Bolivian ambassador to Havana Palmiro Soria described as essential the gestures of solidarity so brilliantly expressed in the letter sent by Fidel Castro to President Evo Morales.

In statements to the Cuban news agency, the diplomat recalled that the letter sent to Evo Morales on March 23rd expresses Fidel’s position in favor of the legitimate claim by the Bolivian government for an access to the ocean.

He said that Fidel’s message instill courage and sentiments in the Bolivian people, since that is the way true friends act like by giving a proof of solidarity among revolutionaries.

Soria recalled that the economic damage inflicted on his country include the systematic limitation to freedom of trade and to business opportunities, along with the regulations imposed by Chilean customs.

The loss undergone by Bolivia go between 150 to 190 million dollars a year, standing for 3 to 4 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product without excluding the cost for transportation, customs, harbor operations among others.

The Pacific War broke out in 1879 with the involvement of Chile, under the umbrella and sponsorship of Britain; Bolivia and Peru, said the diplomat and he noted that as a consequence of that war his country lost access to the ocean and with it 400 kilometers along the coast and 120 thousand square kilometers, an area larger that the island of Cuba.

The cause of the conflict was interest in the large source of resources such as guano, used as natural fertilizer, and saltpeter, usually used to produce explosives.

A treaty in 1904 put an end to what actually was an occupation war in which Bolivia was forced to sign the document under the pressure of the weapons, said the diplomat.