Bolivia is taking Chile to court over a war it lost 134 years ago — and it reenacted a pivotal battle on the final day of the case

An officer salutes during a reenactment of the battle of Canchas Blancas during the 1879 Pacific War, in Potosi, Bolivia March 28, 2018.

REUTERS/David Mercado

• Bolivia signed a treaty ending the War of the Pacific in 1884, granting Chile 240 miles of coastline.
• That coastline is Bolivia's only outlet to the sea.
• More than 130 years later, Bolivia's government has taken Chile to the The Hague to reclaim access to the Pacific.

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In April 1884, Bolivia signed a treaty ending the War of the Pacific, granting Chile 240 miles of coastline — and Bolivia's only outlet to the sea.

More than 130 years later, Bolivia's government has taken Chile to the The Hague to reclaim access to the Pacific.

Bolivia won the right to argue its case before the court in late 2015, and the two countries delivered their final arguments this month. On March 28 — the day Chile made its final statement to the court — Bolivian President Evo Morales led his country's army in a recreation of its 1879 victory at the Battle of Canchas Blancas.

Chile granted Bolivia trading access to the Pacific through its territory in a 1904 treaty in exchange for making the territorial loss permanent. But Morales said this month that Chile offered "no guarantee of free movement of people or goods," and Bolivia's lawyers have said the country only wants the court to ensure "Chile return to the negotiating table in good faith."

Chile has argued that previous treaties settled the matter, telling the court Bolivia wants "to force Chile to negotiate in perpetuity until its obsession is fulfilled."

Below, you can see how Bolivia recreated a victory in a war it's still contesting today.

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