PERU: THERE IS A TREATY ABOUT MARITIME DELIMITATIONS

PERU REAFFIMS TREATY OF ANCON
IN ADDRESSING TERRITORIAL DISPUTES

LIMA - Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Garcia Belaunde reaffirmed the Treaty of Ancon (1929)'s role in addressing territorial disputes related to former Peruvian territories on Wednesday. The 1929 treaty stipulates that any decision on territories before the Pacific War (1879-1883) had to be done with Peru's participation. Garcia Belaunde's reaffirmation came after Bolivian President Evo Morales claimed that Peru's dispute with Chile over maritime delimitations kept Bolivia from having a sea outlet. "If Morales considers that Peru wants to impede Bolivia to have a sea outlet, it means that there needs to be a negotiation," Peruvian President Alan Garcia said. Garcia Belaunde said they wanted clear and transparent ties between neighbors because there was a treaty.

In 1929, through the mediation of the United States, Peru and Chile signed the Treaty of Ancon. Under this treaty, Chile gets Arica which used to belong to Peru before the Pacific War (1879-1883). However, Chile cannot make any decisions regarding Arica's sovereignty without Peru's participation. But Peru's relations with Bolivia have traditionally been amicable — at heart, they've got more in common than not. They share Lake Titicaca, believed to be the birthplace of the Incas, whose Peruvian-based empire stretched from Colombia to Argentina. And Bolivia was a Peruvian province called "Upper Peru" under Spanish rule. The two countries waged a joint war against Chile in the 1880s in which Bolivia, now landlocked, lost its Pacific coastline, and Peru a chunk of its southern territory. But ideological differences between Peruvian President Alan Garcia and Bolivian President Evo Morales have distanced the brotherly neighbors. Morales, a left-leaning, Aymara Indian ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and an adamant opponent of free trade, has bristled at Garcia's efforts to spread his free-trade fervor to the Andean Community trade group. Relations further soured when Garcia's government granted asylum to three ex-Bolivian ministers whom Morales is looking to prosecute for their alleged roles in a bloody massacre of protesters in 2003. Morales has called the hefty Garcia "fatty," and labeled him and former President George W. Bush "the worst presidents in the world."

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

From early histories it appears that the entire earth was under one culture, Vedic culture, but gradually, due to religious and cultural divisions, the rule fragmented into many subdivisions. Now the earth is divided into many countries, religions and political parties. Despite these political and religious divisions, we advocate that everyone should unite again under one culture — Krishna consciousness. ... So-called caste systems and national divisions are artificial. According to our Vaisnava philosophy, these are all external bodily designations. The Krishna consciousness movement is not based upon bodily designations. It is a transcendental movement on the platform of spiritual understanding. If the people of the world understood that the basic principle of life is spiritual identification, they would understand that the business of the spirit soul is to serve the Supreme Spirit, Krishna.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
"Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrta - Madhya-līlā - Chapter 25 - Verse 193"