Experts for Nicaragua said the amount of sediment varies between 190,000 and 250,000 tons per year, and that the sediment is reducing the depth of the river in a perpetual process that modifies its geography and makes navigation increasingly difficult.
Costa Rican officials on Monday appeared before The Hague-based International Court of Justice to file a final written response in the ongoing territorial dispute with Nicaragua, the Foreign Ministry confirmed.
Former guerrilla leader Edén Pastora, the Nicaraguan government's point man for the ongoing dredging of the Río San Juan, on Tuesday evening called accusations by Costa Rican officials that Nicaraguan workers had violated Tico sovereignty "lies."
Costa Rican officials on Tuesday afternoon shared with members of the press photo and video evidence of Nicaraguan workers allegedly using chainsaws to remove trees in Costa Rican territory, near the two countries' border. The images, made public by Costa Rica's ministers of foreign relations and public security, Manuel González and Celso Gamboa, respectively, also show a dredging boat on the Río San Juan that – according to González – is eroding the riverbank on Costa Rica's side of the border.
Nicaragua’s Foreign Minister Samuel Santos on Saturday told media from his country that crews are working to "provide maintenance" to the Río San Juan because the International Court of Justice reiterated that the border river belongs to Nicaraguan and the court “recommended and practically demanded that we take proper care of it and maintain it."
Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister Manuel González on Thursday sent a formal protest note after confirming evidence of logging on Costa Rican land by Nicaraguans traveling on the Río San Juan, a natural border between the two countries.
Public Works and Transport Minister Carlos Segnini on Wednesday announced the creation of a new agency called the National Infrastructure Institute (INI), and the imminent closing of the National Roadway Council (CONAVI) and the National Concessions Council (CNC). Employees who don't do their jobs could eventually be dismissed, he said.
With 16 votes in favor and six against, Supreme Court justices on Monday afternoon re-elected Jorge Chavarría Guzmán as Costa Rica's chief public prosecutor for another four-year term.
Since leaving office, former Public Works and Transport Minister Pedro Castro no longer enjoys impunity from prosecution. Tatiana Vargas, spokeswoman for the Prosecutor’s Office, told The Tico Times in an email that the documents would be sent Wednesday morning to the Deputy Prosecutor for Probity, Transparency and Anti-corruption for review.
