The Lauca River dispute between Chile and Bolivia may seem insignificant when compared to many of the major controversies of the postwar period. The Lauca is a 140-mile long narrow river that has its origin in the Andes of northern Chile and then meanders across the border into the Bolivian altiplano, where, after serving as a water supply to small Bolivian towns, it disappears in salty Lake Coipasa. The potential of the river is minor when compared to that of the Nile, Jordan, Indus, Mekong, Colorado, and many other rivers. Yet, Chile's action in April 1962, of diverting some of the waters to irrigate the small Sobraya and Azapa valleys of her northern desert, which provide food for the port of Arica, has proved to be of serious import.
The dispute has not yet been resolved and has gravely strained relations between Chile and Bolivia. The effectiveness of the Organization of American States has been brought into question, for while the Organization has settled many other disputes since 1948, it has been unsuccessful in this one, and Bolivia has shown its dissatisfaction by withdrawing from the Council several times.