Nicoya mayor calls Ortega’s statements an ‘act of ignorance’

The following is a letter written by Nicoya Mayor Marco Antonio Jiménez Muñoz to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, following outrageous remarks Ortega made during a speech on Tuesday.

Your Excellency Mr. President:

With respect to the public statements you made about the Republic of Nicaragua possibly or eventually reclaiming the territory of Guanacaste, we consider them not only disrespectful but an act of absolute ignorance about the evolution of the province’s borders, and also, still more serious, ignoring an unparalleled event in Latin America.

The Annexation of Nicoya happened under peaceful circumstances and with the genuine belief that joining Costa Rica was in the best interests of the inhabitants of Nicoya. That brave act, that sole event in our Brown America that you presume to ignore with your declarations, charged with bias, disrespect and ignorance, we will forever and wherever hold true to our decision to join Costa Rica under the proper legal framework.

In this manner, the Municipal Government of Nicoya, cradle of the Annexation of Nicoya to Costa Rica, will support the position of the Government of Costa Rica in defense of the interests of the people of Guanacaste, and in defense of human freedoms, sine qua non, to adopt our position since 1824.

We request that the Government over which you preside, with respect and prudence, and in accordance with the feelings of the people of Guanacaste, who feel a deep pride in being Costa Rican, acknowledges the facts of July 25, 1824, in Nicoya.

Thankful that you understand our position, the pride of belonging to the Republic of Costa Rica by our own choice, I bid you farewell,

Marco Antonio Jiménez Muñoz, Mayor of Nicoya