fuel subsidies in a country that once exported natural gas to its neighbors but now struggles with fuel shortages and declining hydrocarbon production.

Both countries have practical reasons to cooperate. Landlocked since the 1879-84 War of the Pacific, Bolivia sends about 70% of its foreign trade through ports in northern Chile. Paz has offered Chile access to the Paraguay-Paraná waterway, which connects Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay to the Atlantic Ocean.

Absent from Friday’s agenda was Bolivia’s demand for a corridor of land connecting it to the Pacific, a cause that defined the foreign policy of longtime former President Evo Morales. Under the socialist firebrand, Bolivia took Chile to the International Court of Justice to force negotiations over the claim, a case it lost in 2018. Morales, now a fierce critic of Paz, described leaving the claim off the agenda as “an affront to historical memory.”

Aramayo said the government had not abandoned the claim but needed to “create the conditions to work on this matter.”