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The pro-tempore president of the U.N. Security Council and Bolivian diplomat Sacha Llorenti urged the international community Tuesday to properly implement the Ottawa Convention that supervises the destruction of anti-personnel mines across the world.
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“We call on all the countries to fulfill and keep fulfilling their commitments set up by the treaty,” he said, explaining that Bolivia, a non-permanent member of the Council, submitted a resolution two weeks earlier meant to start negotiations and raise awareness on the matter.
“Bolivia firmly believes that this resolution, once adopted, will set up a positive precedent acknowledging the threat that represents land mines, as well as the remains of war explosives and crafted explosives," he added. The state official also highlighted the “importance of peacekeeping and international security."
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction was adopted in 1997. To date, it has been signed by 162 countries.
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With the initiative, Bolivia implicitly targeted its neighbor, Chile, which it has repeatedly urged to undertake proper removal of mines located on their common border. Chile's President Michelle Bachelet committed to destroying all landmines by 2020.
The diplomatic spat between Bolivia and Chile recently entered a new stage, with Bolivia criticizing Chile at the Organization of American States for what it called the "arbitrary detention of nine officials" by Chilean authorities.
Chile claims two soldiers and seven customs agents from Bolivia were arrested within its border on March 19 and has accused them of attempting to steal Chilean trucks.
Bolivia maintains that Chilean police crossed into its territory and detained the officers while they were performing a regular anti-smuggling operation.
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