"The presidents have instructed their Foreign Ministries to work on a new bilateral agenda and of course the maritime issue will be present," said Deputy Foreign Minister Freddy Mamani.
If it materializes, it will be a turning point in the complex relationship between Bolivia and Chile. This Friday night, the Bolivian vice-chancellor Freddy Mamani announced that the new agenda to be built by both nations includes the maritime claim.
"The maritime issue, for us, (is) historical and is also in our State Political Constitution and in all the spaces that we had to deal with, it is always present with the sensitivities that exist and, in addition, according to the verdict of the International Court of Justice, the dialogue must always be open, and in that context we will work", said the Bolivian diplomat in an interview on the television network Cadena A.
This Friday afternoon and after the bilateral meeting with the new Chilean president, President Arce revealed that one of the agreements reached with his Chilean counterpart is that the foreign ministers promote the design of a new agenda that includes the sea.
"There is also, of course, for us, the maritime issue. In short, there are several issues that we have proposed and our foreign ministers are the ones who are going to carry out the execution of this agenda", he said.
Mamani confirmed this premise. "Today they have been seen in a general way and probably in the coming months it will be possible to deepen to put on the agenda all the issues that have been part of our bilateral agenda and, in that context, it will be explored; the presidents have instructed their Foreign Ministries to work on a new bilateral agenda with Chile and of course, as a country and as our Political Constitution mandates, the maritime issue will be present," he said.
"However, there are other issues that are quite complex such as smuggling, free transit and migration, electrical interconnection, consular issues, there are many issues that we must work on and I believe that this opens a new opportunity for us to continue working", Mamani complemented.
In 2013, Bolivia sued Chile in the Court of The Hague for the neighboring country to negotiate in good faith an exit to the Pacific based on a series of commitments and talks on this issue.
In 2018, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in favor of Chile. In its ruling, the court in The Hague determined that the neighboring country has no "obligation to negotiate" with Bolivia a sovereign outlet to the sea.
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