Nicaragua is quite optimistic that the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Holland, issues a favourable decision to its request to solve the maritime dispute with Colombia. “The Court of Justice will do us right,” said Nicaraguan representative Carlos Arguello in a telephone conversation for a Nicaraguan television channel Friday.
“We are confident that the Court will reestablish the rights which we Nicaraguans have not been able to enjoy for years,” he said.
If Colombia does not respect the decision, it would be “in a situation of international illegality, so Nicaragua will exert its national sovereignty with its own resources and wealth and its navigation rights.”
The Nicaraguan deputy agreed with experts on the topic who have said there are not too many chances to favour Colombia, because the Nicaraguan demand is quite solid and well-structured.
Nicaragua demanded to delimit the maritime spaces between Colombia and Nicaragua, since its government decided to consider the decision taken before on the case as incomplete.
On December 13, 2007, the International Court established that Meridian 82 does not constitute the sea border between Nicaragua and Colombia, just as the Colombian government states.
The International Court has recognized Colombian sovereignty of the islands of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina, but left the status of the keys called Roncador, Quitasueño, Serrana and Serrania, which belong to geological formations of the Nicaraguan continental platform without definition. The Central American nation is allowed to dispute the exercise of its sovereignty over 200 nautical miles of exclusive economic zone.
The Court will fix a meeting point to sweep with what Arguello described as “historical injustice, because the previous one condemned Nicaragua to be contained in less than 60 miles of marine spaces in spite of the right to possess up to 200 nautical miles.” After that sentence to be issued next Monday 19th, Nicaragua will have thousands of square kilometres of marine space, a continental platform where it will be able to develop fishing and enjoy the benefits of unsuspected wealth at this time, he added.
The area in dispute is very valuable, which explains the insistence of Colombia in fighting for its possession, he considered.
“Nicaragua has always respected the decisions of the Court and the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega will maintain that position,” he finally stressed and insisted in the trust in the victory.
