The President of the Republic, Michelle Bachelet, accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heraldo Muñoz, and Chile's agent to The Hague, Felipe Bulnes, met this morning with the presidents of political parties to exchange views on the Memoire filed by Bolivia to the International Court of Justice.
After the encounter, Minister Muñoz highlighted the positive atmosphere of the meeting and the willingness shown by the presidents of political parties of both government and opposition: "The President of the Republic and myself as well as the agent, have provided information on the different meetings and analyses we have made on the Bolivian claim against Chile; the party leaders have made some questions and comments. It has been an important, significant discussion.
As to the main topics discussed in the meeting, the Minister noted that "two items have been basically expressed: That Chile's legal reply to Bolivia has to be a State policy and, therefore, a support to the position that it may eventually be adopted by the President, whether to challenge the jurisdiction of the Court, if such is the case, within the preliminary term of 90 days or otherwise along with the counter-memorial. Then, they expressed the hope that Chile also has a policy of economic, border, transport facilitation integration with Bolivia and Latin America, an issue that the President is strongly willing to address."