DIPLOMATIC SCOPE AND SOVEREIGNTY IN QUESTION: INCIDENTS ONTHE BOLIVIAN-CHILEAN BORDER DURING THE 20TH CENTURY

Bilateral diplomatic incidents may originate in minor or notoriously serious situations, but they only materialize when they attract the attention of both central states and the interest of their respective societies and even international opinion. Minor or notoriously serious situations that arise in isolated territories, on sparsely populated borders, very rarely escalate into diplomatic incidents and, a fortiori, into a “casus belli”.They do, however, allow us to understand the importance of the historical contexts in which bilateral relations take place. This article, based on a theoretical discussion of the phenomenon of the “diplomatic incident”, analyzes some “border incidents” that occurred on the Bolivian-Chilean border during the 20th century, using a qualitative methodology of documentary historiographic compilation from regional and national press, as well as from secondary sources that have allowed us to reconstruct the political context of the period and its cross-border dynamics. In the cases analyzed, in the process of escalation from “border incidents” to “diplomatic incidents” was observed the participation of local political and social interests, which usually respond to internal problems that appeal to various expressions of sovereignty held. each nation, regardless of the collateral effects on the population that inhabits that territory.