Costa Ricans Reject Open
Border With Nicaragua
(Angus Reid Global
Monitor) - Most people
in Costa Rica reject the
notion of opening the
border with Nicaragua in
order to allow for the
free traffic of citizens
between the two Central
American countries,
according to a poll by
CID-Gallup.
81 per cent of
respondents do not want
border officials to stop
requesting a passport
and a visa on either
side.
Diplomatic ties between
Nicaragua and Costa Rica
have been strained since
1997 over a dispute
related to the use of
the San Juan River.
Costa Rica currently
hosts thousands of
Nicaraguan migrant
workers, many of whom
have entered the country
illegally.
In March, the two
countries signed a
series of accords to
improve bilateral
relations and issued a
joint statement, vowing
to "work together in
topics such as
migration, employment
and security." Besides
strengthening the
tourism industry,
representatives of both
nations agreed on terms
for granting tourist
visas to each other’s
citizens.
Costa Rican president
Óscar Arias also
promised to work with
Nicaraguan counterpart
Daniel Ortega to
regulate the status of
migrant workers, saying,
"For us, counting with
thousands of
Nicaraguans, men and
women of all ages,
working for my country,
is really important for
our economy."
Polling Data
Do you agree or disagree
with allowing for the
free traffic of
Nicaraguans to Costa
Rica and Costa Ricans to
Nicaragua? This means
that a visa or passport
would not be required to
go from one country to
the other.
Agree
- 17%
Disagree - 81%
Not sure -
2%
Source: CID-Gallup
Methodology: Interviews
with 1,200 Costa Rican
adults, conducted from
Oct. 18 to Oct. 25,
2008. Margin of error is
2.8 per cent.
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