Colombian President says he will not allow Nicaraguan oil exploration in disputed waters
August 5th, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) The president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, reiterated Thursday that Nicaragua will not be allowed to provide blocks for oil exploration in the waters that Colombia considers its own.
“[Our letter of protest] was sufficiently clear and compelling: we will not allow for any reason Colombian waters to be offered or not even intended for any oil exploration,” the president said in an interview with the private television station RCN.
Santos also insisted that certain waters offered by Managua are in the Seaflower maritime reserve, and could not be exploited.
“There should not be, for reasons of environmental care, any exploitation of oil [in the reserve],” he said.
On Monday, the Colombian government sent a note of protest to Nicaragua, after reporting that this country is offering blocks for offshore hydrocarbon exploitation in some parts of the Caribbean that correspond to Colombia.
But on Wednesday, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said that these concessions are in the maritime areas that apply to his country and that “Costa Rica and Colombia “falsely” claim as their own.
The International Court of Justice ruled on November 2012, a border dispute between Nicaragua and Colombia over the Archipelago, in which Bogota recognized sovereignty over the islands of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina, and on the adjacent keys, and granted Managua maritime corridors.
Santos said his country has legal instruments to mitigate this ruling, but declined to give details indicating that they are being “tuned.”
Last May, Nicaragua stated that it was considering another lawsuit against Colombia before the International Court of Justice to claim the entire 200 miles of continental shelf which it believes is rightfully Nicaraguan.
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