Bolivia asks Chile not to privatize seaport management

Bolivia has asked Chile not to privatize the management of the seaport of Arica, a key point of access to the Pacific by Bolivia, local media reported Sunday. Chile's plan to transfer the management of the port to private hands runs counter to a 1904 peace treaty between the two countries, said Bolivian Vice Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Alurralde. "It is an obligation between states, not between private companies," Alurralde said. Bolivia "fraternally" asks Chile to ensure state control over the Arica port, because Bolivia "breaths through the Arica port," said the official. The request from La Paz followed news that the management of the state-owned company Arica Port Authority, which is currently undertaking improvement work on the Arica-La Paz railway, will be transferred to a private company called Arica Port Terminal (TPA) as from next year. The TPA is a private company held by Chilean and Peruvian partners. Landlocked Bolivia is concerned that with the complete take-over of a private company, the management of the railway access that Bolivia relies on will be monopolized by Peru and Chile. The railway, which is now under repair, was built under the 1904 peace treaty that allowed freedom of transit for Bolivian goods through Chilean ports and territory. Bolivia lost the 1879-1883 "War of the Pacific" and had to cede its whole seacoast to Chile.