Ambassador Wagner welcomed peace initiatives led by prominent Peruvian and Chilean figures such as that of writers Mario Vargas Llosa and Jorge Edwards.

Wagner said that such initiatives "help highlight the importance of peace and the common destiny that our countries have."

Peru and Chile currently await for the begining of their oral arguments at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, scheduled for December 3, 2012. The hearings are expected to last until December 14.

Last month, Vargas Llosa and Edwards unveiled in Madrid a document entitled “Calling for Concord,” alluding to the Peru-Chile border, known as the Concord Line.

According to the document, if Peru and Chile were to permanently resolve the maritime dispute, “they would contribute to changing the image of Latin America in the modern world.”

Chile and Peru have been squabbling over the maritime border issue for years. While Peru maintains its maritime border with Chile has never been properly defined, Chile insists a pair of treaties signed in 1952 and 1954 resolved the issue.

The ICJ is expected to render a decision on the case in the first half of 2013.

(END) FPQ/GCO/RZZ/EEP