Chile’s President Makes First State Visit to Bolivia in 71 Years as Region Shifts Right
The agreements cover trade, energy, mining and border security, with officials saying no money amounts or deadlines were announced.
- On Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast arrived in Bolivia for the first state visit by a Chilean leader in 71 years, with Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz greeting him at Plaza Murillo.
- Kast and Paz, both recently elected conservatives allied with President Donald Trump, seek to improve relations strained since Bolivia lost its Pacific coastline to Chile during the 19th War.
- The leaders discussed trade and security along their 861-kilometer border, joining the Trump administration's "Shield of the Americas" coalition while signing mining and energy cooperation deals.
- Restoring full diplomatic ties was not on the agenda, though Bolivian Minister of the Presidency Fernando Aramayo said they must "create the conditions to work on this matter" regarding Bolivia's landlocked status.
- Paz offered Chile access to the Paraguay-Paraná waterway, which connects Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay to the Atlantic Ocean, amid domestic fuel subsidy protests challenging his government.
79 Articles
79 Articles
It is the first time in the 21st century that a Chilean president visits Bolivian territory.They signed trade agreements for fiber optics and the bioceanic corridor and promised to improve the relationship between countries.
The last Chilean president to officially visit La Paz was Carlos Ibáñez, in 1955
(Mexico City = Yonhap News) Correspondent Song Gwang-ho = Murillo Square in front of the Presidential Palace in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, on the 16th (local time).
Kast and Paz open the way in La Paz to normalising Chile-Bolivia relations
Chilean President José Antonio Kast and his Bolivian counterpart Rodrigo Paz pledged on Friday in La Paz to move towards normalising diplomatic relations “at the highest level”, broken off since 1978, during a visit the Chilean government described as historic as the first official bilateral visit by a Chilean president to Bolivia in more than seven decades. The two governments signed economic integration and border security agreements, although they did not announce the restoration of embassies.
Santa Maria Times
Independent EspañolLA PEACE, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia and Chile agreed on Friday to “stop turning their backs” and open a new era of good neighbourliness during the visit of President José Antonio Kast, the first in 71 years of a...
Kast and Paz Agree to Move Forward in Re-Establishing Diplomatic Relations Between Chile and Bolivia
The President of Chile, José Antonio Kast, and his Bolivian counterpart, Rodrigo Paz Pereira, agreed to move towards the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries, within the framework of the historic official visit of the Chilean president to La Paz. During a joint statement, Kast stressed that this is the first official visit ... Continue reading "Kast and Peace agree to move forward in restoring diplomatic relations betw…
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