Bolivia wants Chile compensation over sea access

CUSCO: Bolivian President Evo Morales on Thursday called for compensation from Chile for "historic damages" caused by their annexation of Bolivia's access to the ocean in a 19th century war.

Morales said in a joint press conference with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala that a border agreement reached with Chile after the war in 1904 was "unjust and imposed by force."

Chile defeated allies Bolivia and Peru in an 1879-1883 war over territory rich in sodium nitrate, in high demand in Europe at the time for use as fertilizer.

In the war Bolivia lost its seaport Antofagasta, while Peru lost their southernmost provinces including Arica, now far northern Chile.

Resentment over the war remains deep, especially in the Peruvian and Bolivian military. The border between Peru and Chile is one of the most heavily mined areas in the world.

To fully integrate into Latin America, "these historic damages must be resolved," said Morales, whose country lost 400 kilometers (250 miles) of coastline and 128,000 square kilometers (50,000 square miles).

Ties between La Paz and Santiago have cooled over landlocked Bolivia's plan to present their case for access to the Pacific in the International Court of Justice in The Hague. In 2008 Peru filed a case against Chile in The Hague over the maritime border between the two countries.

Morales however did not blame the current Chilean government of President Sebastian Pinera, but instead "oligarchies of the past" and "transnationals that made off with our natural resources."

On a visit to Bolivia before taking office in June, Humala, a nationalist former army major, said that he "dreamed" of reviving the 1836-1839 Peru-Bolivian confederation, a short-lived union of the two countries.

Morales and Humala met in Cusco, the capital of the ancient Inca empire, to discuss issues concerning port facilities on Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world shared by both countries.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011