pleadings at the ICJ concerning the waters of the Silala

This Monday, April 4, the Bolivian pleadings began before the International Court of Justice in the dispute between Bolivia and Chile concerning the waters of the Silala River shared by the two countries. This decades-old dispute will therefore be settled by international justice, as was the dispute over Bolivia’s access to the sea.

From our correspondent in La Paz, Alice Campaignolle

The waters of Silala have been unleashing passions for several decades now. The source of the river is in the south of Bolivia, 4 kilometers from the Chilean border, in the middle of the desert, and its waters have been used by the Chilean neighbor since the beginning of the last century, because the river flows naturally towards the west, therefore, towards Chile.


The Silala River, which originates in Bolivia, then joins the Loa River which empties into the Pacific in Chile.

What opposes the two countries is that Bolivia demands payment for the use of these waters which it considers its own. And not only the current payment, but also the reimbursement for the use of the resource since the beginning of the 20th century.

A demand ” absurd according to the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs. Chile asks the ICJ to declare the Silala an international river and to stipulate its “equitable and reasonable” use. The Chileans maintain that due to the natural slope, the water they use has no impact on Bolivia. “Due to gravity, water can only flow in Chilean territory,” reads the text from the Foreign Ministry.

►Also read: Border conflicts: fever outbreak between Bolivia and Chile

The maritime precedent of 2018

Today, like yesterday, Bolivia is presenting its arguments before the The Hague lawyers. This dispute between the two countries began in 2016 when Bolivian-Chilean relations were at their worst. Chile and Bolivia have not maintained diplomatic relations since 1978, after unsuccessful negotiations aimed at resolving Bolivia’s claim for access to the sea. In October 2018, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that Chile could not be required to negotiate with Bolivia, which is seeking to regain access to the Pacific Ocean lost to the benefit of its neighbor at the end of a four-year war in 1883. The Bolivians had then lost nearly 400 km of coastline along the Atacama Desert and 120,000 km2 of territory.

For several weeks, a left-wing president has been at the helm of Chile, Gabriel Boricjust like the Bolivian President Luis Arce. But that apparently won’t alter the course of Chile’s legal claim. The Court’s decision is expected in November 2022.



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