Costa Rica objects to Nicaraguan youths’ Isla Calero visit

Costa Rica on Tuesday objected to an incursion by a Nicaraguan political youth group on Isla Calero, a small territory bordering the two countries and currently under dispute before the U.N. International Court of Justice.

Costa Rican acting Foreign Minister Carlos Roverssi told the daily La Nación that government officials “are preparing a formal protest” against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government for violating an international court ruling that banned the two countries from entering the area.

Roverssi said Nicaraguan police and military did not try to stop around 100 young Nicaraguans with the youth wing of the ruling socialist Sandinista party from entering the off-limits area during a three-day period this month.

The Costa Rican minister said a series of photographs of their entry into the territory will be presented to the world court as part of the case.

Last October, the Costa Rican government accused Nicaragua of invading its territory on Calero Island, a small marshy area along the border on the Caribbean coast.

Costa Rica has claimed Nicaraguan troops were illegally occupying an area of 1.16 square miles (three square kilometers) on the northeast of the island in a move that “endangers stability and peace between two brother countries.”

Nicaragua rejects Costa Rica’s claims and says the territory belongs to them.

On March 8 in The Hague, the world court ordered both countries to refrain from deploying or maintaining any military or civilian personnel in the disputed area.