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INSIDECOSTARICA.COM
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COSTA RICA NEWS
BRIEFS |
Tuesday 04
January 2011 |
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Chinchilla
Asks
Obama
and
Clinton
For
Support
With
Nicaragua
Conflict
Costa
Rica's
presidenta,
Laura
Chinchilla,
confirmed
she held
talks
last
month,
by
telephone,
with her
U.S.
counterpart,
Barack
Obama,
and the
Secretary
of
State,
Hillary
Clinton.
Noticias
Reloj
said
sources
close to
the
president
confirmed
that
Chinchilla
spoke
with
them, to
personally
broaden
their
information
on Costa
Rica's
position
in the
conflict
with
Nicaragua.
Chinchilla
is said
to also
have
asked
for
their
support.
The
president
and the
diplomatic
team is
also
said to
have
talked
with
several
U.S.
senators,
mostly
Republicans
that
could
increase
pressure
on
President
Obama to
take a
more
forceful
position
on
Nicaragua's
invasion
of Costa
Rican
and the
stationing
of
troops
the Isla
Calero.
Costa
Rica's
vice-chancellor,
Carlos
Roverssi,
said he
was
unaware
of the
phone
calls by
Chinchilla
to Obama
and
Clinton,
only
confirming
the
calls to
the
senators.
The
sources
also
told
Noticas
Reloj
that nor
Obama,
nor
Clinton
gave
strong
support.
On
Christmas
Day, the
Washington
Post,
dedicated
its
editorial
to
criticize
Obama
and his
flexible
position
with
regard
to
Nicaragua
and its
president,
Daniel
Ortega.
Last
October,
it was
discovered
that
Nicaragua,
during a
dredging
operation
of the
San Juan
river,
had set
up a
military
camp and
hoisted
the flag
on the
Isla
Calero
on the
south
bank of
the
river.
A more
than a
century
old
agreement
and
confirmation
by the
International
Court of
Justice
in The
Hague (ICJ)
in 2009
confirmed
that the
river
belongs
to
Nicaragua,
but the
south
bank
belongs
to Costa
Rica.
Nicaragua,
using
Google
Maps,
considers
the
island
its own,
being
part of
the
"old"
path of
the
river
and thus
setting
out an
international
conflict
that led
to two
Organization
of
American
States
(OAS)
resolutions
for
Nicaragua
to
remove
its
troops,
orders
that it
has not
accepted.
Meanwhile,
Costa
Rica, in
addition
to
diplomatic
efforts
to
garner
international
support,
has
filed
suit
against
Nicaragua
in the
ICJ, a
hearing
which is
scheduled
for next
Tuesday,
January
11.
Also,
Mexico
and
Guatemala
have
offered
their
help in
mediating
the
conflict,
with a
meeting
scheduled
for
January
17,
where
Nicaragua
and
Costa
Rica are
invited
to
dialogue.
Chinchilla,
for her
part has
said she
will sit
down to
dialogue
if and
only
when
Nicaragua
has
removed
its
troops,
while
Ortega
says he
will
meet and
talk
anytime,
but
without
any
prior
conditions.
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