War of the Pacific (again)

You may recall that Peru has persistently demanded that a change in its maritime border with Chile. In August 2007 the government published a map showing how much more it should get, and then in January 2008 it announced it was taking the case to the International Court of Justice.

Now the Chilean Foreign Minister, Mariano Fernández, went on TV and started criticizing Peru's case. He noted that it would be extremely difficult for Peru to get anything because it had no facts on its side. He also pointed out that Peruvian complaints about Chilean aggression were exaggerated, because Chile had not been in a war since 1885, whereas Peru fought against Ecuador in 1995. I'm not sure what he hoped to accomplish by taking public swipes at Peru on such a delicate topic.

For anyone interested, the ICJ documents can be found here. Peru presented its argument in March 2009 (see here). Chile is not required to present its own case until March 2010.