Natural Gas in Argentina and Bolivia Relations (2003-2011): Agreements and Collateral Impacts.

Abstract

This article examines the relations between Argentina and Bolivia around natural gas trade during Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) and Cristina Fernández (2007-2011) administrations. The energy crisis that Argentina began to experiment in 2004 brought consequences in foreign policy. On the one hand, when Argentina cut the hydrocarbon exports had political problems with Chile because Gas Crisis and on the other, the country intensified ties with Bolivia to buy this natural resource. During 2003-2011, Argentina and Bolivia signed agreements to build a bilateral energy agenda. However, the difficulties to give force these agreements, showed the lack of effective policies to manage a strategic resource.