International relations between the Republic of Chile and the Plurinational State of Bolivia have been strained ever since independence in the early 19th century because of the Atacama border dispute.

However, in spite of straining relationship, Chile and Bolivia still have economic treaties supporting tourism and cooperation; therefore, trading between two nations is not affected by the territorial dispute.

Andrés de Santa Cruz became President of Bolivia in 1829 and intervened militarily in Peru, leading to the creation of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation in 1836.

The Peruvian rebels and the Chilean army set off on a new campaign against Santa Cruz, defeating the Confederation on the fields of Yungay.

[1] At the time, most economic exploitation of the coastal region was being conducted by Chilean companies and British interests under the aegis of Chile's more robust economy and more stable institutions.

Bolivia subsequently became dissatisfied at the arrangement due to the negative financial status of the national budget, especially after the earthquakes that struck Cobija in 1868 and 1877.

Pinochet agreed to give Bolivia a small strip of land running between the Chilean city of Arica and the Peruvian border.

In early 2002, the administration of President Jorge Quiroga proposed to build a pipeline through neighboring Chile to the port of Mejillones, the most direct route to the Pacific Ocean to export Bolivia's newly discovered gas reserves.

Bolivians began campaigning against the Chilean option, arguing instead that the pipeline should be routed north through the Peruvian port of Ilo, 260 km further from the gas fields than Mejillones, or, better yet, first industrialised in Bolivia.

President Jorge Quiroga postponed the decision shortly before leaving office in July 2002 and left this highly contentious issue to his successor.

After winning the 2002 presidential election, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada expressed his preference for the Mejillones option but made no "official" decision.

Mesa even took the question about a sea access to the OAS where he had a discussion with Chilean president Ricardo Lagos, who said that it was a bilateral topic.

Evo Morales, who was elected president in 2005, is strongly opposed to having a foreign consortium export Bolivia's natural gas without processing it domestically.

In 2015, Morales announced his intention to establish conditional diplomatic relations with Chile in order to achieve Bolivia's aspiration for sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean via Chilean land.

The Court ruled in support of the Chilean position, and declared that although Chile may have held discussions about a Bolivian corridor to the sea, the country was not required to negotiate one or to surrender its territory.