MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile rules out review of border with Bolivia

Chile said Wednesday that inclusion of the access to the sea issue in the bilateral agenda with Bolivia does not mean Santiago entertains the idea of giving up any territory.

Interviewed in Santiago Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley said that Chile continues to regard the treaties fixing borders with Bolivia as "untouchable".

The statement follows an announcement by Chilean and Bolivian officials saying that the "maritime question" could be discussed.

At the end of two days of talks in La Paz, Chilean Deputy Foreign Minister Alberto Van Klaveren and Bolivia's Mauricio Dorfler said an understanding on the framework for bilateral discussions based on Santiago's offer of "an agenda without exclusions" had been reached.

The news was hailed by Chile's ruling coalition, which has been in office since the restoration of democracy in 1990, while the conservative opposition denounced the inclusion of the sea-access issue as a "brutal transgression" of long-standing policy.

"We're not moving a millimetre from the 1904 treaty which established the borders. The treaty is untouchable and non modifiable" insisted Foxley.

Bolivia lost its entire Pacific coastline to Chile in a 19th-century war that pitted La Paz and Peru against Santiago.

However the Chilean minister said that providing Bolivia with a sea outlet is a necessary step for advancing towards the goal of greater regional integration.

"We are saying that, obviously, if we want to have the fullest possible integration with neighbouring countries, we have to consider among many other issues, facilitating access to the sea for Bolivia" he added.

"It's possible that they (the Bolivians) have another, more ambitious idea. The only thing we have said is that we are ready to talk with them about this, as we are going to talk about drug trafficking, as we will talk about border integration".

Foxley said President Michelle Bachelet's administration plans to "work hard to integrate ourselves as much as possible with Bolivia, Argentina, Peru, with all the countries of the region".

Bolivia's repeated attempts to persuade Chile to return the lost coastline over the course of the last century led to the breaking of diplomatic ties in 1962. Following a brief resumption between 1975 and 1978, Chile and Bolivia have maintained relations at consular level.