Diplomatic relations between Costa Rica and Nicaragua have always been plagued with agreements and disagreements. Now, in less than a week, three events clouded the diplomatic environment.
First, President Daniel Ortega’s criticism towards Costa Rica’s position on the Central American Integration System (SICA): Ortega responded to Costa Rica’s possible return to SICA by stating the country cannot compel the entire region to do as it says.
Second, trade discrepancies in the dairy market: Costa Rican authorities perceive the closure of the Nicaraguan border to Costa Rican dairy products as retaliation for finding irregularities in Nicaraguan milk production plants.
And third, the arrest of a Costa Rican environmentalist in Nueva Guinea: Byron Reyes Ortíz was part of an activity for the environment in La Fonseca and was arrested for allegedly possessing hazardous materials.
This piles up with Nicaraguan dissatisfaction with the $6 million it has to pay for environmental damage in Isla Portillos, as ruled by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ended years of border disputes with Costa Rica.