PARTICIPANT: IVONNE GRACE FLORES YUCRA

BACK TO THE SEA

135 years had to pass since the Chilean troops invaded the Bolivian coast, cutting off our access to
the Pacific. For many years we contained all the indignation after the looting of which we were the
only victims.

In the 20th century there were three attempts at conciliation. The first promoted by Salvador
Allende and aborted by the coup d'état of 1973; the second proposed by the dictator Augusto
Pinochet but which also did not prosper due to a consultation clause with Peru; and the third
in 2010, during Michelle Bachelet's first term, in a 13-point dialogue agenda that included
maritime demand, an initiative that fell on deaf ears during the government of Sebastián
Piñera.

After so much time has passed, for the first time a national leader dares to present a petition
before the International Court of Justice, stating that “The sea for Bolivians is inalienable, Bolivia
will never be left in peace until this issue is resolved.” , thus making known the fervent and deep
feelings of all Bolivian inhabitants.

The document presented, of more than 200 pages, contains the legal, moral and historical
arguments of the lawsuit filed on April 24, 2013, in which Bolivia demands its “original and
legitimate right” to recover maritime sovereignty and requests the ICJ “declare that Chile has the
obligation to negotiate in good faith a prompt and effective agreement.” Now the Chilean
government has two options: request the incompetence of the ICJ in the next 90 days or prepare a
counter-memorial until February 18, 2015. (National Press. The Reason 2014)

We could well remember what happened many years ago, where the discovery of saltpeter
deposits in the Atacama Desert had awakened the voracity of Chilean companies and their British
allies.

So on February 14, 1879, the Chilean Navy occupied the Bolivian port of Antofagasta and began
the so-called “War of the Pacific”, without prior declaration of war and against an unsuspecting
nation.

This conflict ended with a logical inequality of conditions, that even with the cooperation of the
Peruvian troops, Chile ends up taking away 120 thousand km2 of territory and 400 km of coast.
Bolivia thus loses the Litoral Department with its ports and is left orphaned by the sea.

Under pressure, the “Treaty of Peace and Friendship” was signed in 1904, this being the main
Chilean argument to discredit the claim that we have been making for years.

Due to this background, President Evo Morales, after the omission of President Piñera, in March
2011, Morales announced the decision to go to international organizations and created the
Strategic Directorate of Maritime Claims and in April of last year, he appointed the former
 PARTICIPANT: IVONNE GRACE FLORES YUCRA

agent Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé as agent before The Hague and the formal complaint was
presented.

So far we do not have a positive or negative response, arguing that due to the fact that it is a
delicate situation that has been going on for so many years, it is difficult to make a decision
and defend that position.

Personally, I rescue the words of Isabel Allende, when she said: “We will walk together in the
great historical task of Latin America. The time has come for the great reparation of an
injustice committed against Bolivia: Chile has a centuries-old debt with Bolivia and we are
willing to undertake a historic solution", if all our Chilean brothers recognized and thought in
the same way, our reality today would be different. Today, in addition to managing to recover
our maritime sovereignty, we would establish ties of brotherhood between two neighboring
countries, putting an end once and for all to all the quarrels and disputes that we have been
exchanging, through our State leaders or between individuals.

Our desires to maintain a diplomatic situation in this regard were in vain, since it is clear that
Chile refuses to make conciliation agreements regarding the maritime issue, the only thing left
to do is wait, be very patient so that one day we can finally recover that that we once lost in
the most unfair and abrupt way possible.

The last thing that Chile can take away from us are our dreams and desires to one day feel
that freedom again, to finally be able to navigate our waters without any oppression or
discrimination.

We have a lot to learn from our children, because they do not know about anger, enmities or
differences, if only we were like them today we would be declaring peace and not war, we
would be celebrating our return to the sea and not in unknown, we would be contemplating
the Coast, not only longing for it and finally we would be changing our history, stopping
dreaming while awake.