The Inverted Wall: Ditches on the Border between Chile and Bolivia

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to understand how the ditches dug by the Chilean governments, on the international border between Colchane (Chile) and Pisiga Bolívar (Bolivia), from September 2017 to July 2022, were articulated to the discourse on migrations. and they transformed the landscape, control modes and crossing strategies in the region. For this, we apply a qualitative methodology of documentary and newspaper review in both countries, as well as field work (field notes, observation, testimonies and photographs). Our text concludes that the trenches analyzed can be interpreted as inverted walls, of low cost and great plasticity, which make up a mobile border landscape and constitute defensive and protection devices against non-state transnational agents, understood as threats. Likewise, its paradoxical condition is highlighted: while the ditches are projected with the purpose of reaffirming power and expressing state control over a territory, they highlight its weakness given its mere existence and operational inefficiency.