MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Thank you very much, but it's bilateral”

The Chilean government discarded collaboration proposals from the United States Department for a negotiated understanding regarding Bolivia's maritime claim and insisted the issue is strictly bilateral.

This week Phil Chicola, head of the Andean Desk in the State Department said that if Chile and Bolivia reach a "conceptual understanding" to solve Bolivia maritime claim, United States and other hemispheric nations would strongly support the process thus converting it into reality.

"We're very glad everybody is willing to collaborate, but that collaboration must be in the framework defined by the Chilean government, and for the Chilean government it's a bilateral issue, that means just two. Good will to help, fine, but when both have agreed", said Minister Francisco Vidal spokesperson for President Ricardo Lagos.

As to the possibility of granting Bolivia a corridor to the north of Arica, it's a matter that can be discussed but recalling President Lagos statement, "to discuss, the basics is having diplomatic relations". Anyhow the matter belongs to the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and "these things should be dealt by diplomatic channels and not publicly in the press".

Talking from Rancagua Chilean Defence Minister Michelle Bachelet said it was time to end with the "politics of fiction" regarding the Bolivian claim, since the matter is being analyzed "calmly with no haste", and it's up to President Lagos to assess the talks he will be having with Bolivian president Carlos Mesa.

Landlocked Bolivia is claiming a maritime exit to the Pacific which it lost in 1879 when she was defeated by Chile.

For Chile the recurrent claim is a bilateral issue but the current Bolivian government has described the dispute as "regional".

Chile and Bolivia since 1979 only have consular relations and in the last hemispheric summit held in Mexico, President Lagos conditioned any talks to previously establishing full diplomatic relations. Bolivian president Carlos Mesa believes full relations must be the arriving and not the departure point.