Bolivian Minister of Foreign Affairs, David Choquehuanca speaks during a press conference at Bolivia’s embassy in The Hague, Netherlands, yesterday on Bolivia’s legal action against Chile before the International Court of Justice.
Landlocked Bolivia sued neighboring Chile yesterday in the Hague as it pressed a longstanding claim to recover land lost in a 19th century war and thus regain access to the sea. Chile quickly responded that the issue was not negotiable. Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca filed papers at the International Court of Justice, saying the suit “assumes the historical mandate of the Bolivian people” to revert to being a maritime nation. Bolivia has been preparing its legal, historical and economic arguments for the lawsuit for more than two years. In a war fought with Chile in 1879, Bolivia lost nearly 400km of coastline and 120,000 square kilometres of land. For years Bolivia has been pressing Chile to grant it a useful and sovereign outlet to the sea. Chile, Bolivia’s neighbour to the southeast, has refused. It says a peace and friendship treaty signed by the two countries in 1904 established their common borders. Choquehuanca, speaking from the Hague, said the suit demands that Chile negotiate in good faith with Bolivia “a swift and effective agreement that grants it fully sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean.”
