The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heraldo Muñoz, chaired this morning an encounter with the Advisory Committee for the lawsuits in the International Court of Justice in The Hague between Chile and Bolivia.
The meeting, which took place in the Chancellery and run for over two hours, began with an intervention of Minister Muñoz. Later, the Agent of Chile's lawsuit against Bolivia and the State's National Director of Frontiers and Borders, Ximena Fuentes, alongside with the Agent in the Obligation to Negotiate case, Claudio Grossman, exposed the state of affairs in their respective causes and the future legal steps.
On July 3rd, Chile presented its Memorial to the International Court of Justice regarding the Río Silala Lawsuit. Meanwhile, the Fixed Tribunal set the coming September 21st as the deadline to present the Rejoinder of the Obligation to Negotiate case. After the appointment, Foreign Minister Muñoz confirmed that the Chilean Rejoinder will be presented before the deadline.
Minister Muñoz also highlighted "the positive state of mind in the meeting and the concrete expressions of national unity in relation to these cases; meaning, the support of every group represented in this Council to defend Chile's national interests, as we will continue to do".
Along with this, Minister Muñoz informed that during the encounter they also dealt with the condition of the Bilateral Relations with Bolivia, including the conduction of the XII Frontier and Integration Committee, which took place in Santa Cruz last July 25th.
The Foreign Minister emphasised that said meeting was brought about as "a result of a proposal from Chile" and that "highly positive results" emerged from it, as well as subsequent meetings "to address matters such as the devolution of the stolen cars, customs issues, phytosanitary, the operation of Integrated Control in the new Chugará Complex and other matters of practical and technical cooperation".
The Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Edgardo Riveros, also took part in the encounter with the Advisory Committee, as well as civil, military, academic representatives and International Affairs experts.