Bolivian army officers and Aymara spiritual guides watch live transmission of a court session at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, where Bolivia presents its arguments for access to the sea, in Plaza Murillo in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, March 19, 2018. Bolivia made an emotional appeal for the court to order Chile to enter talks over granting the landlocked South American nation access to the Pacific Ocean, saying the dispute will remain a source of conflict if it's not resolved. Bolivia lost its only seacoast to Chile in a war between from 1879 to 1883. (AP Photo)

Bolivian army officers and Aymara spiritual guides watch live transmission of a court session at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, where Bolivia presents its arguments for access to the sea, in Plaza Murillo in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, March 19, 2018. Bolivia made an emotional appeal for the court to order Chile to enter talks over granting the landlocked South American nation access to the Pacific Ocean, saying the dispute will remain a source of conflict if it's not resolved. Bolivia lost its only seacoast to Chile in a war between from 1879 to 1883. (AP Photo)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Bolivia made an emotional appeal Monday for the International Court of Justice to order Chile to enter talks over granting its landlocked neighbor access to the Pacific Ocean, saying the dispute will remain a source of conflict if it’s not resolved.

Bolivia lost its only seacoast to Chile during a war that lasted between 1879 and 1883. The nation has demanded ocean access for generations and accuses Chile of reneging on pledges to negotiate.

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“For 139 years, Bolivia has suffered the historical injustice of becoming landlocked,” former Bolivian President Eduardo Rodriguez Veltze told judges at the world court’s headquarters, the Peace Palace, in the Netherlands. “Restoring Bolivia’s sovereign access to the sea would make a small difference to Chile, but it would transform the destiny of Bolivia.”

Chile argues that its border with Bolivia was settled in a 1904 treaty and that it’s not under any legal obligation to negotiate. Chile’s lawyers will present their case later this week.

Prof. Payam Akhavan, a lawyer representing Bolivia, said that despite the treaty, Chile had made repeated pledges to find a solution to the dispute.

“If the 1904 treaty settled all issues for all times, if there was no remaining dispute, why did the parties continue to negotiate sovereign access for more than a century?” he said.

“This case is not an academic exercise. It is not mere political posturing,” Akhavan told the International Court judges. “The people have suffered real and continuing injury. Chile cannot sweep this dispute under the carpet. It will remain a constant source of conflict until it is resolved.”

Hundreds of Bolivians followed the beginning of the trial on giant screens set up in public squares. In La Paz, traditional shamans performed an offering Monday to the Andean goddess Pachamama, which in English translates to Mother Earth, at the square in front of the presidential palace.

Vice President Alvaro Garcia, several cabinet ministers, military and police chiefs attended the ceremony.

In the Netherlands, Rodriguez said that Bolivia’s lack of direct access to the sea is holding back its economy.

“It is estimated that if Bolivia had not been stripped of the sea, the annual GDP (gross domestic product) growth could be at least 20 percent higher,” he told judges.

Rulings by the court, the United Nations’ highest judicial organ, are final and binding. Judges will likely take months to issue a decision.