ABSTRACT
In an ongoing pursuit of sovereignty, national security, territorial integrity, and economic independence, Bolivian foreign policy in the first three decades of the twentieth century focused on the attainment of a sovereign outlet to the Pacific Ocean. Other external challenges and opportunities like participation in the Pan-American movement; resolution of outstanding boundary questions with Argentina, Brazil, and Peru; efforts to improve diplomatic coverage in Asia; free transit on the Upper Amazon; and related navigation issues on the Bermejo, Paraguay, and Pilcomayo rivers were subordinate to the seaport issue. The 1929 Treaty of Lima between Chile and Peru marked the failure of Bolivian efforts to secure a sovereign Pacific port through a tripartite settlement and effectively ended the Arica for Bolivia movement. The treaty left Bolivia landlocked with no immediate strategy to regain sovereign access to the Pacific. Therefore, Bolivia turned south to the Chaco Boreal in search of an outlet to the Atlantic through the Paraguay River. Meanwhile, Bolivia’s growing economic dependence, together with the impact of a soaring public debt and the Great Depression, left Bolivia in a weakened economic state, undermining its ability as the century progressed to pursue an aggressive, effective foreign policy.
