Colombia To Collect Detained Fishermen In
Nicaragua
Nicaraguan authorities have agreed to allow
the Colombian air force to pick up all 23
detained Colombian fisherman and take them
home, Colombia's Foreign Ministry announced
on Monday.
The air force mission to repatriate the
fishermen, who were detained by the
Nicaraguan navy on April 22, has yet to be
officially approved by the Nicaraguan
government due to a three-day holiday in the
Central American country, reports Caracol
Radio.
According to statements from Colombia's
Foreign Ministry, Nicaragua was initially
planning to fine the Colombian fisherman $45
and then deport them back to Colombia. The
Colombian government, however, rejected this
proposal, as it would have been an admission
that the fishermen were in Nicaraguan
waters.
Colombian authorities claim that the fishing
boat, the "Laura Anny," was detained while
in Colombian waters.
An engineer aboard the fishing boat, Ulises
Serrano, told his family last week that the
incident amounted to "kidnapping," arguing
that his boat was in Colombian waters when
it was stopped.
Until the boat is returned to Colombia,
authorities will not be able to determine
exactly where it was when the Nicaraguan
navy detained it.
The Colombian government protested the
detention of the boat, claiming it was
"illegal," and "a flagrant violation of the
norms and principles of international law."
There is a long-running dispute between
Colombia and Nicaragua over maritime rights.
Nicaragua announced in April 2008 that it
would detain any Colombian fishing boats
that entered the disputed area in the
Caribbean.
Relations between the nations became frosty
after the Nicaraguan government gave asylum
to three guerrillas from the FARC and a
Mexican female student, the only survivors
of the Colombian military’s attack on a FARC
camp in Ecuador on March 1, 2008. |
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