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Bolivia, Chile await world court ruling on sea spat
THE HAGUE, Oct 1, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The International Court of Justice will
rule on Monday in a sea dispute between Bolivia and Chile that has dogged
relations between the South American neighbours since the 19th century.
Judges at the UN’s top court will decide whether Santiago must negotiate
access to the Pacific Ocean with landlocked La Paz, which Bolivia lost in an
1884 war with Chile.
Bolivia in 2013 dragged Santiago to the Hague-based ICJ — set up after
World War II to rule in disputes between countries — in a bid to restore
badly-needed access to the sea.
The judgement at 1300 GMT will be closely followed by both countries. The
court’s findings are binding and cannot be appealed.
Bolivia’s leftist President Evo Morales — who is trying to win political
capital at home through the issue as he seeks a fourth term in office — is
due to attend in person.
Chile and Bolivia have had no diplomatic relations since 1978 when
Bolivia’s last attempt to negotiate a passage to the Pacific broke down in
acrimony.
Geoff Gordon, an analyst at the Hague-based Asser Institute, said there
were “high stakes for Bolivia and Chile, which has much to lose in respect to
area of coastline”.
“Each side seems likely to respond with disappointment and anger to an
adverse ruling,” Gordon added.
– ‘Sovereign territory’ –
Bolivia says regaining its territory which comprises of several hundred
kilometres (miles) of coastline along the northern tip of Chile will
stimulate growth and development in South America’s poorest country.
Its lawyers have argued that it has tried several times over the last
century to discuss possible access to the Pacific, but to no avail.
Bolivian activists said the loss of the Chuquicamata mine, the world’s
largest open-pit copper mine which is situated in the disputed area, has also
badly hit the country’s indigenous peoples.
These attempts were continuously slapped down by the Chileans, La Paz’s
lawyers said, leading to the breakdown in diplomatic relations.
Santiago in turn said the border is based on a 1904 peace treaty signed
with Bolivia in the wake of the 1879-1883 War of the Pacific and therefore
must be respected.
Chilean Foreign Minister Roberto Ampuero said last week his country will
not negotiate with Bolivia over the issue as “our sovereign territory is
protected and will not be a part in anyone’s negotiations”.
Chile added that Bolivia currently enjoyed “full and unrestricted rights of
commercial transit between its territory” and the Pacific ports.
But President Sebastian Pinera has not ruled out an “intermediate solution”
in which the ICJ “invites parties to negotiate in good faith which may be
with or without a predetermined result”.
Observers say it may mean that Chile could be instructed to discuss the
issue with Bolivia but without any actual commitment the negotiation’s
outcome.
Meanwhile, Chile has opened its own case against Bolivia over the Silala
waterway, which flows into the parched Atacama desert and which La Paz has
threatened to divert.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0945 hrs