Chile–Bolivia: agreements on trade, energy and fibre-optic connectivity
What Kast and Paz signed on 16 October, and which steps still require negotiations or studies.
Chilean President José Antonio Kast and Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz agreed new cooperation frameworks for trade, mining, digital infrastructure and energy in La Paz on 16 October 2026. Chile’s Foreign Ministry published the joint declaration, while Bolivia’s Presidency detailed the four areas.
What changes — and what is not complete
For trade, terms of reference were signed to modernise the ACE-22 agreement. Negotiations follow; no announcement establishes that new tariff preferences are already in effect.
The mining memorandum covers technical cooperation and geoscientific information sharing. The fibre-optic corridor memorandum envisages studying a land route from Chile to Bolivia and possible Atlantic connections — not an already operational network.
For electricity interconnection, the joint energy declaration concerns assessing a future link. The binational technical committee will examine regulatory and institutional options. This does not mark the start of electricity exchanges.
The diplomatic next steps
The countries agreed to reactivate dialogue mechanisms. According to Bolivia’s announcement, Kast tasked the political consultations mechanism with working towards full normalisation. That objective is not an announcement that relations at the highest diplomatic level have already been restored.
English translation of the Greek edition · Read in Greek