President Bachelet: “The Court’s ruling on its jurisdiction does not affect our territorial integrity in any way. As such, Bolivia has not won anything.”
In response to the ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague on the preliminary rejection presented by Chile against Bolivia’s maritime claim, President Bachelet said, “our country provided solid legal arguments which should have resulted in the opposite conclusion. As you will recall, our determination to contest the Court’s competence had wide, cross-sector support in Chile and during the hearings in May we witnessed the excellent work done by our legal team in justifying Chile’s position.”
In a statement to the press at La Moneda Palace, the President stressed that “though we will analyze the ruling closely, I am convinced that we were right to lodge this preliminary objection. It made sense to use this procedural step to which we were entitled.”
She explained that “we are now in the same position we would have been in, if we had decided to proceed directly in contesting Bolivia’s claim and had not challenged the Court’s competence.”
She emphasized that “the Court’s ruling on its jurisdiction does not affect our territorial integrity in any way. As such, Bolivia has not won anything. The only thing that has been decided so far is that the Court is an appropriate tribunal for hearing Bolivia’s claim. There has been no evaluation of the claim itself.” She added, “above all, it should be noted that the Court has said it would be unable to predetermine the outcome of any eventual negotiation.”
President Bachelet said “we remain firmly convinced that the Bolivian demand lacks all basis, as it confuses rights with aspirations. It completely distorts the history between Chile and Bolivia, particularly the 1904 Treaty and the context and scope of the various diplomatic talks that have taken place between the two countries. Chile has no pending territorial or border issues with Bolivia.”
Furthermore, she highlighted that “our defense is based on the fundamental principles of international law and the relations between States, including the inviolability of treaties and the stability of borders. We are now entering the core phase of the hearing, where we will be able to put forward all of the arguments that we were not able to make during the preliminary stage.”
In terms of the future outlook, she noted that “we will certainly clearly demonstrate the ambiguities and contradictions, as well as the lack of basis, of Bolivia’s claim. We have faith in our arguments and in international law and we believe that right is on our side.”
In her closing remarks, President Bachelet said “I assure you that my Government – and I have no doubt that future governments too – will take every step to safeguard the integrity of our territory to ensure that it will not be affected under any circumstances.”
Finally, she expressed her thanks for “the collective commitment shown to addressing this process with determination and national unity. In the challenges we face as a country, unity is always an irreplaceable asset that strengthens and fortifies our positions.”
President Bachelet was accompanied by the Interior and Public Security Minister, Jorge Burgos; the Treasury Minister, Rodrigo Valdés; the Minister Secretary General of the Presidency, Nicolás Eyzaguirre; the Minister Secretary General of the Government, Marcelo Díaz; the Foreign Affairs Minister, Heraldo Muñoz; and the Defense Minister, José Antonio Gómez. Also present were the president of the Senate, Patricio Walker; the first vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies, Patricio Vallespín, the presidents of the Foreign Affairs commissions of both chambers and officials from other political parties represented in Congress.