Minister Allamand and anniversary of the Hague ruling: "The country achieved a good result, mainly because it worked together"

Gather and thank all the people who were key during the process. This was the feeling expressed at the meeting held at La Moneda Palace to celebrate the second anniversary of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling declaring that Chile is not obliged to negotiate a sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean with Bolivia.

The event was led by President Sebastián Piñera and attended by Chancellor Andrés Allamand, Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs Carolina Valdivia, the agents in the case, Felipe Bulnes, José Miguel Insulza and Claudio Grossman, co-agent Alfonso Silva and former ministers of foreign affairs Alfredo Moreno, Heraldo Muñoz and Roberto Ampuero, as well as Ximena Fuentes, who is currently Chile's agent in the Silala case.

"The whole process was a demonstration that in Chile foreign policy is a state policy. The country achieved a good result, mainly because it worked together: putting its best people to defend the country's best interests, and now, from this ruling, we can begin to envision a different future with Bolivia," explained Minister Allamand.

On the other hand - and together with thanking those present at the meeting for their work - the Minister of Foreign Affairs explained that the country is seeking to promote a policy of "progressive approximation" with Bolivia, in order to move forward in greater collaboration in various aspects. This is within the framework established by the ICJ ruling and international treaties.

"We must have the prudence, but also the opportunity, to move forward in greater economic, social and, where appropriate, political collaboration. But this is based precisely on respect for the Treaty of 1904 and the Hague ruling. That is why we wanted to bear witness, in the way I have indicated, to the gratitude that Chile as a whole has for the team that worked on this process," stressed Chancellor Andrés Allamand.