President Ricardo Lagos on Wednesday reaffirmed that "Chile will continue claiming sovereignty over its maritime territory," in response to a controversial Peruvian bill proposing to redraw sea borders between the two countries.

"What we're doing is simply to explain the situation and point out that Chile is asserting its sovereignty over the Chilean sea and that we will continue doing so," Lagos told reporters.

The recent visits by Osvaldo Puccio, Chilean government spokesman, to Brazil and Argentina were intended to explain Chile's position on the sea border disputes with Peru, he said.

The issue should be addressed in a cautious way, he noted.

Asked about the possibility of meeting his Peruvian counterpart Alejandro Toledo during the 4th Summit of the Americas, due to take place on Friday at the Argentine city of Mar del Plata, Lagos said no meeting of this kind has been included on the agenda at the moment.

The Peruvian Congress is expected to vote Thursday on a bill proposing a new "bottom line" of the country's maritime territory, which claims sovereignty over a sea territory covering about 39,000 square kilometers from Chile.

From 1879 to 1883, Chile fought the War of Pacific against Peru and Bolivia, winning Bolivia's only sea outlet Antofagasta.

According to the Chilean government, Chile's border dispute with Peru was already resolved in the 1952 and 1954 treaties. But Peru claimed that it never signed any maritime demarcation treaties with Chile.

Source: Xinhua