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Nicaragua invades Costa Rica after error on Google Maps
Apparently the way Google Maps draws one particular section of the border between the two countries is off by about 3000 meters, showing it to be Nicaraguan territory when in fact it's Costa Rican. But looking at the online map and seeing a Costa Rican flag flying there got one Nicaraguan military leader sufficiently rattled to march in with troops and take over, pulling down the Costa Rican flag and raising a Nicaraguan one.
Then they cleaned up a river and dumped the waste over in Costa Rica to get it out of Nicaragua (even though they were, unbeknownst to themselves, in Costa Rica all the while). No shots were fired in the dispute, in part because Costa Rica has no full time military.
This was reported in Costa Rica's paper La Nacion. The paper also suggests Bing Maps accurately reflects the border as it should be. Earlier this summer, Google announced it had revised it's depiction of borders for "over 60 countries and regions."
In Costa Rica, people are mad. So mad, the President appeared on national TV to comfort the public.
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Communist Daniel Ortega is just using the Google Maps misktake as a pretext to claim a portion of Costa Rica. He still hasn't pulled his troops out. There's a very good reason. It's not a mistake at all. Nicaragua wants to change the course of the river to the south and build a canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific with money from Venezuela, Iran, and China. This would result in an environmental disaster, the theft of Costa Rican land, and an unholy anti-American alliance between Venezuela, Nicaragua, Iran, and China.
I agree with Jay. Although I don’t have a dog in this fight, from the outside this seems to be a political stunt by the Nicaraguan President, who is running for re-election. Ortega probably wants to whip up his country’s support in a dispute with the Ticos, who are typically dispised because of their “higher†standard of living, jobs, education, healthcare, etc. Using these emotions, he may gain more support. I’m just worried that this may lead to some sort of violence, which would be a lose-lose for everyone. I haven't heard of the Venezuelan/Iranian connection before, but that's kinda scary. China already has their hands in Costa Rica, too (see their national stadium and other major projects built for "free"), so I'm not surprised to see China involved.
Strangely enough I've actually spent a bit of time in this disputed area. There are native people who speak a pirate-style English, and just one town built on cement platforms (due to crocodiles) and only accessible by speedboat and canoe.
Eden Pastora is actually a famous revolutionary, he stormed the "presidential palace" during the days of the dictator Somoza. after the Sandinistas took power he switched sides and joined the American payroll to lead Contra forces based in Costa Rica, then got half blown up, then later apologized and joined the Sandinista government again.
Google really is everywhere and in everything I guess.
The section of the ICJ (look at http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/133/15321.pdf?PHPSESSID=8b1c2b1e2936...) ruling Ortega refers to is
worth quoting at length. It doesn’t concern the main question of the ruling, but regards an additional declaration that Nicaragua wanted the ICJ to adopt in
its ruling:
153. Nicaragua adds a further submission. It requests the Court “to make a formal declaration on the issues raised by Nicaragua in Section II of Chapter VII
of her Counter-Memorial, [and] in Section I, Chapter VI of her Rejoinderâ€.
The declaration requested is the following:
“[(i) ... (iv) redacted]
(v) Nicaragua has the right to dredge the San Juan in order to return the flow of water to that obtaining in 1858 even if this affects the flow of water to
other present day recipients of this flow such as the Colorado River.â€
[...]
155. As for the fifth point to be addressed in the requested “declarationâ€, on the assumption that it is in the nature of a counter-claim, Costa Rica has
cast doubt on its admissibility, arguing that it is not “directly connected†with the subject-matter of Costa Rica’s claim, within the meaning of Article 80
of the Rules of Court. The same issue could arise in respect of the third point.
In any event it suffices for the Court to observe that the two questions thus raised were settled in the decision made in the Cleveland Award. It was
determined in paragraphs 4 to 6 of the third clause of the Award that Costa Rica is not bound to share in the expenses necessary to improve navigation on the
San Juan river and that Nicaragua may execute such works of improvement as it deems suitable, provided that such works do not seriously impair navigation on
tributaries of the San Juan belonging to Costa Rica.
As Nicaragua has offered no explanation why the Award does not suffice to make clear the Parties’ rights and obligations in respect of these matters, its
claim in this regard must be rejected.
Cleveland Award as a legal go-ahead to clear and dredge those channels it claims were commercial waterways in 1858, even if
these subsequently silted up as the course of the San Juan river shifted over the past 150 years.
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