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Bolivia to refer water dispute with Chile to ICJ: Morales

Sunday, 27 March 2016 2:05 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 27 March 2016 2:15 AM ]

Bolivian President Evo Morales answers questions from the press at Quemado palace in La Paz on February 24, 2016. (AFP photo)

Bolivian President Evo Morales has announced a decision to file a new legal suit over a water dispute with neighboring Chile at The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ).

"We have decided as a pacifist country to go to The Hague so that Chile respects our water in Silala," Morales said during a public event in the capital La Paz on Saturday, referring to a spring in the southwest district of Potosi.

Bolivia claims ownership of the Silala spring and complains that it is not being compensated by Chile for the use of its waters, which flow across their common border.

This is while the Chilean government insists that Silala is an international waterway as Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz has threatened to file a counterclaim against Bolivia.

The Bolivian move would mark the second legal action La Paz has taken against Santiago at the international tribunal that oversees disputes between nations.

The tribunal agreed in 2015 to consider another century-old legal dispute between the two Latin American countries, in which Bolivia seeks to regain previously-held access to the Pacific Ocean.

Bolivia became landlocked after being defeated by Chile in a four-year war at the end of the 19th century.

Following several futile negotiations with Santiago over the persisting water dispute, La Paz launched a formal complaint at the ICJ for the first time in April 2013.

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