Irredentism, plurinational casus belli? Crisis scenario between Bolivia and Chile

Abstract

Bolivia is one of the least developed countries in the region, and it has in fact been classified by LAIA (Latin American Integration Association) as a country that fails to produce what it consumes, i.e., a Relatively Less Developed Country. Also, according to one of the most renowned Latin American internationalist experts, Carlos Escudé, Bolivia could be designated as a country only peripherally belonging to the hemisphere. For this reason, Bolivia appears before international organizations as a disadvantaged country compared to the other countries in the region, and indeed, regarding economic matters it negotiates as a less favored nation. Currently Bolivia’s GDP amounts to 73,880 million dollars, compared to Chile’s 424,000 million, even though its territory is 300,000 km2 larger than its neighbor’s. Bolivia, however, demands access to the sea and stresses its significantly frailer situation in relation to trade, i.e. its status as a landlocked country on the world stage. This article presents the context and conditions of the bilateral relationship and shows, in terms of the construction of a multilateral and national discourse based on the maritime claim, the high level of toxicity in the relations between these two countries in the early 21st century.