Peru offers dock rights to coast-hungry Bolivia

[Judi Lynn]

Peru offers dock rights to coast-hungry Bolivia
By Carla Salazar
Associated Press Writer / October 19, 2010

LIMA, Peru—Land-locked Bolivia is getting a tiny sliver of the Pacific -- a dock, a free-trade zone and the right to run some naval vessels, although the agreement signed Tuesday with Peru falls far short of what Bolivians have dreamed of for 126 years -- a coastline of their own.

President Alan Garcia announced the pact during a ceremony at the southern Peruvian port of Ilo. It is part of a longstanding crusade by both Peru and Bolivia to prod neighboring Chile into giving back some of the territory it seized in the 19th century War of the Pacific.

"It is unjust that Bolivia has no sovereign outlet to the ocean," Garcia said, with Bolivian President Evo Morales at his side. "This is also a Bolivian sea."

Morales said the agreement would give Bolivia a gateway to export its products and he vowed that "Bolivia, sooner or later, will return to the sea."

More:
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/10/19/peru_offers_dock_rights_to_coast_hungry_bolivia/

[bemildred]

1. Nice.

Let's hope Chile can suck it up and settle this old dispute for good, it would not take much, and it would relieve an old source of tension.

[Peace Patriot]

2. Well shut my mouth. I had it figured the other way around, that Peru was causing the trouble

and Chile was trying to resolve it. In fact, I read reports that Chile, under former president Michele Batchelet, had granted Bolivia access to the sea, and then later read that Peru (Garcia) was causing trouble about it.

The end of this article reveals that things did get rancorous between Morales and Garcia at one point...

---

Tuesday's embraces marked a sharp departure from insults exchanged in the past between the market-oriented Garcia and the socialist Morales.

Only two years ago, Morales suggested that Garcia was "fat and not very anti-imperialist." Garcia suggested Morales "shut up."

Garcia said Tuesday's meeting ends all the rancor: "Words are carried away by the wind but the brotherhood of peoples ... remains forever." --from the OP

---

I'm glad to see some accord about this, even if it is not all that Bolivia wanted and needs. It's a beginning. Thus far this year, we have seen TWO major disputes settled in South America--the fracas that outgoing president Alvaro Uribe of Colombia caused with Venezuela, accusing them of "harboring" FARC guerrillas. The new president of Colombia, Manuel Santos, withdrew the charges and invited Chavez to a high profile peace pow-wow where trade between the countries (a big element of both their economies) was re-established--and this one, also unlikely, of Garcia helping to fix the Bolivian sea access problem. These are good omens. Perhaps it is too much to say that they are good omens for South American integration and their planned EU-type confederation and common market. But I sense some peacemakers and consensus builders behind the scenes, with those goals. Candidates: Nestor Kirchner (very popular former president of Argentina, now head of UNASUR) and Lula da Silva (very popular outgoing president of Brazil). As Garcia is very UN-popular (last I read, 25% approval rating), perhaps he is acting pragmatically to improve Peru's image in the region and its prospects for advantageous integration, since I don't imagine that U.S. "free trade for the rich" (which Garcia negotiated with the Bushwhacks) is doing anything but evil in Peru and it certainly has done nothing for Garcia's reputation. I think he's a lameduck--can't run again in the election next year. Maybe he is angling for a job at the Bank of the South or something.

[bemildred]

3. It's an interesting development.

I would be curious to know what rabs thinks about it.

This all goes back to the "War of the Pacific", in which Chile kicked both Peru and Bolivia's asses, so Bolivia and Peru have some common ground on this issue.

[rabs]

4. The timing of Garcia's move is highly suspicious

The Peru-Bolivia agreement on a tiny enclave for Bolivia at Ilo, Peru dates back to 1992 -- so for eighteen years it was all talk and no action on the part of Peru.

So why now?


Bolivian stage show with flags at Ilo, on the Peruvian Pacific coast.

There was an intriguing very last sentence in an El Mercurio story last week when Evo was at Copiapo to greet the only Bolivian miner among the rescued 33.

The sentence said Pinera would travel to Bolivia at the end of next month for the inauguration of the Corredor Bioceánico, which will connect the Brazilian port of Santos (Sao Paulo) on the Atlantic with the ports of Arica and Iquique (EEE KEE QUE) in northern Chile.

