MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lagos on Historic Visit to Bolivia

Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, bidding to ease decades of diplomatic friction with
Bolivia, paid a historic visit yesterday as he became the first Chilean leader in 51 years to attend an inauguration in the neighbouring country.

Opening a visit widely watched in both countries for a possible warming of historically frosty ties, Lagos arrived for the swearing-in of leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales to a five-year term.

Bolivia and Chile severed diplomatic ties in 1978 after a breakdown of negotiations over Bolivian demands for Chile to restore its historic access to the Pacific Ocean. A 19th-century war with Chile left Bolivia landlocked and has remained a sore point in relations ever since.

A Chilean air force plane flew Chilean and Bolivian flags from the cockpit windows while taxiing to a stop here as Lagos was greeted by a large Bolivian delegation in a red-carpet ceremony that signalled the importance attached to the visit.

Lagos, who leaves power on March 11 after six years at the helm of a popular centre-left coalition government in Chile, went straight into talks with Morales ahead of the inauguration later yesterday.

Arriving at Morales' downtown apartment, Lagos told reporters gathered there: ??I've come to speak with President Evo Morales. This is a historic meeting.''

Morales, who has made a point of dressing casually in black jeans and a sweater, greeted the dark-suited Lagos but said nothing as he ushered him inside.

The last time a Chilean president visited Bolivia for an inaugural ceremony was in 1955.

Erupting in 1879, the War of the Pacific saw Bolivia lose its Pacific access as Chile fought both Bolivia and its ally Peru. Many Bolivians remain bitter about losing that key trading outlet.

Morales, elected by a landslide in December, personally invited Lagos to attend the inaugural ceremony and characterized the visit as ??historic.''

Lagos' son, Ricardo Lagos Weber, also was making the trip as the personal envoy of the next Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet. A socialist physician and a member of Lagos' ruling coalition, Bachelet has joined the outgoing president in publicly expressing hopes for warmer ties with Bolivia.

Lagos paid a brief but unofficial visit to Bolivia as president in May 2002 to attend the funeral of former Bolivian President Hugo Banzer after his death from cancer that year. Banzer's departure from Bolivia's political scene ushered in years of political instability marked by violent street protests and the toppling of two presidents.

Lagos also attended a regional summit in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in November 2003, but that was not a state visit. Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet had a high-profile meeting with Banzer on the two nations' border in 1975.