Chilean Attack on Bolivia and Peru Possible - Bolivian Analyst

Tensions Escalate in South America
Prensa Latina

Chile, a US ally, is pondering a hypothetical simultaneous military attack against Bolivia and Peru, an outstanding Bolivian military analyst said on Monday.

In remarks about the maritime dispute between Chile and Peru, military analyst Juan Ramon Quintana said that since the 80s, Chile has had a simultaneous scene conflict as a main war scenario.

This forecast is based on Santiago’s view that Bolivia, for historic reasons, would support Peru in case of a Chilean military attack, he said.

For that reason Chile is committed to an arms race to impose its military superiority, said the former Army major, who is director of the Democracy and Security Observatory and Bolivia’s main strategic analyst.

He added that Chile “suffers the syndrome of countries with accelerated economic growth, but ever-increasing lack of energy sources and natural resources including water,” of which Bolivia has plenty.

Bolivia’s former Foreign Minister Juan Ignacio Siles revealed last week that last June, during Bolivia´s social and political crisis, Chile unsuccessfully tried to get the Organization of American States to intervene.

He added that Chile’s arms buildup stems from its intention to become, with US support, the region’s military guardian, in a role similar to Israel’s in the Middle East.

The strategist added that Chile “has become a main US strategic ally in Latin America” and, with US support, has continued an arms race for the last 15 years.

The Chilean-Peruvian conflict will be discussed this week by the council of former foreign ministers, as announced by Minister of Foreign Relations Armando Loaiza, amid Chilean allegations that the conflict with Peru was preventing eventual granting of a sea outlet to Bolivia.

Former Foreign Minister Siles says that a solution to the Lima-Santiago dispute, either by dialogue or international arbitration, is indispensable for a solution to the Bolivian maritime demand.

The Bolivian claim is based on the Chilean conquest of its coasts in the 19th Century which rendered it landlocked.