The roadway (with partial parellel railways in some areas) traverses Brazil's southern Amazon, crosses in Bolivia at Santa Cruz de la Sierra then northward to the Andes crossing and into the Chilean Atacama region. The corridor is almost 3,000 miles long (4,700 kilometers) and will transport an estimated two millions tons of cargo back and forth. It opens a route to Asia (China and Japan especially) for Brazil and Bolivia and vice versa.

So, Peru has been LEFT OUT as you can see on the maps below.

Suspect that Garcia revived the 18-year-old Ilo agreement with Bolivia to at least steal some of the spotlight from the Bioceanic Corridor when it is inaugurated in Bolivia at the end of November.

The Bolivian foreign minister yesterday pledged that Peru would no longer interfer in Bolivian-Chilean negotiations that have been going for years but have been blocked for decades by Peru's insistance that Chile cannot cede to any third party (Bolivia) any Peruvian territory captured in the War of the Pacific.

But all of a sudden Garcia has changed Peru's tune with no logical explanation of why now.

Pinera yesterday was in London at a news conference where he was asked about the Ilo pact. He responded that the Ilo port still has not been developed (after 18 years) and that he hoped it would be. He said Chile also hoped to better relations with its neighbors Bolivia and Peru as well as all of Latin America and the world.

Pinera also said "Chile-Bolivia and Chile-Peru relations are looking to the future. To resolve the problems. The past divides us. The future joins us. And the future has to always win out over the past."

(Diplomatic responses to what have always been delicate matters among the three countries.)

----------------------------------------------------------

The Bioceanic Corredor







------------------------------

Sorry for the lengthy response, but, you asked ... :hi:

[Bacchus39]

5. maybe, Peru can access the new corredor just by traveling south into Chile

I assume there is already a roadway connection from the Peruvian port that Bolivia has been granted to Bolivia. Bolivian products will have to travel the same way.

Peru also has a long coastline on the Pacific, the Amazon River, and a shared border with Brazil. I don't really see too much difficulty moving products in and out of Peru.

and even if there was a bilateral agreement between Peru and Bolivia that says Bolivia can use the Peruvian port if Peru is given unfettered access to the new corredor, so what???

the first image also says Brazil is assisting in the construction of highways in Peru and Ecuador as well. I see nothing suspicious.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Terrrific information, rabs. Pictures can be worth 1,000 words, clearly.

So exciting learning they will be opening this fantastic corridor at the end of November. My God. What a wonderful project. People will wonder how they ever did without it.

Now if someone could kick off a reworking of the dreadful Highway of Death!

[Bacchus39]

8. I guess, if you don't consider the impacts to the Amazon environment

and the additional development and environmental distruction that will come now that the highway is completed.

they got along without it for centuries. not that its a terrible thing to improve transportation and trade, but there are consequences.

[social_critic]

14. A road from Santa Cruz to the Pacific doesn´t cross the Amazon

I think you may want to check your maps. From Santa Cruz in Bolivia it´s uphill across the Andes, and there´s no Amazon jungle in the area. There´s a lot of traffic between Santa Cruz and Brazilian cities, so that´s not going to change. I suspect it´s cheaper to ship by container vessel from the Far East via the Panama Canal to a Brazilian port, but it may be cheaper to get to La Paz via the Pacific.

This is a sensible development, but it won´t be that much because Bolivia is bound to find easier exporting routes right into Brazil and Argentina, which are much more natural markets. Brazil has very strong economic growth, and a large population. Bolivia, of course, doesn´t want to be a Brazilian protectorate, but they are going to have to play ball with Brasilia.

As for Peru vs Chile, they just want the truck traffic, and the fees and employment. If I were Bolivia, I would try to get two ports built so that imports and exports can flow to either port. Switzerland is utterly landlocked, and it doesn´t seem to mind it, it´s one of the richest countries in the world. But it does know how to get along with the nations around it.

[Bacchus39]

17. the segment in Brazil does. and an additional Brazil-Peru leg is being constructed

which impacts the Amazon region. not saying its a bad thing economically or simply just logistically for the region. I am just saying there are negative impacts associated with road development in new corridors.

[bemildred]

7. Thanks, that new road is very interesting, that could have complex consequences.

I would think it would be a VERY GOOD THING for Bolivia.

