The day Peru and Bolivia sealed their secret alliance against Chile (and the origin of the Pacific War)

When he finished speaking, there was dead silence. The news had made a deep impression on the Peruvians, once a bustling viceroyalty, now they saw how one of their main riches, guano, was not yielding the expected economic results. This is the news communicated to the country by the then President of Peru, Mariano Ignacio Prado . It was the early years of the 1870s.

The solution lay further south, in what is now Tarapaca and even further south, in the caliche of the Atacama Desert. To do this, Prado has sought to increase state presence in the ownership of nitrate companies, most of which are privately held. On the other hand, its neighbour, Bolivia, also had interests in the region, more precisely on the coast of Antofagasta, a town populated from 1866 by a Chilean, the prospector Juan López.

It’s that Chile had already started looking at this region , then Bolivian territory. It is therefore not surprising that there have been national capitals in the sector, such as the Compañía Chilena de Salitres y Ferrocarril de Antofagasta. In these early years of the 1870s, the Chilean economy began to modernize alongside a primary export cycle, which experienced its first boom in the Atacama region. But explorations continued a few kilometers further north, taking advantage of the diffuse border between Chile and Bolivia, demarcated by separate treaties in 1866 and 1874.

For this reason, the Chilean presence in the region was not minor and had begun a little earlier, in 1870, with the discovery of the rich mineral deposit of Caracoles. “It was the Chileans’ gateway to Bolivian territory,” he explains to Worship Milton Godoy, doctor of history and researcher at the Atacama Regional Museum. Chilean newspapers circulated there, the José Victorino Lastarria school existed and the celebration of September 18 before the war was a holiday that had nothing to envy to those celebrated on Chilean territory.

Thus, seeing their interests threatened, on February 6, 1873, Peru and Bolivia attempted to sign a treaty that bound them secretly, the Secret Defensive Alliance Treaty which was ratified by the Peruvian Congress on April 22, 1873. “On the one hand, Bolivia saw that the commercial interests in its territory were constantly increasing, especially in the altiplano region and the financial institutions, who thought that at some point our country could sharpen its appetite and invade Bolivian territory. By way of data and so that there is no misunderstanding, the Chilean investment in the Compañía de Salitres y Ferrocarril de Antofagasta was equivalent (1978) to only 7.43% of the total invested in Bolivia”, a-t he explained to Worship the historian Rafael Mellafe, specialist in Pacific War .

“For its part, Peru, which wanted to take total control of the production of nitrates in the region, did not see the alliance with Bolivia badly to stop a possible Chilean expansion in Antofagasta. In other words, it was a kind of assurance that Peru could continue to expand its nitrate investments in Bolivian territory without fear of a “setback,” adds Mellafe.

How secret was this treaty between Peru and Bolivia? Mellafe replies: “Although it is true that the official title of the treaty is Defensive Alliance Treatythe supplementary article reads as follows: – This treaty of defensive alliance between Bolivia and Peru, HE will keep the secret so long as the two High Contracting Parties by common accord do not consider its publication necessary.” (The text of the treaty is in The War of the Pacific: from Antofagasta to Tarapacá, by Gonzalo Bulnes).

“This means that the treaty was known, but not officially. I mean, it was a strong rumor. How did you find out, there are two versions that can even be complementary. One says that the allies tried to manage the entry of Brazil into the treaty (which did not succeed) and that on this occasion the government of the Brazilian emperor Pedro II would have subtly “delivered” one to us. copy”.

“The other version indicates that the Chilean minister in Lima, Joaquín Godoy, learned of the existence of said document through the infidelity (or perhaps not so much) of an important figure of the Lima aristocracy. A third way indicates that the treaty was to be ratified by the Peruvian congress on April 22, 1873 and as it is easy to suppose, these sessions are highly permeable, however secretive they attempt to be. In any event, Chile had unofficial knowledge of the treaty and therefore could not make this argument.

For Mellafe, the purpose of the treaty was clearly to guard against Chilean expansion. “I think what has been expressed above reflects the official position of the signatory countries in this regard, but I have great doubts. If the objective of the treaty was to intimidate Chile so that we are not “ enthusiastic” about advancing north, why was it kept secret? Weird, isn’t it? I think it was a way of feeling safe from a possible threat of a ‘third power’ (it was clearly not Australia)”.

But not only was Brazil sounded out, there was also a serious option for Argentina to join as a signatory. At that time, Chile and the Transandean nation were conducting negotiations and conversations for the southern territories, especially for eastern Patagonia. Even the neighboring country’s Chamber of Deputies approved joining the Peru-Bolivia Pact in 1873, but the Senate rejected it in 1874, coming to nothing.

“Indeed, there was a serious attempt to incorporate Argentina and Brazil into the treaty points out Mellafe. Although many texts indicate otherwise, the incorporation of Argentina was a failed idea since Bolivia and Argentina had serious border differences in the Tarija region and in the Puna de Atacama, they saw Bolivia as a messy country with a small, poorly organized army that could do little or nothing to contribute to a possible conflict. For its part, Peru considered that Chile’s border problems with Argentina south of the southern cone of South America did not concern it and were far removed from its borders.

“Brazil was clearer and simpler. He was not interested for the “official reason” that he did not see the point of being part of this alliance and the “unofficial” reason of wanting to find an exit to the Pacific which was to pass through Bolivia or the Peru”.

never mind. War was imminent. In February 1878, the Bolivian National Assembly approved a new tax of 10 cents per quintal of nitrate exported, while the 1874 treaty prohibited it. “It hurt the interests of the Antofagasta Saltpeter and Railroad Company, which was the only company operating there,” says Milton Godoy.

Alarm bells immediately rang in Chile and tense efforts began with Bolivia to reverse the measure. However, Hilarión Daza remained adamant and ordered the collection executed. With the company refusing to pay, the Bolivian government ordered the confiscation of the company’s assets and sold them at public auction on February 14, 1879, in order to collect taxes generated since February 1878. However, that day Chile occupied the city to prevent the auction.

Then, Chile demanded the neutrality of Peru, but its government, seeing itself constrained by the treaty, publicly recognized its existence on March 20, 1879. From then on, Chile declared war on Bolivia and Peru on April 5, 1879; Bolivia for violating the 1874 treaty and Peru for not declaring itself neutral. This was the beginning of the conflict which ended in 1884.