Addressing this historic claim in her speech to the plenary of the 79th session, Sosa recalled that such dialogue must occur in adherence to the call of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in its ruling on the bilateral dispute.

“My country is willing to engage in a dialogue when so decided by our counterpart (Chile). We believe that the sea is a right of the Bolivian people and of the peoples,” she said.

Bolivia went to the ICJ in 2013 with the demand that Chile recognize historical commitments to negotiate a sovereign outlet to the Pacific, taken away in 1879 after the invasion and a subsequent war.

The ICJ ruled in favor of Chile, however, in its verdict it stated that its determination should not be taken as an impediment for the two neighboring countries to restart their talks in consideration of the Bolivian hope.

Sosa recalled that the ICJ urged Bolivia and Chile to “continue the dialogue and exchange in a spirit of good neighborhood to address issues related to the sovereign outlet to the Pacific Ocean, whose solution both parties have recognized as a matter of mutual interest”.

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