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Bolivia plans to become "the heart of South America" with a new train project that would connect the continent's Atlantic and Pacific shores.
"In the area of regional integration, Bolivia proposes to be part of the bioceanic train," Bolivia's Deputy Minister of Planning and Strategy Hianny Ruben Romero said during an interview in Asuncion.
The train proposal would connect the port of Santos in Brazil and Ilo in Peru. Romero said other countries in the region like Paraguay are interested in the project, and that Bolivia's participation is due to the "political will" of President Evo Morales.
"Many dreams that were impossible have been materialized ... Sometimes you may think that a project is very ambitious and can dismiss it as not feasible, but when there is will and technical capacity of the different countries, it is simply put on the agenda and the interests are aligned," Romero said
There will also be a proposal to connect the region north to south through the Paraguay and Parana Rivers to the basin of La Plata, between Argentina and Uruguay.
"Being the heart of South America is a geographic solution as we can be the intermediary of connections between the Atlantic and Pacific," Romero said.
Romero added that the project will improve economic integration on the continent. The minister was in Paraguay to attend meetings to discuss financing of the project, through private investors.
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