Bolivia: Evo Morales Proposes Sea Access Plan to Chile

Bolivian President Evo Morales has proposed a five-year plan to Chile that would grant his country access to the Pacific Ocean. Morales said he is open to establishing diplomatic relations with Chile and invited Michelle Bachelet to travel to the Vatican to ask Pope Francis to mediate. Chile, however, dismissed the need for the intervention of a third party in the bilateral dispute. Bolivia lost its coastal territory after being defeated in the 1880s War of the Pacific.