Costa Rica announced last night that it would give its northern neighbour another 24 hours to remove its troops from the Isla Calero, the small piece of land on the south side of the San Juan river, which Costa Rica claims its own.
The decision to delay is aimed at buying time for the politician on both sides to plan out their next move and reach a peaceful solution to what is being called "an alarming situation" by many.
Costa Rica's Foreign Minister, Rene Castro, in Washington for the sessions of the Organization of American States (OAS) and meetings and discussions with the foreign ministers of other member countries, said that waiting another day is his country's way of giving peace another chance.On Tuesday, in a special session being held near the conflict zone, Nicaragua's National Assembly categorically backed the government's strategy on its border dispute with Costa Rica. During the special session in the San Carlos municipality, the deputies unanimously approved a declaration giving "absolute and total" support to the approach of President Daniel Ortega's administration.
Meanwhile, the Nicaraguan army has not budged. Actually, reports early this morning (Friday) say that more Nicaraguan soldiers have been spotted on the island.
Late in the day Thursday, Costa Rican officials flew over the conflict zone confirmed that the Nicaraguan soldiers had not left the island, in fact the number of soldiers had increased and the number of camps was now three.
The pictures taken by the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública and the Dirección de Inteligencia y Seguridad Nacional (DIS) - Costa Rica's secret service - is different than the scene observed by the fly over on Monday by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, when Nicaragua had removed its flag on the island and no soldiers were in sight.
Being discussed by Costa Rican officials is a request to the OAS to expel Nicaragua, to sanctions to allowing armed troops of other countries defend Costa Rica's border, a situation being seen as very unlikely.
Costa Rican president, Laura Chinchilla, is optimistic that a peaceful resolution to the border conflict with Nicaragua can be found through dialogue.
Nicaragua's president, Daniel Ortega, continues defying Costa Rica's ultimatum and order by the OAS to remove his troops from the conflict zone.
Daniel Ortega's rise to power in Nicaragua was published widely and considered an important conflict during the Cold War. Ortega, a socialist revolutionary along with the FSLN, was regarded as a threat to the hemisphere's security by Ronald Reagan. (Source: Wikipedia)
Which side has the leaner, meaner fighting machine?
Without knowing anything about either country (other than long-past history), I would guess it’s Nicaragua.
ping
Has there ever been a peaceful resolution when dealing with a tyrant? I can't think of one.
LOL--this is certainly one way to maintain pacifist bragging rights.
Not good, there are a lot of Americans living in Costa Rica - any US diplomatic help? Anything military? Hello, is this thing on......
What is comrade Ortega up to? Is there oil under that island?
Nicaragua would get help from Venezuela, Cuba, and our friends in Moscow and Beijing who do lothe us.
Ortega - Communist running dog imperialist.