El enclave de Huanchaca y la industria salitrera como propulsores del desarrollo portuario y ferroviario de Antofagasta en el contexto del ciclo salitrero en Chile, una relación comercial transfronteriza (1868-1909)

Abstract

This work aims to show the development of the conflictive, hesitant and historical relations between the saltpeter industry, the Bolivian mineral of Huanchaca and the of the railway company from Antofagasta to Bolivia that, from their potential as poles of productive development and enclave respectively, were the driving force behind the modernization of both the railways in the desert, the Altiplano and the border between Chile and Bolivia, as well as the ports of Antofagasta and Mejillones. The ports served as a gateway for the export of saltpeter, silver and tin - among others - and the importation of various products. That is to say, these economically produced spaces connected both countries with the capitalist world system in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the same way, the companies, which were supported by the states of Bolivia and Chile respectively, functioned as paradiplomatic agents that helped to restore the political and economic relations of both countries after the ruptures generated by the Pacific War.