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UN / BOLIVIA ACCESS TO PACIFIC
STORY: UN / BOLIVIA ACCESS TO PACIFIC
TRT: 2.20
SOURCE: UNIFEED – UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGAUGE: SPANISH / NATS
DATELINE: 5 SEPTEMBER 2014, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
5 SEPTEMBER 2014, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, dais
3. Med shot, reporters
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Carlos Mesa, Former President of Bolivia:
“Since 1904 till today Bolivia and Chile have made various efforts, Bolivia in particular, to be granted access to a sovereign port. Mindful that this has not been attained after over 100 years of negotiations since 1904, Bolivia has decided, and this has been a decision of President Morales, to present its case in front of the International Court of Justice.”
5. Med shot, reporter
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Carlos Mesa, Former President of Bolivia:
“What Bolivia is asking the Court, based on Chile’s unilateral commitment, reaffirmed seven times since the 1904 agreement, is, one, that Chile is obliged to sit down and negotiate with Bolivia, assuming the Court will decide in our favour, this is what we are requesting; two, that negotiations between Chile and Bolivia are conducted in good faith; three, that these negotiations take place based on reasonable grounds and historical precedents, allowing the negotiations to take place based on common criteria in the view of both parties; four, that it is done in a limited timeframe, that is not open ended; and five, that the end result of this dialogue will be to grant Bolivia a sovereign access to the sea.”
7. Med shot, reporter
8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Carlos Mesa, Former President of Bolivia:
“Bolivia lost 120 thousand square kilometres of coastline. That is bigger than Panama, bigger than Greece, bigger than Hungary. And we had 400 lineal kilometres of coastline. What Bolivia is suggesting is sovereign access within a potentially very small geographical space. In consequence, in objective terms we don’t believe that this will be detrimental for Chile, but instead, full resumption of relations at all levels.”
9. Med shot, reporters
10. Wide shot, end of presser
Following a meeting with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Former Bolivian President Carlos Mesa told reporters today (5 Sept) that after 110 years of bilateral conversations with Chile over the question of access to the Pacific, his country had decided to take the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Mesa said that what Bolivia is asking the Court “is based in on Chile’s unilateral commitment, reaffirmed seven times since the 1904 agreement.”
These demands include, he said, “one, that Chile is obliged to sit and negotiate with Bolivia, assuming the Court will decide in our favour, this is what we are requesting; two, that negotiations between Chile and Bolivia are conducted in good faith; three, that these negotiations take place founded on reasonable grounds, based on historical precedents, allowing the negotiations to take place based on common criteria in the view of both parties; four, that it is done in a limited timeframe, that is not open ended; and five, that the end result of this dialogue will be to grant Bolivia a sovereign access to the sea.”
The former President noted that after the War of the Pacific in 1879, Bolivia lost 120 thousand square kilometres of coastline to Chile, a territory “bigger than Panama, bigger than Greece, bigger than Hungary.”
He said the current demands are for “a potentially very small geographical space” and “will be detrimental for Chile.”
Chile has impugned the ICC competency in the matter, as the Court was formed after the 1904 agreement between the two parties.
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