MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Morales open to re-establishing political ties with Chile

Bolivian President Evo Morales indicated this week he is prepared to re-establish foreign relations with Chile, notwithstanding the yet unresolved dispute over Bolivia's access to the Pacific Ocean.

Morales met with a Chilean delegation - including Secretary General to the Government Ricardo Lagos Weber and former President Senator Eduardo Frei - just prior to the inauguration of Bolivia's newly elected Constituent Assembly last Sunday.

In response to questions from the Chilean press on the sudden shift in bilateral relations, which have been truncated since 1978, Morales said, "As two neighbouring and brother countries, how can we stand far apart and lack diplomacy? I bet that this diplomacy will return soon. It has to return!"

Prior to leaving for Columbia and Ecuador, President Michelle Bachelet expressed satisfaction with the recent turn of events. "We have an agenda with Bolivia of 13 points, and without a doubt we will continue working so that all lines of cooperation are fruitful for Chile and for Bolivia. And, of course, this friendlier disposition bodes well for our advancement on all fronts."

This is not the first time Morales or the Chilean government broached a deepening of political relations, which are now largely limited to consular affairs. Senator Frei pushed for a bilateral agenda until his presidency ended in 2000. But Frei's successor, Ricardo Lagos, was unable to shift the debate beyond the festering maritime access dispute.

Foreign Affairs Minister Alejandro Foxley commented from Bogotá that Chile "has always wanted to normalize relations with Bolivia. We are ready to do so in the short term. It depends more on them than on us. They've got the final word."

The first signs of Morales' new disposition came some weeks after his presidential inauguration in March 2005, when he sent a communiqué to Bolivian diplomatic delegations mentioning the need to re-establish talks.

Weber and Frei, also accompanied by Socialist Sen. Jaime Gazmuri, did not broach the subject of gas with Bolivia. "We came to participate in the new Assembly," Weber said, and not to discuss bilateral issues.

Leftist politician and former Chilean presidential candidate Tomas Hirsch criticized Bachelet for not attending the inauguration. It was a "bad gesture toward Latin American integration," he said, "and almost an insult."

Judging by the reactions of Morales and the Chilean delegation, however, the meeting was a success.

"The important thing is that we now have a dialogue without exclusions, as we had decided in February of 2000?" said Weber, "and we can talk without prejudices, without conditions, without prejudging the results of a conversation with our Bolivian brothers." By Renata Stepanov The Santiago Times - News about Chile