Yes Bolivia has a navy. Of course they became landlocked as a result of the War of the Pacific in 1883 so I always thought that the Bolivian Navy was a holdover - more symbolic than anything. I was wrong. Bolivia is very serious about regaining its access to the Pacific Ocean and still feels it is a 130+ year active causus belli. Bolivia and Chile have not had full diplomatic relations in 50 years except for a couple of years when they tried to negotiate Bolivian access to the Pacific. The issue of oil pipelines made it an issue again in the early 2000s and it looks like Bolivia would prefer a diplomatic solution but if not …
So given Bolivia’s history and its undying desire for oceanic access, what would trigger a Bolivia-Chile War?
Considering how often they’ve been at, or nearly at, war, I wouldn’t bank on it. Bolivia claims unfettered access to the Pacific via a corridor made up of, well, a chunk of Chile they lost in 1884, and countries do dumb stuff when they believe another country is standing in their way.
All it took for Argentina to invade the Falklands was a military junta feeling insecure, and stroking an old feeling of irredentism as a distraction. Except that for the Falklands the irredentism was manufactured.
The threshold for Bolivia would seem to be even lower, and simply improving their access to the Port of Antofagasta might not dissuade a future insecure administration.
The issue isn’t “What would it take” for Boliva to declare war.
The real question is : Who would notice?
No oil, no borders with Europe or America, no western capitalists involved, and no Palestinian refugees.
Therefore, no airtime on television, and therefore it didn’t happen.
War over, before it even starts.
However exciting the annual Día del Mar may be, I suspect the issue is primarily of symbolic value, allowing the MAS to claim that it defends the nation and its resources against the depredations of global capitalism, etc.
It did play a significant role in the Gas War of 2003 which was pretty pivotal in bringing the MAS to power.
Why doesn’t Bolivia attack those pussies in Argentina? They have a common border, though getting to the coast through Argentina seems a much tougher proposition logistically speaking
In a more serious vein … if Bolivia already has a navy, where is it now? Is it west of the Andes? Do they expect to haul their whole navy over the mountains? Or do they plan to build a shipyard once they hit the coast?
Hard to say looking at the Wiki page, but it appears none of their combat vessels are ocean-going. Once they have access to the ocean for their ships, they’ll have to build the ships.
