Bolivia Gets First Paved Road Linking It To Outside World

Mon., July 15, 1996

Associated Press

Bolivia inaugurated its first paved link to the outside world on Sunday.

President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada inaugurated the 120-mile, two-lane highway between the Bolivian city of Patamaya and the Chilean border. Other highways connect the road to La Paz, the Bolivian capital, and to the Chilean port of Arica.

Bolivia has rail links with neighbors Chile, Peru, Brazil and Argentina, but until now none of the roads crossing the Bolivian border was paved.

The new road crosses the Andes, rising to 15,300 feet and passing Sajama Mountain, Bolivia’s highest. It cuts the 275-mile trip from La Paz to Arica from 18 hours to just six.

It should significantly reduce the cost of transporting goods, and lower the price of soya and wood transported from Santa Cruz to Chilean ports. It also could boost tourism.

The $44 million highway was financed by the Inter American Development Bank, the Andean Development Corporation and the Bolivian and Japanese governments.

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Bolivia Gets First Paved Road Linking It To Outside World

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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