On the border dispute between Nicaragua and Costa Rica:

Nov. 9, 2010 - PRLog -- Recently, there’s been frenzy in the media regarding alleged territorial disputes between Nicaragua and Costa Rica along the San Juan River. Although much has been said, we’d like to provide objective, factual information in order to shed some light on this issue and inform the public on Nicaragua’s position.

First of all, there is no doubt the San Juan River belongs to Nicaragua, as dictated by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on July 13th, 2009. Although Nicaragua holds all rights over the river, through this same verdict Costa Rica was recognized its right to navigate, for commercial purposes, the area of the river whose south edge served as a border between the countries in 1858. The aforementioned sentence also clearly states that “Nicaragua has the right to dredge the San Juan River in order to re-establish the water flow existent in 1858, even when it affects the flow of water of other river mouths, such as the Colorado River”.

In 1858, the Cañas–Jerez Treaty established the border limits between Nicaragua and Costa Rica along the San Juan River. However, the river’s original course has been changing since the signing of the treaty due to the drying up of this historic river, and the geography in the area has been transformed. As a consequence, Costa Rica appears to have “gained” territory, in particular an island of approximately 25 thousand square feet called Harbor Head; however, this is politically incorrect. The Alexander and Cleveland Agreements, which in addition to the Cañas-Jerez Treaty precisely define the border and have all been accepted by both countries, grant Nicaragua total rights over Harbor Head, which Costa Rica now intends to call Calero Island and claims has been illegally occupied by Nicaragua.

The current presence of Nicaraguan military personnel in the island has the objective of protecting dredging activities in the area and also to combat drug trafficking along the border. They in no way represent an intention of hostility or threat to Costa Rica and its citizens, moreover, Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua, has publicly announced its commitment to a peaceful resolution of this dispute through the corresponding international organizations.

Costa Rica has already requested the Organization of American States (OAS) to intervene in this issue; however, the OAS is not mandated to mediate in border conflicts between countries. The proper international organization to address this matter would be the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, which is what Nicaragua has openly proposed to Costa Rica in order to resolve the current dispute, but has received no answer from the latter.

Even more so, President Ortega has proposed that both countries, through a bi-national committee, put into place boundary markers in order to clearly define the limits between the territories, but there has been no response on behalf of Costa Rica. Between 1994 and 2004, technical teams from both countries agreed on 136 markers to establish the western part of the border, but Costa Rica has only been willing to officially ratify 17 of those it had co-established itself, raising concerns about its commitment to this process.

Nicaragua has acted within its rights and sovereignty to guarantee its territory’s integrity, legally established through past bi-national agreements signed by both parties. Nicaragua has not and does not intend to violate foreign territory or engage in an international conflict, on the contrary, President Ortega has emphasized Nicaragua will settle this issue through peaceful, diplomatic means, therefore contributing to the ongoing effort to develop respectful relations with all countries and work towards the region’s unity. Unfortunately, Costa Rica has presented the case as a conflict instead of as a border dispute, although in reality there has not been any physical confrontation between the countries.