BOLIVIA-CHILE/SEA ACCESS Bolivian official happy to take up Chilean offer of meeting at Hague

Record ID: 144977

  • Title: BOLIVIA-CHILE/SEA ACCESS Bolivian official happy to take up Chilean offer of meeting at Hague
  • Date: 5th August 2015
  • Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (AUGUST 5, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF BOLIVIAN GOVERNMENT MINISTRY BOLIVIAN MINISTER OF GOVERNMENT, CARLOS ROMERO, WALKING INTO ROOM VARIOUS OF NEWS CONFERENCE, ROMERO SHOWS PICTURE OF CHILEAN FOREIGN MINISTER HERALDO MUNOZ WITH QUOTE: "WE'LL SEE YOU AT THE HAGUE" (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BOLIVIAN MINISTER OF GOVERNMENT, CARLOS ROMERO, SAYING: "We
  • Embargoed: 20th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Chile
  • Country: Chile
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAE6W5ONWR7BKB495GYOYFIPMH7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Bolivia's minister of government Carlos Romero embraced the view on Wednesday (August 5) that a centuries-old territory dispute with Chile that would grant the landlocked country Bolivia, access to the Pacific Ocean should be resolved at the U.N.-backed court in The Hague amid new hostilities between the long estranged neighbours.
    Tensions continue to run high among both countries after Bolivian President Evo Morales commented to the Bolivian newspaper El Deber he was looking into the potential expulsion of Chilean consul Milenko Skoknic because the latter had reportedly met with opposition politicians with the alleged intention of destabilising Morales's government.
    Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz criticised the way Bolivia had responded to a Chilean proposal for dialogue with a threat and was quoted as saying: "We'll see you at The Hague."
    Romero of Bolivia said resolving the maritime dispute at The Hague has always been Bolivia's intention.
    "We welcome the statement by Heraldo Munoz that: 'We'll see you at The Hague.' That has been our intention from the outset. We want to meet at The Hague and we want The International Court at the Hague to find a resolution under international law and the historical and sovereign right to free access to the sea for the Bolivian people." Romero said.
    Romero also defended Morales' comments emphasising how consuls should not interfere in internal state affairs.
    "The same Vienna Convention in Article 55 specifically states that it is the duty of the consulates to not to interfere in internal affairs of the state they are located in. What (Bolivian) President (Evo) Morales has said it is that the Chilean consulate should be limited to its expected role, as stated in the Vienna Convention and the international instruments. In no way should (consulate) go beyond (its given role). (They should) not meddle in the internal affairs of (other countries)," Romero added.
    Meanwhile, Munoz of Chile called out La Paz for obstruction at a news conference on Tuesday (August 4).
    "Bolivia's response is a threat to declare our general consul in La Paz persona non grata with the possibility of him being expelled. That's the Bolivian response to our invitation to dialogue, namely the threat of expulsion of our Consul General in La Paz. The court at The Hague should take note and so should the Pope," Munoz said.
    Morales's comments became public last week a day after he proposed a plan that would resolve the dispute within five years, last week.
    Morales directed the proposal to the government of Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and suggested Pope Francis as a guarantor of the process.
    During a news conference at the presidential palace in La Paz, Morales said he was open to establishing diplomatic ties with Chile and invited Bachelet to travel to the Vatican to ask the pope to mediate the process of negotiating its sea access.
    Full formal diplomatic relations have been broken since 1978.
    Chile, however, maintains the issue was being looked at by the International Court at The Hague and dismissed the need for a third party in the bilateral dispute.
    Morales did not mention the possibility of halting the case filed by Bolivia at the World Court in April of 2013.
    Bolivia lost its coastal territory after being defeated by Chile in the 1880s War of the Pacific and has for decades fought to regain a corridor of sovereign territory giving it access to the sea.
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