MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile and Bolivia agree to discuss bilateral ties

Two weeks after Chile's Foreign Affairs Minister Alejandro Foxley announced the creation of a commission between Chile and Bolivia to analyze issues of maritime conflict, the two sides are expected to meet today in La Paz.

Relations between the two countries on these matters are still defined by reverberations from the War of the Pacific (1879-1884), when Chile unilaterally swiped Antofagasta, Bolivia's entire Pacific coastline, after being encouraged by Great Britain's economic interests.

The announcement was originally issued at a meeting between Foxley and Jose Pinelo, the new Bolivian consul in Santiago. The first steps to reconciliation were taken by the nation's foreign representatives, and closer ties are expected to grow in the wake of three decades of diplomatic frigidity between the two countries.

The two countries have not even held a brief discussion on the issue since 1987, when foreign ministers met but failed to reach an agreement.

As well as today's first commission on the maritime issue, President Bachelet is expected to extend relations with her Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales when they meet at the Mercosur summit to discuss trade issues in Cordoba on July 20-21.