Costa Rican and Nicaraguan security officials meet over Río San Juan security

Costa Rican and Nicaraguan security officials met Thursday in San José to discuss improving trans-border cooperation and communication in the disputed areas along the San Juan River as ordered by the International Court of Justice in March 2011.

Walter Navarro, Vice Minister of Public Security for Costa Rica, met with Aminta Granera, General Director of the Nicaraguan National Police at the Hotel San José Palacio Thursday afternoon. The meeting kicked off two day’s worth of talks on crime prevention and combating narco-trafficking and organized crime in the San Juan River region that has been a spot of friction between the two countries in the last several years.

Paragraph 78 of the world court’s ruling, issued March 11, 2008 ordered Costa Rica and Nicaragua to “prevent the development of criminal activity in the disputed territory.” The ruling also stated that each country’s “police or security forces (must) cooperate with each other in a spirit of good neighborliness, in particular to combat and criminal activity which may develop in the disputed territory.”

 “We are sure that it will a very helpful working meeting,” said Navarro, who added that the goal of the meeting is to look to establish mechanisms for coordination between the neighboring countries.

Granera said the meetings would “strengthen communication and cooperation between the two countries.”