President Michelle Bachelet said on Wednesday that Chile was
willing to hold talks with neighboring Bolivia on disputed issues,
but she emphasized that any agreement to be reached must respect
existing treaties.
"We want to have an agenda for the future," Bachelet told media
after Chile's Deputy Foreign Minister Alberto Van Klaberen and his
Bolivian counterpart Mauricio Dorfler set an agenda for the talks
on Tuesday.
"I have been very clear in what I have said. We are willing to
discuss all topics, but for us, the treaties that are in force
remain in force," Bachelet stressed.
The agenda includes issues such as border integration, free
transit of citizens, Bolivia's request for a sea access, economic
cooperation and disputes over the use of the Silala River.
Van Klaberen and Dorfler also agreed to continue fighting drug
trafficking, and to work together in natural disaster prevention
and air traffic control, as well as education, science and
technology.
Chile and Bolivia severed diplomatic relations in 1978, because
La Paz alleged that Santiago was not taking its claim to a sea
outlet seriously. Bolivia lost its coastline to Chile in the
1879-1883 War of the Pacific.
Chile's Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley told Chilean radio
that his country was not going to move its borders "even one
millimeter" during the negotiations with Bolivia, but was trying to
discuss better sea access for its neighbor.
(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2006)
