There are 15 countries in South America. Out of those 15, two of them are landlocked. Out of those two, we visited one. That one is Bolivia. Bolivia is our fourth country in South America, and an interesting one. For starters, Bolivia has a navy. Why would a country without a coastline have a navy?
One hundred and fifty years ago, Bolivia fought a war with Chile. After Chile won, they took Bolivia's coast. That land is now Chile, and because of that, there is a huge rivalry between the two countries.
The navy base in Bolivia is on Lake Titicaca in the town of Copacabana. When we went to Copacabana for a day, navy officers were everywhere. They were identified by their blue suits and clubs. But I wondered, what would the navy do on a lake? Do they think that they will get their land back? My answer to that question is yes.
Bolivia has their navy for political reasons. They want their coastline given back by Chile. If Bolivia didn't have a Navy, would Chile and other countries think that Bolivia doesn't believe they can get it back? Bolivia would be showing that they don't think it possible for their landlocked country to be given some ocean.
Today we took a tour of La Paz, Bolivia. We got to see exactly how obsessed Bolivia was with getting their "Litoral" (coast) back. There were taxi companies with a name related to the ocean, signs about the ocean, and much more. When our tour arrived in front of the presidential palace, the guards were even dressed in traditional Bolivian Navy uniforms!
Bolivia may always be a landlocked country, but it is still fighting for its coast. Coming to Bolivia, really interested me in rivalries between countries.
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