Relations with Chile, strained since Bolivia's defeat in the War of the Pacific (1879–1883) and its loss of the coastal province of Atacama, were severed from 1962 to 1975 in a dispute over the use of the waters of the Lauca River.
[1] Relations were resumed in 1975 but broken again in 1978 over the inability of the two countries to reach an agreement that solved the Atacama border dispute, which might have granted Bolivia a sovereign access to the sea.
[1] Bolivia has become more active in the Organization of American States (OAS), the Rio Group, and in MERCOSUR, with which it signed an association agreement in 1996.
[1] Bolivia is a member of the United Nations and some of its specialized agencies and related programs; OAS; Andean Community; Intelsat; Non-Aligned Movement; International Parliamentary Union; Latin American Integration Association ALADI; World Trade Organization; Rio Treaty; Rio Group; and Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia (URUPABOL, restarted in 1993).
Bolivia is also a member of the International Criminal Court with[clarification needed] a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the United States-military (as covered under Article 98).
[clarification needed] The GeGaLo Index of gains and losses after energy transition ranks Bolivia 128th out of 156 countries.
[2] It is thus among the countries that will lose strength on the international stage if a global transition to renewable energy is carried out and there is no longer demand for Bolivian oil and gas.
While a member of the Security Council, Bolivia strongly criticized United States President Donald Trump's decision to move the United States' Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and called for a public meeting of the Security Council to respond to the decision.
In March 2004, Mesa announced that the government would stage a series of public rallies across the country and in Bolivian embassies abroad in remembrance of those who died in the War of the Pacific, and to call for Chile to grant Bolivia a seacoast.
President Evo Morales maintained a hard position on this issue of which the symbolic importance is underlined by the fact that Bolivia also still has a navy, despite it not currently having access to the sea.
[119] Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1967 when has been accredited first Ambassador of South Africa to Bolivia (resident in Argentina).
As it stood, at the time Brazil was the main destination for exports from Bolivia, having bought, in 2007, 35.7% of the products that Bolivian companies sell to other countries.
[138] Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 July 1955 when has been appointed Ambassador of Nicaragua to Argentina, Doctor Otto Lamm Jarquin as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Bolivia.
In 2007, President Evo Morales stated that "Daniel Ortega's win gives strength and hope not only to Nicaragua but to all of Latin America."
[148] Presently, the United States leads an international contingent pressuring Bolivia to curb its illegal drug trade.
In 2008 the Bolivian government suspended the operations of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) accusing the organisation of being a front for violating the country's sovereignty and supporting an unsuccessful coup d'état.
[179] Vietnam is accredited to Bolivia, from its embassy in Brazil and has an honorary consulate in Santa Cuz de la Sierra.
Ambassador Leonid Golubev told The Associated Press that he would like to see Russia's ties to Bolivia one day "approach the level" of its growing partnership with Venezuela.
[198] [199] In 2009 amid improving relations between the two countries Bolivia and Russia signed various agreements pertaining to energy and military ties, mining activities and illegal drug eradication.
However, there remain problems surrounding the exploitation of oil and gas fields in the country by Spanish corporations like Repsol.
In 2002, Australia's Deputy Prime Minister, Mark Vaile visited Santa Cruz for the Cairns Group meeting.