Chile rejects Peru's protest on border issue
The Chilean government has resolutely rejected a note of protest from Peru over the sea border between the two countries, the Chilean Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

Peru's Foreign Minister Jose Garcia Belaunde told Peruvian reporters on Saturday that the government had lodged a note of protest to Chile against the latter's attempts to mix up issues concerning land and sea borderlines and to uphold Peru's stand on maritime demarcation.

The Chilean Foreign Ministry rejected the protest and said it was improper to make the dispute public.

In 1954, Chile and Peru signed an agreement on their sea borders, but the document was too vague and maritime demarcation has become an obstacle in their bilateral relations.

According to the Peruvian government, the dispute stems from a maritime disagreement in which Chile uses the parallel line to establish its maritime frontier.

Santiago has argued that the frontier is not a coastal site called Concordia, but at boundary stone No. 1 located to the northeast and 200 meters inland.