Chile-Peru Squabble Over Six Football Pitches of Sand and Rock
- Two nations have rival claims to sovereignty of border area
- Hague court ruling resolved maritime border dispute last year
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Andean neighbors Chile and Peru are at it again. After resolving a decades-old dispute over their maritime border last year, talks to deepen integration have broken down over a patch of arid sand and rock the size of six soccer fields -- and that is when the tide is out.
Peru’s President Ollanta Humala on Saturday signed a law creating a municipality on its southern border that includes an coastal area measuring 3.7 hectares (9.1 acres) claimed by Chile. Chile’s Foreign Ministry said the triangle-shaped territory is “unquestionably Chilean” and canceled a meeting with Peruvian ministers scheduled for next month.