Geopolitics of the
Colombia-Nicaragua Spat
By Chris Kraul
Colombia's dispute with
Nicaragua over three
Caribbean islands and
thousands of square
miles of rich fishing
grounds surrounding them
has heated up.
Nicaraguan naval vessels
seized a Honduran
fishing boat east of the
82nd meridian in waters
claimed by Colombia.
Days later Colombian
ships drove Nicaraguan
fishing boats out of the
same area, prompting a
Nicaraguan note of
protest.
Tensions have risen
since the International
Court of Justice ruled
in December to uphold a
1928 treaty that gave
possession of the
islands of Providencia,
San Andres and Santa
Catalina to Colombia.
But the court also said
it would consider
whether Nicaragua might
have a legitimate claim
to territorial waters,
also now controlled by
Colombia.
Ever since, Nicaraguan
President Daniel Ortega
has maintained that
Colombia's claim to
fishing grounds are
invalid, and made
statements implying that
Nicaragua would not shy
away from using its
military to enforce its
claim. He alluded to his
alliance with Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez.
"Whoever touches
Nicaragua touches
Venezuela, and whoever
touches Venezuela,
touches Nicaragua,"
Ortega told reporters
recently. On Thursday,
Nicaraguan Foreign
Minister Samuel Santos
assured the Organization
of American States that
it would resolve the
dispute "by means of
dialogue."
The Colombian government
has remained silent in
the face of Ortega's
darts.
In an interview with the
Colomban magazine Semana,
former foreign minister
Augusto Ramriez Ocampo
said that Ortega is
deliberately trying to
provoke Colombia to help
his friend and patron
Chavez by
"internationalizing"
Chavez's critcism of
Colombia as a war-like
nation, useful in his
campaign to legitizimize
the leftist rebel group
FARC.
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