Bolivians Mobilize To Demand Access to Pacific

Edited by Pavel Jacomino
2017-03-22 16:35:44

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La Paz, March 22 (RHC-TeleSur)-- Thousands of Bolivians participated Tuesday in the "March of the Blue Hearts" in solidarity with the government's demand against Chile at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), for regained access to the Pacific Ocean.

Dressed in blue and holding white balloons, activists, students and state officials marched from four different departure points towards the capital's San Francisco Square. Moving to the rhythm of Indigenous Aymara music, the march coincided with a social media campaign under the hashtag #marparabolivia, or "sea for Bolivia" in English.

Bolivian ministers have submitted a claim to The International Court of Justice at The Hague to have the international court recognize Bolivia's right to recover sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean.

Bolivia's original borders included access to the Pacific Ocean, but Chile snatched 400 kilometers of coastline and 120,000 square kilometers of territories rich in minerals during an 1879 invasion.

Over the years, Bolivia's maritime demand has received support from several governments, political leaders and world personalities, including popes Juan Pablo II and Francis.

Nobel Peace Prize winners Rigoberta Menchú and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, as well as Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, have all expressed their support for a peaceful solution which would allow Bolivia to recover access to the coast.



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