In 1963, the Bolivian government established a riverine and lacustrine force (Fuerza Fluvial y Lacustre) to patrol Lake Titicaca and Bolivia's larger rivers, consisting of four American-purchased patrol boats and 1,800 personnel recruited from the army. This naval force, renamed Bolivian Naval Force in 1966, reached a strength of 5,000 personnel in 2008. It also had a naval unit permanently deployed in the Argentine city of Rosario.[3] To some Bolivians, the Navy serves as a symbol that the country has not given up on regaining its lost access to the sea.