Andean Group - February 2008 (ISSN 1741-4466)

Peru finally got around to presenting its maritime boundary dispute with Chile before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague on 16 January. In a sign of just how seriously he is taking it, President Alan Garcí­a removed his defence minister, Allan Wagner, from his post in order to head Peru's case. Garcí­a also made an exceptional appearance before congress to announce the suit: he would normally only visit congress once a year to present his state-of-the-nation address.

Garcí­a said he deeply regretted having to take legal action but that negotiations had failed to resolve the issue, leaving this as the only "civilised and sensible" option. This did not placate the Chilean government, which accused Peru of making an unfriendly gesture and stressed that talks towards a bilateral FTA would now be put on the backburner.

"The government of Chile profoundly laments this presentation," Chile's foreign minister, Alejandro Foxley, said. President Michelle Bachelet has appointed the deputy foreign minister, Alberto van Klaveren, to preside over Chile's defence from Santiago: a team of legal experts will be in situ in The Hague.

Peru, while making a big show of playing down the tension with Chile, appears to be upping the stakes in the dispute. Although its case before The Hague is confined to establishing the maritime boundary (Peru claims that the bilateral treaties signed in the 1950s were only accords over fishing rights), the government presented a new bill to congress delineating its land border with Chile.

This claims that Peru's land border begins at the obelisk marking the coastal Punto de la Concordia, about 220 metres southwest of the inland Marker N º1, in the province of Tacna. This is the same point from which Peru based its maritime claim, drawing an 'equidistant' line in a south-westerly direction out some 200 nautical miles to sea. Peru might try and add this bill to its case.

• Healing the rift

"Here there is only one cause, and the cause is Chile," President Michelle Bachelet said on 14 January, after meeting the leaders of all of the country's political parties. They pledged their complete support for the government in the maritime dispute with Peru. This temporary show of unity provided some respite for Bachelet, as the ruling Concertación succumbs to infighting: defections from the Democracia Cristiana have cost the coalition its majority in both chambers of congress. The opposition Alianza por Chile also rallied behind Bachelet, although this show of unity is unlikely to stretch to other issues.