The measure came to harm the geopolitical importance of the port of Cobija,[7] being one of the main causes of the decline of the only Bolivian port—which had been damaged due to the war between Salaverry and Santa Cruz—but on the other hand, it benefited Bolivian trade, due to the greater facilities it provided to merchants in the urban centres of the Bolivian state, especially from La Paz, Oruro and Cochabamba.

[9] In Arica, there was awareness of the competition from Cobija, which despite its decline, continued to supply the urban centers of Potosí and Chuquisaca.

Atanasio Hernández, Administrator of the Arica Customs on the Bolivian side and former Administrator of the Cobija Customs wrote to Santa Cruz suggesting the suppression of Cobija for the development of Arica, receiving a negative reply from Santa Cruz, who insisted on the port's political importance.

[8] The city of Arica, which had been occupied by the Chilean Army since the War of the Pacific, was formally ceded to Chile through the Treaty of Lima, signed in 1929.

[2] In 2005, the port, alongside other Peruvian-owned buildings in the city, became owned by the Regional Government of Tacna.