Landlocked Bolivia sued neighboring Chile on Wednesday in the Hague before the International Court of Justice as it pressed a longstanding claim to recover land lost in a 19th century war and thus regain access to the sea.<br />
Chile quickly responded that the issue was not negotiable.
Bolivia will again belong to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs after its bid to rejoin with a reservation that it does not accept the treaty’s requirement that “coca leaf chewing must be banned” was successful Friday. Opponents needed one-third of the 184 signatory countries to object, but fell far, far short despite objections by the US and the International Narcotics Control Board.
Foreign minister David Choquehuanca argued that Bolivia can become a full member of Mercosur and continue with the Community of Andean Nations, CAN, and can’t be forced to abandon a block to join another.
Bolivia was formally invited to join Mercosur as a full member for which negotiations can begin in the coming summit December 7 in Brasilia. The invitation was made official by Mercosur High Commissioner Ivan Ramalho during a visit to La Paz where the met with Foreign minister David Choquehuanca and Economy and Planning ministers Luis Arce and Viviana Caro.
Bolivia asked visiting Oscar-winner Sean Penn Tuesday to help lobby for La Paz to regain a bit of Pacific coast, and escape the ranks of landlocked states. Evo Morales, the populist president of the arid nation high in the Andes, asked the US actor to help its campaign to press Chile to overhaul treaties that ended a 19th-century war that cost Bolivia its coast and gave the land to Chile.
Bolivia said on Wednesday that statements from Foreign minister David Choquehuanca about “the end of Coca Cola” were taken out of context adding there are no plans to expulse the US Company from the country, as published in the local media.
December 21, the austral summer solstice, will mark the end of Coca Cola and capitalism and the start of a new cosmic era of community spirit and love, announced Bolivia’s Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca.
Bolivian president Evo Morales announced on Monday he will request at the coming Organization of American States, OAS General Assembly to be held in Cochabamba that the issues of Malvinas Argentine sovereignty and a sea outlet for Bolivia be discussed.
Bolivia's Defence minister resigned on Monday to protest a police crackdown and arrests on anti-highway demonstrators which according to unconfirmed reports also caused the death of a baby and several disappeared.
Coca Brynco was launched in Bolivia earlier this week. It is the first mass produced soft drink of its kind and the project is supported by the government of President Evo Morales.