"It Is
Our
Right To
Build a
Canal",
President
of
Nicaragua
Says
Nicaraguan
president
Daniel
Ortega
has, for
the
first
time in
public,
stated
his
intentions
of the
San Juan
river in
the
conflict
with
Costa
Rica.
Ortega
insists
that no
one can
impede
Nicaragua
from
building
a
interoceanic
canal.
"No one
can
prohibit
us. No
one",
said
Daniel.
Nicaragua's president Daniel Ortega with his wife at his side during his speech in Managua. |
Ortega, with his wife Rosario at his side spoke publicly saying that Nicaragua reserves the right to build a canal along the San Juan river connected to Lake Nicaragua.
"It is a right", said Daniel.
In his speech, Ortega shifted from the conflict between the two countries, not mentioning the occupation of the disputed territory by his military forces, talking of the rights of Nicaragua to build a canal without mentioning the Isla Calero directly.
The river, according to the 1858 Jerez-Cañas treaty and confirmed by a ruling of the International Court of Justice at The Hague on July 2009, belongs to Nicaragua |
For most
of the
river
the
border
is well
defined,
but near
the
Caribbean
at the
Isla
Calero,
the
south
bank of
the
river
belongs
to Costa
Rica and
hence
the
dispute
as
Nicaragua,
using
Google
Maps,
decided
that the
"historic"
path of
the
river is
the real
border
thus
making
the
island
its own,
rather
than
using
today's
flow of
the
river,
which
would
make the
island
Costa
Rica's.
Speculation
has
risen
over
Nicaragua's
action
and
refusal
to heed
to the
Organization
of
American
States
(OAS)
order to
remove
the
troops
it has
stationed
on the
island,
one
Ortega
using
the
conflict
to
boslter
his
image at
home,
detracting
the
public
from the
domestic
problems
as he
seeks
re-election,
and two,
the
building
of a
canal.
This is
the
first
time
Ortega
has said
it is
the
canal.
Ortega
also
raised
the
possibility
that
Costa
Rica may
be
indemnified
without
accepting
that the
Calero
is or
may
belong
to Costa
Rica.
Referring
to the
treaty,
Ortega
says the
agreement
allows
Nicaragua
to cross
Costa
Rican
territory
(not
specifying
the
Calero
directly)
and
Costa
Rica's
right to
be
compensated.
Ortega,
in his
talk,
acknowledged
the
environmental
damage
by the
dredging
of the
river
and the
building
of the
canal,
but more
specifically
the
damage
that
could be
caused
by a
ship
accident.
The
Nicaraguan
president
used the
Panama
canal as
an
example,
that the
same
record
of that
canal
could be
and
better
in
Nicaragua,
since it
would be
a
"modern"
canal.
|
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