Abstract

The article explores a diplomatic incident that occurred on the border connecting the north of Chile to the center-west of Bolivia, expressed in the lawsuit filed by Bolivia against Chile at the International Court of Justice at The Hague (2013-2018). It concerns a trip by former Foreign Minister Choquehuanca with a delegation to Chilean ports in 2016. The analysis of this event attempts to shed light on its political and social implications, especially on a regional scale. A documentary and discourse analysis of press and bibliographic sources was used, together with contributions from the ethnographic aspect of international relations, arguing that local actors and paradiplomats exploit these situations to revive problems associated with the elusive border development of the places where they operate. This leads to adjustments sometimes not envisaged by the diplomatic system, together with an assessment of informal practices of international scope.