UPDATE 1-Brazil and Chile woo Bolivia with joint roadway

(Updates with meeting, details on highway, quotes)

By Helen Popper

LA PAZ, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Two of Latin America's moderate leftist leaders, the Brazilian and Chilean presidents, sought to strengthen ties with Bolivia on Sunday by pledging to build a highway linking the Pacific to the Atlantic by 2009.

Diplomatic relations between Chile and its poorer neighbor broke down three decades ago, but the relationship has improved since Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Bolivia's more radical leftist leader Evo Morales took office last year.

During his two-day visit, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva aims to secure supplies of Bolivian natural gas and wrest influence in the Andean nation from Venezuela, diplomats say.

Morales, Bachelet and Lula signed an accord on Sunday to build a highway linking the Atlantic port of Santos in Brazil via Bolivia to the Chilean Pacific ports of Arica and Iquique.

Most of the route is already paved but the countries will invest a further $600 million to complete it by 2009. The project aims to boost trade and cut freight costs.

"This is much more than a highway, it's a vision for the future of our region," Bachelet said.

Bachelet's trip to Bolivia is one of only a few by Chilean leaders in recent decades. The neighbors have been at odds since Bolivia lost its access to the Pacific in a 19th century war, and anti-Chilean sentiment remains strong in Bolivia.