|
Nicaragua
Accuses
Costa
Rica
of
"Committing
A
Crime
Against
Nature"
Now
that
the
presidential
elections
are
over,
Nicaragua's
Daniel
Ortega
and
his
government
resumes
its
accusations
against
Costa
Rica,
this
time
for,
"committing
a
crime
against
nature"
by
building
a
road
parallel
to
the
San
Juan
river.
Nicaragua
said
it
will
denounce
the
construction
of
the
130
kilometre
road
on
the
south
side
of
the
river,
clearly
in
Costa
Rican
territory,
with
the
International
Court
of
Justice
in
The
Hague
(ICJ).
Ortega
said
in
an
official
act
in
Nicaragua
that
the
construction
of
the
road
will
have
an
"unquestionable
impact"
on
the
banks
of
the
river,
which
is
"being
devastated"
by
Costa
Rica.
He
added
that
he
will
ask
the
Ramsar
Convention
on
the
protection
of
the
wetlands
to
send
experts
to
the
area
to
"see
the
damage
they
are
causing
with
the
works".
Ortega
says
his
officials
have
documented
evidence
that
the
San
Juan
is
being
destroyed.
The
ownership
of
the
area
known
as
Isla
Calero
is
being
disputed
by
the
two
countries
and
is
currently
before
the
ICJ,
who
in
March
ordered
both
countries
to
keep
away
from
the
area,
save
for
environmentalists
to
protect
the
wetlands
and
to
fight
international
drug
trafficking
in
the
area.
In
October,
Costa
Rica
decided
to
build
a
road
on
the
south
side
of
the
river
to
connect
a
number
of
communities
whose
only
ties
have
been
so
far
by
way
of
the
river,
a
river
that
belongs
to
Nicaragua
but
by
way
of
international
agreements
allows
Costa
Rica
navigational
rights.
The
road
would
allow
the
communities
access
to
the
rest
of
the
country.
According
to
Ortega,
the
government
of
President
Laura
Chinchilla
had
the
"obligation"
to
inform
Nicaragua
the
building
of
the
road
parallel
to
the
river,
noting
that
Costa
Rica
has
"no
desire"
to
suspend
the
work.
This
is a
similar
argument
used
by
Costa
Rica
in
October
2010,
when
Nicaragua
decided
unilaterally
to
commence
dredging
of
the
river.
|
Join
our Facebook page
