Fox urges new OAS chief to address Bolivia's sea access demand
Mexican President Vicente Fox on Tuesday urged the new secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS) to address the Bolivian demand to Chile for a sea access.

One of the obligations to be fulfilled by the new OAS chief, Chilean Interior Minister Jose Miguel Insulza, is to "sort conflicts out," Fox told a press conference in La Paz, Bolivia's seat of government.

For the sake of regional unity, Bolivia's demand for a sea access should be supported and the land dispute between Bolivia and Chile should be solved, said Fox, who was in Bolivia for a 24-hour visit.

"In the end we think it is very important that a solution comes and that it must be reached in harmony, guaranteeing the interests of Bolivia and Chile," he said.

Mexico withdrew the candidacy of its Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez on April 11 to prevent a "polarization" after five rounds of elections between Derbez and Insulza ended in a draw. It criticized Chile for not having done the same.

Bolivian President Carlos Mesa demanded Insulza commit himself to consistency in the OAS attitude toward the territorial dispute between Bolivia and Chile.

Relations between Bolivia and Chile have been strained in the past months after Bolivia decided to revive the historical demand that Chile return the territories with a sea access it lost in a war, when Chile gained more than 120,000 square km of Bolivian soil and 400 km of its coastline.

Bolivia and Mexico abstained in Insulza's election on Monday in Washington, where the OAS is headquartered.