Chilean FM calls for stronger ties with Peru ahead of ICJ ruling

Chile should "care for and enhance" its ties with neighboring Peru, Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno said Monday, in the lead-up to an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on their maritime dispute. The United Nations court, based in The Hague, is expected to announce on Jan. 27 its decision on a suit filed by Peru in 2008 to complain that Chile encroached on its territorial waters. Moreno stressed the importance of good ties between nations sharing borders at a press conference following a meeting with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, leaders of the political parties and other officials, laying out Chile's position on the suit. "After the verdict is issued, we will continue to be neighbors, and to have relations, immigrants and a common future," said Moreno. He dismissed suggestions that Chile should reject the ruling if it turns out to benefit Peru. "Chile has been a signatory of Pact of Bogota (American Treaty on Pacific Settlement) since 1948, a treaty that obliges our country and all signatories to use the (ICJ) court, and it naturally gives the court authority to decide," said Moreno. Also Monday, Jose Antonio Garcia, Peru's representative to the court,said in an interview on Chilean television that he believed Peru and Chile would abide by the verdict. Both countries have previously said they would accept the court's decision. Peru's suit claims that there is no real maritime border treaty between the two, only an agreement designating fishing rights, while Chile maintains that in 1952 both countries signed a treaty on maritime boundaries.