2025 Philadelphia Tango Festival
April 30, 2025
Ride the Arica-La Paz Train?
Chile’s triumph in the War of the Pacific (1879-83) closed off Bolivia from access to the Pacific. In 1904 Chile agreed to construct a railway connecting the Chilean port of Arica to La Paz, thereby giving Bolivia access to a port. The railroad is one of the highest (reaching 13, 800 feet) and most spectacular in the world. On the Bolivian side it has fallen into disrepair in recent years, adding to the strained relations between Chile and Bolivia, who to this day do not have formal diplomatic relations. Bolivia recently went to the Hague to assert its claim to the lost coastline. Bolivia is the only continental Latin American country without an outlet to the sea or coastline.
