Bolivia, Paraguay finalise border after 88 years of talks

Bolivia and Paraguay finalised the course of their shared border in La Paz on Wednesday after nearly nine decades of negotiations that began after a territorial war between them, Bolivia’s foreign ministry said.

The two countries fought between 1932 and 1935 over the arid Chaco Boreal region in a conflict that left between 80,000 and 100,000 people dead.

Bolivia lost an area equivalent to more than half of Paraguay’s current territory as a result.

Following the Chaco War, the two countries signed a peace and boundary treaty in 1938 that launched a lengthy process to demarcate their shared border, which stretches some 755km (470 miles).

“Bolivia and Paraguay have completed the delineation of their entire international boundary, a process carried out over 88 years by technical commissions from both countries,” Bolivia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Delegates from the joint Bolivian-Paraguayan boundary demarcation commission worked in La Paz over the past three days after cross-checking geographic information collected along the border by “high-precision” drones against “desk-based data.”

The work concluded with an agreement on the final outstanding stretch of border: some 3.5km along the Rio Negro, which originates in Bolivia.

“Finalising the border consolidates a bilateral relationship based on trust and cooperation between the two states and closes a historical chapter to build a secure and mutually recognised border,” the Bolivian government said.

In a statement released before negotiations officially concluded, Paraguay’s foreign ministry said the two nations would be the only ones in South America “with fully demarcated borders” and highlighted the work of its teams across “vast and hard-to-reach territories.”