Back الاتفاقية الحدودية بين تشيلي وبوليفيا عام 1874 Arabic Tratado de límites entre Bolivia y Chile de 1874 Spanish Traité frontalier entre le Chili et la Bolivie de 1874 French
| Treaty of Sucre | |
|---|---|
 The border (24°S) was kept as 1866, but the Zone of Mutual Benefits was abolished | |
| Type | Boundary and economic |
| Signed | August 6, 1874 |
| Location | Sucre, Bolivia |
| Parties | Bolivia and Chile |
| Language | Spanish |
| Full text | |
 The Treaty of Sucre, or the Martinez-Baptista Agreement at Wikisource | |
The Boundary Treaty of 1874 between Chile and Bolivia, also called the Treaty of Sucre, was signed in Sucre on August 6, 1874 by the Bolivian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariano Baptista and the Chilean plenipotentiary minister Carlos Walker Martínez. It superseded the Boundary Treaty of 1866 between Chile and Bolivia, establishing the border between both countries at the 24° South parallel from the Pacific Ocean to the eastern border of Chile.
Given the economic importance of the area, which was rich in minineral resources, the treaty did not only establish national boundaries, but also regulated the taxation of mining operations. It abolished the zone of bipartite tax collection on the export of minerals found between parallel 23°S and 25°S. And crucially for the future of both nations, to ensure long lasting stability, Article 4 explicitly forbade Bolivia from increasing the existing taxes on Chilean people, capital or industries for a period of twenty-five years.
To safeguard its Saltpeter Monopoly, Peru tried to prevent the signing of the treaty, unsuccessfully.
In February 1878, less than four years from the signing of the treaty, Bolivia imposed a new tax on saltpeter exploitation to the Chilean mining company Compañía de Salitres y Ferrocarril de Antofagasta (CSFA). Chile protested the violation of Article 4 and the CSFA refused to pay the new taxes, while tensions rapidly increased in the region.
The escalation eventually led to the Bolivian president deciding to rescind the license of the Chilean company, to seize its assets and put them up for auction on the basis of tax avoidance, while Peruvian elites from the public and private sector pressed Bolivia to have considerable participation in the auction. This taxation dispute was the casus belli for the War of the Pacific, as in February 14, 1879, the day of the auction, Chile's armed forces occupied the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta. Soon after, war would be declared, and Peru and Bolivia would reveal the secret Treaty of Defensive Alliance they had signed in 1873.