By Carlos E. Hernández
Under the Vice Ministry of Defense and Development Cooperation of the Bolivian Ministry of Defense, personnel from the General Directorate of Border Security Zones inspected the border security zone with the Republic of Chile to guarantee “territorial integrity and the preservation of the State’s strategic natural resources”.
The director, Brigadier General Willy Gonzalo Espejo Bobarín, pointed out that “the physical state of the milestones was verified and checked, the needs of the Forward Military Posts, promoting the presence of the Armed Forces in the border security zones”.
PRESENCE OF THE ARMED FORCES ON THE BORDER
The official note specifies that the forward military posts and border milestones dependent on Mechanized Division 1 and the Second Army Division, with jurisdiction on the border with Chile, were inspected, according to the Charaña-Pisiga 23 Inspection Plan.
The information adds that the “objective of the activity was to promote the presence of the Armed Forces in the border security zone and their participation in the fight against new threats to national sovereignty and security”.
BOLIVIAN MILITARY DEPLOYMENT
The border between Bolivia and Chile is 861 kilometers long.
It separates the Bolivian departments of La Paz, Oruro, and Potosí from the Chilean regions of Arica-Parinacota, Tarapacá, and Antofagasta in the middle of the Andes mountain range.
As for the Bolivian Army units deployed on the border with Chile, the Mechanized Division I stands out with its command established in the city of Viacha, in the department of La Paz, and includes the following:
- a Command and Services battalion,
- a Mechanized Infantry regiment,
- a Mechanized Infantry School regiment,
- a Mechanized Infantry School regiment,
- a Mechanized Infantry Regiment,
- a Mechanized Infantry Regiment,
- a Mechanized Infantry School regiment,
- a Mechanized Infantry School regiment,
- a Mechanized Infantry Regiment
- a Mechanized Infantry School regiment,
- a regiment of Anti-Tank Infantry,
- two regiments of the Armored Cavalry School,
- two regiments of Mechanized Cavalry,
- a regiment of the Mechanized Artillery School,
- a regiment of the Mechanized Anti-Aircraft Artillery School
- and a battalion of Mechanized Engineering.
The Second Division, whose headquarters are located in the city of Oruro, the department’s capital of the same name, completes the land deployment.
This large unit groups three Infantry regiments, a Cavalry regiment, an Artillery regiment, a Satinadores (Special Forces) regiment, and an Engineering battalion.
With information from Infodefense
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