La presencia boliviana en la sociedad del salitre y la nueva definición de la frontera: Auge y caída de una dinámica transfronteriza (Tarapacá 1880-1930)

The current article analyzes the presence of Bolivians in the expansion cycle of nitrate (1880-1930) in the traditional province of Tarapacá, tackling the transborder dynamics of workers and goods, in particular the phenomenon of saltpeter refinery recruitment. Change from a Peruvian-Bolivian border to a Chilean-Bolivian border. The hypothesis of this paper proposes that the Bolivian presence in the nitrate industry is related to diplomatic relations between both countries, on the one hand, and on the attraction of the saltpeter refinery enclave on the other. A preliminary comparison is made between the Chilean-Peruvian frontier and the Chilean-Bolivian frontier, pointing out that former had a closed frontier due to the impact of the controversial diplomatic relations between Peru and Chile, while the latter was an open frontier, due to the saltpeter refinery business interests and a coincidence in the exporting model between the governments of Bolivia and Chile, that made possible the diplomatic agreement expressed in the treaty of 1904. The focus of this study moves from international relations, specifically transborder relations, to the history of private life of the Bolivian population in the saltpeter society, showing the complexity of the problem under study.