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News > Latin America

Bolivia's Evo Morales to Hold Meetings in Spain Ahead of Maritime Dispute Hearing in The Hague

  • Evo Morales will head Bolivia's delegation to the ICJ

    Evo Morales will head Bolivia's delegation to the ICJ | Photo: EFE

Published 15 March 2018
Opinion

The presentation of the Bolivian delegation’s oral arguments in the International Court of Justice to secure access to the Pacific Ocean are scheduled for March 19 and 20.

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales will visit Madrid on Friday to attend meetings with King Felipe VI, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, and the Spanish business community to discuss bilateral matters. After the visit, Morales will head to The Hague to attend the hearings on Bolivia's maritime claim at the International Court of Justice.

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Morales will travel with Bolivia’s Foreign Minister Fernando Huanacuni, who said they will discuss Spain’s support to allow Bolivians to enter the Schengen Area without a visa. The president warned on Tuesday that in his meeting with business people he would discuss two cases in which Spanish companies didn’t fulfill their contracts with the Bolivian state.    

After the meeting, Morales will head to The Hague, Netherlands to accompany the country’s delegation at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where they will present their oral arguments to secure sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean on March 19 and 20.  

In 2013, the Bolivian government filed a lawsuit in the ICJ demanding 400 kilometers of coastline and 120,000 square kilometers that were seized by Chile in 1879 during the Pacific War, which lasted until 1883.

The next hearings will take place between March 19 and 28. Bolivia's hearings are scheduled for the first two days and, after a one-day break, Chile's hearing will take place on March 22.

Morales explained he is traveling before March 19 “to meet with the national and international legal team, accompanied by former presidents, and foreign ministers who have much experience.”

The lawsuit is now in its final stages, and it is estimated that within six months the ICJ will provide its final ruling.

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