RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The governments of Bolivia and Chile have agreed this Wednesday to reopen their borders to the traffic of goods and thus allow trucks that were stopped at the borders of each country to have access to pick up import supplies.
According to the agreement reached, the opening hours at the Chungará border will be extended, and coronavirus detection tests will be carried out in both territories, in such a way that it will be necessary to do one when leaving the country and repeat it when entering the other side, according to the newspaper ‘La Razón’.
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At the end of last week, at least one hundred Bolivian carriers on international routes could not enter Chile because they were infected with coronavirus, which led to a blockade on the border road between Tambo Quemado and Chungara, in Bolivia and Chile, respectively.
An institutional delegation headed by members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, and other authorities went to the place on Tuesday to find a solution to the conflict.
Thus, according to the Bolivian Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade and Integration, Benjamin Blanco, in an interview with Red Uno television channel, the transit schedule – which until now was from 7:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. – has been extended until 10:00 p.m. “so that a larger number of transport units can pass”.
“Ten people have been mobilized to take nasal antigen tests at the border (of) Tambo Quemado to prevent people who test positive from passing to the Chilean side,” Blanco added.