The Bolivian Foreign Minister, Rogelio Mayta, will lead the delegation that will go to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, in the Netherlands, this Thursday, December 1, for the resolution of the status of the waters of the Silala River, which confronts Chile and Bolivia.
«A delegation from our Ministry of Foreign Affairs will go to follow up and learn what the Court will determine», said this Monday the Bolivian Minister of the Presidency, María Nela Prada, confirming that it will be Mayta who will lead it, as reported by the newspaper ‘El Deber’.
Prada stressed that the Bolivian side is «expectant» for the resolution of the dispute. «Once we know (the ruling) we will issue our position,» he said, without giving further details on this possible position of Sucre.
As reported on November 11, the resolution will be known at 3:00 p.m. (local time) by the president of the Court, Joan E. Donoghue, during a meeting with the President of the Court. Donoghue, during a public meeting at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
The management of the fresh waters of the Silala has been the subject of judicial confrontations between the two countries before the body, since Santiago considers it to be an international river and La Paz maintains that it is exclusive to its national territory.
The territorial conflict dates back to 1879, when Bolivia lost its access to the Pacific in the war with Chile, which culminated in the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1904, on the right of free transit of Bolivian goods to and from ports in this ocean.
Former Chilean President Sebastián Piñera welcomed a communiqué from the Bolivian Government in February 2020 in which he pointed out that the Government of former President Evo Morales recognized before the ICJ that the Silala River is an international river and that it flows naturally to Chile.
