De l'enclavement à la globalisation : une ouverture risquée pour la Bolivie

Abstract

From Enclosure to Economic Globalization : A Risky Developmental Opportunity for Bolivia. To break out of an exterior as well as an interior enclave , Bolivia in 1890 began developing a rail link between the Altiplano and the Pacific ports, in order to make profitable its silver mines and, after 1900, the tin mines that it had opened. But this railroad line, because of the low price imports that it carried, ruined the local economy which was based on agriculture. The monopoly that the rail¬ road enjoyed also dissuaded the Government from building an inter-regional road net¬ work that would have allowed the development of the vast Eastern provinces. In 1950, Bolivia was still a country without roads, while its obsolete railroad network had entered a recessionary period. Thus, a great effort became indispensable to build an adequate road system for the active central part of the country, in order to open com¬ munications with its neighbors and allow the eastern part of the nation to develop. Since 1990, the key position of the country has been developed because of the eco- nomic growth of all its neighbors. With economic globilization, the Southern part of Bolivia, where a new gas pipeline was laid that supplies Brazil, has been benefitting from the creation of an interoceanic corridor that allows heavy traffic between Brazil and the Pacific Coast. Since 1950, however, the creation of the Santa Cruz-Cochabamba-La Paz axis has been attracting migrant population groups that are obtaining first call on the region \ s activities and future developmental projects, whereas the Altiplano is experiencing an economic crisis. As a consequence, future projects, or those already in progress, can only worsen this new spatial and socio-economic imbalance if the Government does not intervene by implementing a policy of economic planification.