Expert sees diesel crisis not attracting Chilean Foreign Ministry’s attention unless it escalates

In response to a call from President Luis Arce to Chilean President Gabriel Boric, the Port Captaincy of Arica issued a temporary 36-hour authorization for discharge of the first ship, whose arrival had been delayed by adverse maritime conditions and repairs to the mooring buoys at the Sica Sica dock.

For Loreto Correa, researcher at the National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies (Anepe) and expert in Chile-Bolivia relations, President Arce’s call to his Chilean counterpart reveals that “Santiago is not aware. In no case is the situation of the Bolivian diesel attracts the attention of the Foreign Ministry, unless it escalates. And this is something that has been reiterated. The only concern is that more migrants arrive and in this we have to be objective, for Chilean foreign policy today, the only thing that matters is that security could be affected in terms of criminality. The rest of the issues are maneuvers and blows are announced,” he told the publication elmostrador.cl

Correa valued that the Harbor Master’s Office would not give in “to the pressure, because if an accident occurred during the unloading of fuel, In the current context of questioning the roles of the armed forces, no one would excuse any weakness in this regard.”

Regarding Bolivia’s constant demand to ask Chile for help to resolve its internal problems, “the fact that the President of Bolivia calls the Chilean is indicative of the maintenance of the asymmetries, characteristic of the binational relationship. Something like the smaller one asking for support from the bigger one. It doesn’t sound good, but it is like that. In this sense, The “aesthetics” of Chilean foreign policy is conservative, At the same time, Bolivia is showing “a certain domestication” of Chilean power.

He added that Chile’s collaborative spirit in the Bolivian fuel crisis “in the long run, can be positive, because ittends toward cooperation rather than conflict and can be used in other spheres of the relationship, and is an expression of Chile’s will regarding free transit. The good will of the Chilean Government a month and a bit after the military uprising in La Paz is an indicator that the State of Chile accepted the version given by Bolivia about an attempted coup d’état.”

This Wednesday at 08:30 hours, the Gabonese-flagged vessel “Zeinep” began maneuvering in Arica to unload 33 thousand metric tons of diesel, coming from the Russian port of Primorsk. With the support of mooring buoys, A team of divers connected the ship to an underwater pipeline which transports the fuel to the Sica Sica Land Terminal, from where it will be distributed to Bolivia in tanker trucks.

Captain Cristhian León said that the maneuvers were carried out in accordance with the plan approved by the Navy, and stressed that the priority is to ensure navigation and protect the environment. However, only the “Zeynep” can be unloaded during this time window, since YPFB must repair a mooring buoy that was damaged by rough seas in May.

YPFB must complete the repairs that began on July 26 on one of the three mooring buoys. The works, which include the placement of chains and anchors, have a deadline of 4 to 5 days for completion, depending on the weather. The ship “Zeynep” may not empty all its cargo due to these limitations, and The other ships will have to wait until August 10 or 11 to unload.

YPFB previously attributed the fuel crisis to the closure of the Port of Arica, but this was refuted by the dissemination of evidence showing that the transfer did not involve the Chilean State.

The day before, the Minister of Public Works and Services, Édgar Montaño, had announced his visit to Arica to supervise the operations, but finally he did not travel due to roadblocks and lack of a special visa. The mission was delegated to the Deputy Minister of Transport, Enrique Ponce, whose delegation was also prevented from crossing the border by protesters.

This situation is reminiscent of an incident in 2016 when then Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca visited Arica without prior notice, in the context of Bolivia’s maritime claim before the International Court of The Hague.