Bolivia Asks Chile to Negotiate a Temporary Pacific Port

Remembering the loss of Bolivia’s maritime rights exactly 140 years ago following the end of the Pacific War, the nation is requesting that Chile reconsider negotiating temporary access to a Pacific port.

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"It will be at this time, in the short or medium term, but the dialogue with Chile must be restarted to address the isolation of Bolivia and to be able to resolve all the issues that are related to the relationship we have between Chile and Bolivia,” said Bolivian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Diego Pary.

A British-backed Chile helped the nation win the ‘War of the Pacific,’ which eventually led to the 1904 Treaty of Peace and Friendship and the Salas-Pinilla Protocol of 1907 that left Bolivia increasingly landlocked and without a sovereign border to the Pacific Ocean.

The International Court of Justice dismissed the South American country’s claim in October, ruling that Chile with its lengthy Pacific coastline did not need to negotiate with landlocked Bolivia over its “sovereign access" to the sea.

Bolivian president Evo Morales wrote on Twitter Thursday, "Now the whole world knows that Bolivia was born with a sovereign exit to the Pacific and that our cause is just and undeniable.

“Chile invaded Antofagasta without a declaration of war, to satisfy the greed of its oligarchy encouraged by imperialist interests," he said.

Morales has confirmed his plans to fight the ICJ ruling which he said was “determined by fear,” and is busily seeking an amendment.

The Bolivian president said that the Plurinational State will not leave the issue until it returns to the Pacific coast with full sovereignty. "We are not going to stay here, we are optimists, we will happily turn toward the sea," he said.

Foreign Minister Pary said it is the nation’s intention to initiate talks with Chile, discussing commercial relations, trade, and national sovereignty.