Costa Rica calls for negotiations with Nicaragua over border at sea

Costa Rica’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday sent a proposal to Nicaragua to restart negotiations over maritime borders in both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

The note was sent by Foreign Minister Enrique Castillo to his Nicaraguan counterpart Samuel Santos and also will be delivered to both the Security Council of the United Nations and to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States. Both countries had previously requested in 2002 the technical support of the U.N. to begin negotiations.

Costa Rica also proposed that “pending a final settlement, and only with a spirit of understanding and cooperation” during a transition period of negotiations, the temporary maritime borders would be an equidistant line that starts from the land ends of the international border of the two countries under the 1858 Treaty, to a distance of 200 nautical miles.

Both nations have a territorial conflict on the Caribbean coast involving a wetland area of 2.5 kilometers that both countries claim as their own.

Castillo said the proposal sent to Nicaragua “is part of the process that our country has taken to reach amicable agreements with its neighbors in the delimitation of maritime areas.”

Nicaraguan officials have not yet responded to Costa Rica’s request.

Costa Rica last week reached an agreement with Ecuador that lays the foundation for marine scientific research in preparation for a proposal that will be submitted to the U.N. in coming days.