Foreign relations of Bolivia
traditionally has maintained normal diplomatic relations with all hemispheric states except Chile. Foreign relations are handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by the Chancellor of Bolivia, Fernando Huanacuni Mamani, the successor of David Choquehuanca Céspedes.
Overview
Relations with Chile, strained since Bolivia's defeat in the War of the Pacific 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 by the Bolivian dictatorship following Castro's rise to power but resumed under the Paz Estenssoro Administration in 1985, which was elected through democratic elections.Bolivia pursues a foreign policy with a heavy economic component. Bolivia has become more active in the Organization of American States, 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. 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 United States-military.
The GeGaLo Index of gains and losses after energy transition ranks Bolivia 128th out of 156 countries. It is thus among the countries that will lose strength on the international stage if a global transition to renewable energy is carried out and there is no longer demand for Bolivian oil and gas. It is estimated to experience the third largest loss of all Latin American countries.
United Nations involvement
Bolivia has frequently been involved with the United Nations. In November 2008, the Bolivian contingent of UN peacekeeping troops with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 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. Bolivia currently serves as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, with a two-year term ending in 2018. While a member of the Security Council, Bolivia strongly criticized United States President Donald Trump's decision to move the United States' Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and called for a public meeting of the Security Council to respond to the decision. The Bolivian delegation also joined Russia in casting a negative vote for the renewal of the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism in Syria, citing technical concerns about the Mechanism.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.
The incumbent president seeking reelection for a fourth term, maintains a hard position on this issue of which the symbolic importance is underlined by the fact that Bolivia also still has a navy, despite it not currently having access to the sea. In October 2018, the ICJ, ruled against Bolivia in a case that would determine whether or not Bolivia could force Chile to negotiate access to the sea. However, the ICJ did state that cooperation was desirable if workable solutions are to be found.
Illicit drugs
Bolivia is the world's third-largest cultivator of coca 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
Africa
Americas
| Country | Formal Relations Began | Notes |
| See Argentina–Bolivia relations | ||
| 1 October 1987 | ||
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, products 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.
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| See Bolivia–Chile relationsBolivia 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 Chile and Bolivia have maintained only consular relations since 1978 when territorial negotiations failed. | ||
| See Bolivia–Cuba relations | ||
| 12 March 1987 | ||
| 1831 | See Bolivia–Mexico relations | |
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.
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In 2009 Bolivian President Evo Morales and Paraguayan 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"
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| See Bolivia–United States relationsBolivia 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 accusing the organisation of being a front for violating the country's sovereignty and supporting an unsuccessful coup d'état. Bolivia's government also expelled the US ambassador. In 2008 Gustavo Guzmán, 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", and Evo Morales, the Bolivian president said "Where there is a US ambassador, there is a coup".
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| See Bolivia–Uruguay relations | ||
| On November 15th, 2019, the interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Añez severed the diplomatic relations with Venezuela and accused Venezuelans with ties to that country's embassy in La Paz of "plotting against internal security" in Bolivia. |