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20 years

Border dispute between Costa Rica, Nicaragua flares up again

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Nicaraguan workers pull a tree from the Rio San Juan near the Costa Rican side of the river as a Costa Rican police officer looks on. (Foreign Ministry Photo)

Nicaraguan workers pull a tree from the Rio San Juan near the Costa Rican side of the river as a Costa Rican police officer looks on. (Foreign Ministry Photo)

 

November 19th, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) The ongoing territorial dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua over the flow of the Rio San Juan and rights to Calero Island is once again sparking bickering between the Central American neighbors.

 

Costa Rica’s Foreign Ministry and Public Security Ministry alleged yesterday that the government of Nicaragua has violated Costa Rican sovereign territory as part Nicaragua’s ongoing dredging operations on the Rio San Juan.

 

Costa Rican officials claim that workers employed by the Nicaragua government have cut down and poisoned trees on Costa Rican soil as part of the dredging operations along the Costa Rican side of the river.

 

Costa Rica claims the dredging operations taking part on the Costa Rican side of the river are intended to widen the riverbed, in effect expanding Nicaragua’s territory.

 

Former Sandanista guerrilla leader and current Nicaraguan Minister of Development of the Rio San Juan Basin, Eden Pastora, claims the dredging operations are simply intended to “clean” the Rio San Juan.

 

“I swear before God [that no workers have entered Costa Rican territory],” Pastora told reporters in Nicaragua.

 

“It is another lie the size of the Irazu Volcano (in Costa Rica).  No one is cutting trees […] we are cleaning up the river,” Pastora told the AFP news agency.

 

Costa Rica said that photographs and video of the alleged incursions would be presented as evidence to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague as part of the hearings set to begin on March 3rd in the case brought by Costa Rica against Nicaragua in 2010 in relation to the disputed Calero Island, near where Costa Rica claims the latest incursions took place.

 

For its part, Nicaragua has a separate claim pending in the same court, in which it claims Costa Rica caused environmental damage to the river as part of the construction of the controversial border road known in Costa Rica as “La Trocha.”

 

It was reported yesterday that Nicaragua will spend $4 million USD in the coming months to “double or triple” its dredging operations on the San Juan River.

 

Speaking to reporters, Pastora said that by early next year Nicaragua will add 15 additional domestically-built dredgers to the five currently taking part in dredging operations on the San Juan River, which is part of Nicaragua’s national territory though Costa Rica maintains navigation rights.

 

A Nicaraguan vessel is seen near the Costa Rican bank of the Rio San Juan. (Foreign Ministry photo)

A Nicaraguan vessel is seen near the Costa Rican bank of the Rio San Juan. (Foreign Ministry photo)

 

Costa Rican police guard their side of the border. (Foreign Ministry photo)

Costa Rican police guard their side of the border. (Foreign Ministry photo)

Some of the trees that Costa Rica says were cut down by Nicaraguan workers. (Foreign Ministry photo)

Some of the trees that Costa Rica says were cut down by Nicaraguan workers. (Foreign Ministry photo)

Costa Rica and Nicaragua have a long running dispute over the Calero Island. (Alejandro Covarrubias / CC)

Costa Rica and Nicaragua have a long running dispute over the Calero Island. (Alejandro Covarrubias / CC)

 

(Wikipedia / Creative Commons)

(Wikipedia / Creative Commons)

 

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  • HONEST MAN

    So Costa Rica goverment says there country is under attack. Lets get serious on the issue of the river they cut trees that where laying in the water and the river belongs to Nicaraqua not Costa Rica. Build a fence between the countries no more problems. Costa Rica is using this as a smoke screen to hide all the problems in CR economy they use the US agenda of never talking about the real problem corupt goverment in CR

    • Noneabc Surveillance

      We are very aware of the issues and corruption of our system, but we will not allow nicaraguans to take down a single tree. Allowing them to take the island will solve our government problems?

  • roberto

    Speaking of “La Trocha”, whatever happened to the Fiscal General’s report about all of the corruption?? It was due last month.

  • expatin paradise

    If the extent of this “incursion” was cutting trees as shown by the stumps in the photo (cutting only part that was over the river and thus over Nicaraguan territory), this is much ado about nothing. If Nicaragua had unearthed the trees, thereby leaving the soil more vulnerable to erosion, it would be a different matter. If Costa Rica has better evidence than this or can provide evidence that the dredging operation is causing environmental damage, they should present it. If not, Costa Rica is wasting the time of the International Court and jeopardizing its credibility.

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