Negotiations have on
several occasions been initiated with a view to an attempt to recover
some strip of the lost territory, even if no more than sufficient for
the building of a port and for the accommodation of a railway-line to
connect this point on the seaboard with the interior of the Republic;
but, so far, none of these negotiations have been brought to a
favourable issue.
Bolivia thus remains an inland State. But in spite of a disadvantage
such as this, there is no doubt that the extraordinary natural wealth of
the country, which must in the near future be exploited, will rapidly
bring the Republic into the forefront of the South American nations from
the commercial and industrial point of view.
With the exception of this and one or two other circumstances of the
kind, the majority of the South American States have suffered very
little frontier alteration since their first foundation. Such, however,
has not been the case with the Northern States of Colombia, Ecuador, and
Venezuela. Here, for almost half a century after the liberation of the
provinces, a process of alternate fusion and disintegration continued.
Thus, in 1832, the three States of Venezuela, Ecuador, and New Granada
were formed.
Pages:
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398