Costa Rica and Nicaragua take border dispute to the International Court of Justice

2011-01-12 07:43:51 GMT+7 (ICT)

THE HAGUE (BNO NEWS) - The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Tuesday began hearing arguments from Costa Rica and Nicaragua about their ongoing border dispute, media reports said.

Costa Rica accuses neighboring Nicaragua of invading its territory by stationing troops and endangering wildlife and protected areas with the construction of a canal in the San Juan River area. Nicaragua, however, denies its troops are in Costa Rican territory and argue the work is taking place in Nicaraguan territory.

Nicaragua accused Costa Rica of creating an "international scandal" of a "3.2 km (1.98 miles) marsh" which the sovereignty of is claimed by both neighbors.

The "ongoing and planned dredging and the construction of the canal will seriously affect the flow of water to the Colorado River of Costa Rica, and will cause further damage to Costa Rican territory, including the wetlands and national wildlife protected areas located in the region," Costa Rica said in its November 18 application to the ICJ.

The hearing will last three days, while the ruling is expected to take several months.

In November 2010, tensions escalated when Nicaraguan troops went to the Costa Rican island of Calero and set up a Nicaraguan flag and six tents. Nicaraguan commander Eden Pastora argued that he had consulted Google Maps which showed Calero Island to be on the Nicaraguan side of the border.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-01-12

Maybe Thailand and Cambodia could take a leaf out of this book and do the same.

This should present quite a moral dilemma for some. On one side is Costa Rica, a country that has had internal peace for over 60 years, no history of human rights abuses or electoral fraud, no links to the drug trade, a well respected record on the environment, minimal class struggle disputes and no military. On the other side is Nicaragua, a country rife with corruption, and a history of war, human rights abuses and electoral fraud. Nicaragua with its military might, poor environmental record and ongoing divisive civil struggles is a lager country than Costa Rica..

Seems to me that the liberals should be lining up with pacifist Costa Rica because of its desire to protect the environment and conservatives should be backing Costa Rica if only because the Sandanista Orteiga isn't one of their friends. However, I'm sure the region's blowhards and bullies; Venezuala, Cuba and Bolivia will be backing Nicaragua as it bulldozes the marshlands and poisons the water of the non beligerent Costa Ricans.