Other than a dusty bilateral maritime trade treaty involving guano (in 1836 both countries were in the first bloom of independence: Belgium was only 6 years old, and Bolivia 11, and it still had a coastline), I don't suppose there is a whole lot linking the two countries.
But this morning on the BBC, I learned of President Evo Morales' plan to grant autonomy based on ethnic lines (read "indigenous population," from which he hails). Many countries have such arrangements, and Bolivia no doubt has much to atone for in its treatment of its Indian population, who constitute the majority. But here's the catch: apparently this will create what amounts to five layers of government.
This is where Belgium comes in. Belgium is probably a world leader in layers of government, which at times can border on the surreal. There is the national (federal) parliament in Brussels, the city which is also home to a Flemish regional assembly that doubles as a body for the Dutch-speaking speaking community. Then there's the Brussels Capital Region assembly, and finally the Francophone community's parliament. Not to be confused with the parliament of the French-speaking region of Wallonie, which sits in Namur. I may have left something out.
Oh yes, provinces. Actually, I've been living on and off in Belgium for upwards of a decade, and other than ubiquitous road signs announcing the limit of this or that province, I had never thought of them as jurisdictions, with administrations and therefore administrators. But yes, Belgium probably leads the world in the number of people on the payroll of one level of government or another.
Don't get me wrong: I am a former public servant, and see more of a role for government in addressing society's ills than most of my compatriots. But there are limits to representative democracy, and there's a reason that the United States is a republic rather than a direct democracy. You can have too much of a good thing.
Even in the US, there are way too many jurisdictions. Just look at a map of, say, the Miami area, and you'll see the city of Miami, neighboring Miami Beach, and Dade County, but also a bunch of mini-municipalities that insist on having their own government structure, replete with a police force where, I bet you, the chief of police has four stars on his lapel or shoulder, in the best tradition of some foreign armies, where a sergeant can have as many stars as General Petraeus.
So, all power to the Bolivians, but maybe they should rethink those extra layers of government. They haven't done much good for the Belgians.