Truce Pact between Bolivia and Chile

by Governments of Chile and Bolivia

Truce Pact between Bolivia and Chile

While waiting for the opportunity to conclude a definitive treaty of peace between the Republics of Bolivia and Chile, both countries, duly represented, the former by Mr Belisario Salinas and Mr Belisario Boeto, and the latter by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Aniceto Vergara Albano, have agreed to conclude a truce pact, in accordance with the following terms:

1 - The Republics of Chile and Bolivia conclude an indefinite truce. As a consequence, they declare the end of the state of war, to which it will not be possible to return without the prior notification by one of the contracting parties to the other, at least one year in advance, of its intention to trigger hostilities again. In that case, the notification shall be made directly or via a diplomatic representative of a friendly nation.

2 - The Republic of Chile, throughout the validity of this truce, shall continue to govern, in accordance with the political and administrative regime as defined by Chilean law, the territories from the parallel 23 to the mouth of the Loa River in the Pacific; these territories being limited to the east by a straight line starting at Sapalegui, from the intersection with the demarcation separating them from the Argentina Republic, to the Llicancaur volcano. From this point, it shall continue straight to the summit of the dormant Cabana volcano; from here, another straight line shall continue to the water source, which is found further south in the lake Ascotan. From there, another line, crossing the said lake, ends at the Ollagua volcano. From this point, another straight line continues to the Tua volcano, and then continues to the existing demarcation line between the department of Tarapacá and Bolivia.
In the event of difficulties, both parties shall appoint a commission of engineers, which will determine the boundary to be delimited following the points determined herein.

3 - The property seized in Bolivia from Chilean nationals by government decrees or measures emanating from civil and military authorities, will be immediately returned to their owners or representatives appointed by them, with sufficient powers.
They will also return the profit that the Government of Bolivia has received from such property, which must be justified with appropriate documents.
The damage caused by the aforementioned measures, or by the destruction of property that Chilean citizens may have sustained, will be compensated through a process that stakeholders will engage in with the Government of Bolivia.

4 - If an agreement between the Government of Bolivia and the stakeholders regarding the amount and compensation for damages, or the form of payment is not reached, they shall submit the dissenting points to arbitration by a commission, composed of one member appointed by Chile, another by Bolivia and a third who will be nominated in Chile, by mutual agreement between neutral representatives accredited in this country. This appointment will be made in the shortest time possible.

5 - Commercial relations between Bolivia and Chile shall be re-established. From now on, the Chilean natural products and those produced with the latter, shall enter Bolivia free of any customs duty. The Bolivian products of the same nature and produced in the same way, shall enjoy the same exemption in Chile, whenever imported or exported through Chilean ports.
The commercial exemptions which, respectively, the Chilean and Bolivian manufactured products will enjoy, as well as the enumeration of these products, shall be dealt with in a special protocol.
The nationalized goods, which are introduced via the port of Arica, shall be considered as foreign goods during the entrance process.
The foreign goods, which are introduced in Bolivia via Antofagasta, shall benefit from free transit, without prejudice to any measures the Government of Chile may take to avoid contraband.
As long as there is no agreement to the contrary, Chile and Bolivia shall enjoy the advantages and commercial exemptions that one or the other country may grant to the most favoured nation.

6 - In the port of Arica, the entrance rights shall be charged in accordance with Chilean customs duties, as applicable to foreign goods intended to be consumed in Bolivia, without the possibility of applying further tax inside the country. The revenue of these customs duties shall be divided in the following way: twenty five percent shall be used for the customs services and the portion corresponding to Chile for the despatch of goods for consumption by the territories of Tacna and Arica; and seventy five percent for Bolivia. For the time being, the seventy five percent shall be divided in the following way: forty percent shall be retained by the Chilean administration for the payment of the amounts resulting from the indebtedness of Bolivia in relation to the liquidations carried out, pursuant to the third clause of this agreement, and to satisfy the outstanding part of the loan to Bolivia raised in Chile in 1867; the rest shall be handed over to the Bolivian Government in current currency or as promissory notes. The loan shall be considered, in its liquidation and payment, under the same conditions as those who suffered damages in the war.
The Bolivian Government, when it deems it appropriate, shall be entitled to have access to the accounts of the customs offices of Arica for its customs agents.
Upon payment of the indemnifications referred to in Article 3, with the subsequent ending of the withholding of the forty percent aforementioned, Bolivia shall be able to establish its own internal customs offices in the portion of its territory which it considers appropriate. In that case, foreign goods shall benefit from free transit through Arica.

7 - The acts of the subordinate authorities of either country, which tend to alter the situation created by the present Truce Pact, especially regarding the boundaries of the territories Chile continues to occupy, shall be repressed and punished by the respective Governments, ex officio or following the request of one of the parties.

8 - Given that the objective of the contracting parties, when concluding this Truce Pact, was to prepare and facilitate the establishment of a strong and stable peace between the two Republics, they reciprocally commit to pursue the negotiations in that respect.

This pact shall be ratified by the Government of Bolivia within a period of forty days, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in Santiago throughout the forthcoming month of June.

In witness hereof the Plenipotentiaries of Bolivia and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile, respectively duly empowered in that respect, signed, in duplicate, the present pact of truce, in Valparaiso, 4 April 1884.

Belisario Salinas.

Belisario Boeto.

A. Vergara Albano.