The then Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister, the late Nicholas Ridley, visited Bolivia in 1980. Since then a number of other Ministerial visits to Bolivia have taken place. The then Minister for Trade, right hon. Brian Wilson, visited in May 1999 and the then Secretary of State for International Development, the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Clare Short), visited in August 1999. Most recently, the then Minister for Energy, right hon. Brian Wilson, visited in 2002.