MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

With gas, Bolivia hopes to regain sea access

President Carlos Mesa said Bolivia is prepared to sell natural gas to Chile as long as its neighbour agrees to give this landlocked nation access to the Pacific Ocean, a Bolivian goal ever since it lost its coastline to Chile in a 19th century war.

Mesa said Bolivia may use its mammoth natural gas reserves to become "the energy axis of South America" ? and is willing to share its wealth with Chile if the two can agree on a "solution to our maritime problem." "There will be no real regional integration unless Chile agrees to work with Bolivia to solve the matter of or maritime demand," Mesa said in a speech during a ceremony marking the "Day of Sea," a local celebration.

Bolivia lost its coastline in a 1879-83 war with Chile, and has since kept an international campaign to press for its demand to recover access to the Pacific Ocean ? possibly by getting control of a strip of Chilean territory that runs to the coast.

Chile refuses to cede control of any part of its land, saying a 1904 bilateral treaty solved all territorial matters with Bolivia. The two countries do not have diplomatic relations due to the dispute.

Mesa noted that Bolivia's natural reserves, estimated at 1.5 trillion cubic metres, are the largest non-oil related in South America.

Chile has experienced energy shortages the last couple of years as a result of steep cuts in the sales by Argentina. It currently does not import any natural gas from Bolivia. Mesa repeated his appeal to the Chilean government to re-start discussions over a possible outlet to the sea. Sporadic bilateral negotiations through the decades have failed.

"We are prepared to make that discussion in the most reasonable terms," Mesa said. Both the export of natural gas and demand for sea access have become sensitive issues in Bolivia.

In October 2003, protesters took to the streets to demonstrate against a government plan to export gas through a Chilean port because they understood that Chile would profit from the venture. The violent demonstrations took the lives of 56 people and forced the resignation of President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada.

The opposition to use a Chilean port forced Mesa to sign an agreement to use a port in Peru instead, although all technical studies indicated it would be much more expensive