It is also interesting that Peru "is reported" to have said it would get out of the way in settling those old territorial issues. That was a very nasty business, a long time ago, and the Brits were neck deep in it.

I still don't think I want to guess what's going on, but I think it bears close watching. I think it is a mistake to assume Garcia is following a rational plan, he could just be looking for good PR, or doing it for stupid reasons, or because he was told to. I understand there is an election coming up. But thanks for taking the time to respond.

Does not Bolivia have some sort of rail concession from Chile for access to the Pacific too?

-- B

[rabs]

9. Chile during Bachelet had offered a corridor to Bolivia

that would run along the current Chile/Peru border and terminate at the Chilean port of Arica. But Peru blocked that.

With the Bioceanic Corridor, Bolivia for all intents and purposes does not need that rail concession now or even the tiny spit of land Garcia has offered. But Evo, being the shrewd man he is, of course accepted it.

It doesn't hurt anything and may help some Bolivian exporters with a shorter route. But I don't expect that any large shipments will go to Ilo as compared with the Bioceanic Corridor.

As for the 180 degree turn in the Evo/Garcia relations, there was a hint this was coming about three weeks ago when Peru finally extradited to Bolivia a former interior minister who was wanted to stand trial on embezzlement charges. A Bolivian court ruled the minister was a common criminal and not eligible for political asylum, so he was sent packing back to La Paz.

That was unusual because Garcia had refused to extradite three other former ministers in the Sanchez de Lozada government who are accused of genocide and who were granted political asylum in Peru.

Will have to wait to see how Bolivian/Peruvian relations unfold with these latest developments and how they are analyzed in La Paz, Lima and of course in Santiago de Chile.

-----------------
Speaking of Chile and on a personal note, just got a text msg from daughter from Mexico City where the family flew this morning. She, her son, (turned 3 yesterday) and hubby are flying next to Panama, then on to Santiago where they will live. Chile is a nice country in which to live and to raise a child. (Daughter has dual citizenship, Chilean and U.S.).

[bemildred]

11. Ah, that explains where I got the idea.

I have a high opinion of S. America, the southern cone especially, gorgeous terrian, I think they have a great future, if I were a younger man, I would consider learning much better Spanish and looking for a job.

[Bacchus39]

15. so there is a Brazil-Peru segment as well, any more suspicians?? n/t

s

[Judi Lynn]

10. Yep, it looked that way for a long time! Alan Garcia was very antagonistic, during discussions

by Chile with Bolivia about allowing Bolivia a corridor in an area between Chile and Peru.

It really happened, you weren't dreaming. This is contrary to his earlier behavior, such as it was.

[social_critic]

13. Alan Garcia is a socialist

He happens to be a moderate socialist, and follows his own line. Evo Morales isn´t that far from Alan Garcia, but Evo likes to make believe he follows Chavez´ more radical line - which he really doesn´t. Evo is OK.

[Judi Lynn]

16. You should learn far more about both men before attempting to educate us. n/t

[bemildred]

12. Peruvians brace as superhighway unfolds

Reporting from Puerto Maldonado, Peru, and Los —
The road crashes through the jungle like the fevered dream of the indomitable Fitzcarraldo, who schemes to transport a steamship overland through the Peruvian tropics in a cult film celebrating demented ambition.

The Transoceanic Highway, evoking engineering marvels such as the Transcontinental Railroad and the Panama Canal, has been talked about for decades, assuming a mythic stature that has led many to question whether the east-west thoroughfare linking Brazil's Atlantic ports with the Pacific docks of Peru would ever come to pass.

Now, Brazilian and Peruvian officials are pushing for a 2011 grand opening, once the final, and most difficult, stretch of the highway is completed in Peru, where broad swaths remain dirt, gravel and mud.The 3,400-mile Transoceanic Highway from Brazil to Peru has long been a pipe dream, but as it finally nears reality many along its long path worry that a way of life and livelihoods are in danger.

This is some of the planet's most challenging road-building terrain. The southern stretch of the 3,400-mile Transoceanic Highway climbs from steamy jungle to rolling savannahs to Andean cloud forests, pine expanses and snow-blown glacial moonscapes reaching almost 16,000 feet — an elevation surpassing Mont Blanc, Europe's highest peak — before dropping down to the arid coast.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/latinamerica/la-fg-peru-road-20101031,0,7463040.story