The last few weeks have seen an avalanche of triumphalism from different areas and with different styles and nuances:from the "poetic" bombast of rancid political leaders, in search of points for their personal interests , to the subtleties of the conventional press that stimulated the bannering of houses and the distribution of whistles, rattles and banners to celebrate in the Plaza Mayor, in front of a giant screen, the supposed triumph of Peru in the reading of the ruling of the International Court of The Hague . However, it is necessary to note that, even though the result has been partially favorable, there are some pending reflections that we must make in relation to the attitudes, reactions and follow-up proposals that ordinary citizens are called to make, beyond what that they can implement from the government offices of both countries.
The image of a crowd of compatriots shouting “Peru! Peru! Peru!" with red and white polo shirts, banners and jester hats, as if it were a football game, while in Tacna, simultaneously with these misplaced celebrations, the inhabitants of the Heroic City expressed their discontent at being practically without a beach, after hearing and about everything, after seeing, the new map of maritime limits that the fifteen Thursdays, of the highest level, have drawn to put an end and limit -at least as far as they are concerned- this maritime dispute.
And we say that it is “disturbing” because it expresses, beyond misinformation, a worrying substratum of not recognizing the Peruvian brother who does not live in Lima. Why is it celebrated loudly in the Historic Center, almost vulgarly and brazenly, while on the border with Chile no one, not even the highest authorities, showed up to encourage and comfort the population of Tacna in the face of the result? and its true implications.
Reading in the main written media in Lima headlines like this "Peru won 50 kilometers of sea" is another issue worth reflecting on before assuming a triumphalist position. Have we really "won" anything? Could it be that we have, in any case, recovered a portion of the sea that was abandoned by our own diplomacy and political class for years, after the bloody Pacific War , also known as “from guano and saltpetre”?
The attitude of Chilean politicians -from its current president to lower-ranking agents and journalists of all kinds- shows that, in addition to not accepting what was said by the Court presided over by the Slovak Peter Tomka , continue to maintain that they are the owners of all that sea and that the rest, although it does not belong to them, should not belong to Peru either, an issue that is openly provocative. Even the fact of setting conditions reveals that there is not much of a friendly in the future Peru-Chile , although that assertion is not to the liking of fanatic businessmen of "separate strings".
By ruling in this way, the Court of The Hague what he is telling us Peruvians is this:you let this situation happen for decades, therefore we do not return everything you ask for, no matter how much yours, but rather we give only a part. That is to say, it is like a punishment for the historical apathy, for the diplomatic inaction of the past. In any case, after six years of international deliberations, with all the expenses in time and money that this implies, it is an understandable sanction. That should be accepted, but not celebrated.
And what The Hague tells Chileans is that, by virtue of this sort of jurisprudence, based on custom and the 1952 Fisheries Agreements (which are not Treaties as established in the ruling, even though they continue to be called that in Chile), the line drawn is not the bisector but rather the perpendicular, contrary to any geographical law and, out of respect for the investiture of the court, they have to accept and implement it immediate. No delays or conditioning or tantrums. The latter, as is evident everywhere, our neighbors to the south are not doing.
This interpretation seeks to appeal to sanity. Another school year will begin and our students, at least the most alert and least stupefied by the “entertainment” programs on channels 4 and 9, will launch all kinds of questions at us on this subject. And it is necessary not only that we are prepared with general information, which abounds on the internet. But also with some reflection born of the intellect and not guided by concepts, sometimes incomplete and other times, totally opposed to reality -as demonstrated by seeing the reaction of the Tacneños, so different from that of the Limeños- that spread through the ordinary press.