Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis estimated that Nicaragua lacks a “settled democratic regime,” stressing the already “difficult” relationship between the two neighboring countries.
It has been a difficult relationship and I do not deny it, we have a pluralistic regime, we have a very settled democratic regime, which I do not think Nicaragua has,”
stated Solís at breakfast at a hotel in Madrid.
Solís criticized the conditions of the November elections in Nicaragua, where President Daniel Ortega won his third consecutive term since 2007, in a poll without the strongest opposition to the government, excluded by a court ruling, and without independent observers.
Recalling the border disputes between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, Solís reiterated his concern over the purchase of Russian weapons by Managua, including 50 tanks.
Nicaragua argues that armament will serve to combat drug trafficking.
Solís said he does not see these Nicaraguan initiatives as “a threat to Costa Rica,” but admitted that the relationship between governments remains cold.
Costa Rica, which lacks an army since 1948, claims $6.7 before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) million in compensation for damages caused to a border area invaded in 2010 by the Nicaraguan army.
In December of 2015, the ICJ condemned Nicaragua by the occupation of the border wetland and the environmental damages caused.
The international tribunal is also studying another territorial dispute between the two countries, regarding its maritime borders in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.