Bolivia’s Morales accuses Chile of setting up military base near border

LA PAZ/SANTIAGO, (Reuters) – Bolivian President Evo Morales accused Chile yesterday of threatening the landlocked Andean nation by establishing a military base near their shared border, an accusation that Chile’s government said was false.

Morales said Chile had set up a base 15 km (9 miles) from the border and close to the disputed Silala River, adding that international norms prohibited installing military bases less than 50 kilometers (30 miles) from international borders in order to avoid confrontations.

“This installation is an aggression to the life, homeland and to Bolivia,” the leftist Bolivian leader said during a public appearance in the Santa Cruz region.

Chile and Bolivia have long had thorny relations and are at loggerheads again over access to the Silala River, which crosses their border.

Morales threatened in late March to go to the International Court of Justice in the Hague to resolve the dispute, which had until recently been a low-profile issue.

“Bolivia’s government is again looking to divert attention away from its domestic problems with false claims against Chile,” Chile’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

It added: “The Bolivian president’s accusation that Chile has installed an illegal military base less than 15 kilometers from their border, near the Silala River is completely unfounded. The supposed military installation does not exist.”

The ministry said the only military installation near the border was Bolivian, just 1.5 km (0.9 mile) from Chile and near the Silala River.