http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-colombia-nicaragua-border-20130910,0,5959187.story?utm_source=Morning+Roundup&utm_campaign=5b0b6b40f8-MR_091113&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0eddedb016-5b0b6b40f8-64056469
Colombia, Nicaragua spat anew about disputed waters.
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| El Pte de Colombia explica el fallo. |
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Nicaragua’s army chief declared Tuesday that his country would not negotiate away “even a single drop of water” to Colombia, reacting to the South American country’s announcement that it will not observe an international court ruling awarding Nicaragua 27,000 square miles of the Caribbean Sea.
Gen. Julio Cesar Aviles told reporters in Managua, the Nicaraguan capital, that his country would “maintain a presence” in its territorial waters and would not fall victim to any Colombian provocation.
His tone matched that of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who in a nationally televised speech Monday said that until a treaty is hammered out, Colombia would maintain its "jurisdiction" over the offshore territory that the International Court of Justice ruled last November belongs to Nicaragua.
Santos' statement was possibly a reaction to Nicaragua’s announcement last month that it will begin permitting oil exploration in the disputed zone, an activity Colombia had said it would not tolerate.
Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin insisted Tuesday that the president’s statement did not amount to a rejection of the international court's finding, only that it is not “applicable” until a treaty laying out rights of fishermen and other longtime island residents are better defined.
“I think we can arrive at a deal with Nicaragua,” Holguin told a radio interviewer.
In a case that began in 1999, the International Criminal Court in The Hague ruling last November upheld Colombia's sovereignty over seven Caribbean islands but ordered that Nicaragua's maritime boundary be redrawn to give it more offshore territory.
The ruling came as a surprise to many Colombians and left in limbo the status of fishing and oil exploration rights of residents in Colombian-held islands. It also caused political turmoil and finger-pointing between Santos and past Presidents Andres Pastrana and Alvaro Uribe.
In his statement this week, Santos also said Colombia would resist Nicaragua’s “expansionist pretensions” in the Caribbean, a reference to Managua’s intention to seek a greater cession of marine territory from Colombia and other Caribbean neighbors in a new petition before the international court. "This is completely unacceptable – and I want to be absolutely clear – we will not permit it any way, form or circumstance," Santos said.
Acknowledging that Colombia’s response was a long time in coming, Carlos Salgar, an international affairs professor at Externado University in Bogota, said Santos acted under a constitutional imperative that said any change in national boundaries must be set down in a treaty and approved by Congress.
Negotiating such a treaty, however, could take between seven and 10 years.
“Colombia has been in a state of shock since the court’s ruling. Although it was predictable, Colombians had been persuaded by members of former President Andres Pastrana's negotiating team at the outset of the case that Colombia would win the process and everything would come out fine,” Salgar said.
Colombia has exercised sovereignty over the islands and territory east of the 82nd meridian since its independence in 1819. Nicaragua signed a treaty in 1928 agreeing to Colombia's territorial claims, but later said the document was signed under the duress of a U.S. military occupation.
His tone matched that of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who in a nationally televised speech Monday said that until a treaty is hammered out, Colombia would maintain its "jurisdiction" over the offshore territory that the International Court of Justice ruled last November belongs to Nicaragua.
Santos' statement was possibly a reaction to Nicaragua’s announcement last month that it will begin permitting oil exploration in the disputed zone, an activity Colombia had said it would not tolerate.
Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin insisted Tuesday that the president’s statement did not amount to a rejection of the international court's finding, only that it is not “applicable” until a treaty laying out rights of fishermen and other longtime island residents are better defined.
“I think we can arrive at a deal with Nicaragua,” Holguin told a radio interviewer.
In a case that began in 1999, the International Criminal Court in The Hague ruling last November upheld Colombia's sovereignty over seven Caribbean islands but ordered that Nicaragua's maritime boundary be redrawn to give it more offshore territory.
The ruling came as a surprise to many Colombians and left in limbo the status of fishing and oil exploration rights of residents in Colombian-held islands. It also caused political turmoil and finger-pointing between Santos and past Presidents Andres Pastrana and Alvaro Uribe.
In his statement this week, Santos also said Colombia would resist Nicaragua’s “expansionist pretensions” in the Caribbean, a reference to Managua’s intention to seek a greater cession of marine territory from Colombia and other Caribbean neighbors in a new petition before the international court. "This is completely unacceptable – and I want to be absolutely clear – we will not permit it any way, form or circumstance," Santos said.
Acknowledging that Colombia’s response was a long time in coming, Carlos Salgar, an international affairs professor at Externado University in Bogota, said Santos acted under a constitutional imperative that said any change in national boundaries must be set down in a treaty and approved by Congress.
Negotiating such a treaty, however, could take between seven and 10 years.
“Colombia has been in a state of shock since the court’s ruling. Although it was predictable, Colombians had been persuaded by members of former President Andres Pastrana's negotiating team at the outset of the case that Colombia would win the process and everything would come out fine,” Salgar said.
Colombia has exercised sovereignty over the islands and territory east of the 82nd meridian since its independence in 1819. Nicaragua signed a treaty in 1928 agreeing to Colombia's territorial claims, but later said the document was signed under the duress of a U.S. military occupation.
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