Arguments in border dispute between Colombia, Nicaragua conclude before UN high court

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — Two decades of legal wrangling over ocean territory between Nicaragua and Colombia wrapped up before the United Nations’ high court on Friday.

It is the second time the two Latin American countries have appeared before the International Court of Justice to settle a dispute over their maritime boundary, with some 30,000 square miles of mineral- and fish-rich waters at stake.

Colombia closed out the two weeks of hearings, arguing Nicaragua is making “a storm in a teacup” by exaggerating the border difficulties and refusing to sign a treaty identifying the border. Nicaragua opened the session last week.

Competing claims over a series of Caribbean islands and the waters that surround them date to the go far back as the 1920s, when countries across Latin and South America were declaring independence from Spain. In a 2012 decision, the ICJ gave Colombia control of several strategic islands, including the San Andrés archipelago, but gave the waters around those islands, about 30,000 square miles of territory, to Nicaragua.

However, the pair are back before the principal UN court after Colombia refused to acknowledge the earlier decision. Nicaragua wants the court to order Colombia to comply with the earlier ruling and give Nicaragua control over the sea 200 nautical miles from its coast, which would include the strategic San Andrés archipelago.

Over several days of hearings, lawyers for Nicaragua detailed numerous clashes in the area between Nicaraguan and Colombian vessels. During a 2015 skirmish, the Colombian coast guard broadcast a message to a Nicaraguan ship.

“The ruling of The Hague is not applicable,” announced the coast guard vessel, according to a recording played in court. But Colombian representatives rejected this, claiming that more than 99% of fishing by Nicaraguan boats is carried out without incident.

Bogotá contends that the failure to fully implement the decision isn’t a deliberate choice but instead a consequence of constitutional limitations. Colombia’s constitution says that its borders can only be changed by bilateral treaty, making implementation of the 2012 decision impossible.

Colombia’s agent, Carlos Gustavo Arrieta Padilla, told the court that, as Latin America’s oldest democracy, “We are a country with a tradition of respect for judges, for national and international courts, and for their decisions.”

He claims that Nicaragua has repeatedly rebuffed his country’s attempts to secure a treaty, a claim which Nicaragua denies.

Sometimes called the World Court, the International Court of Justice is a common venue for countries to settle border disagreements. Earlier this year, the court held hearings in a dispute between Somalia and Kenya, also over maritime territory, and a case between Guyana and Venezuela dating back to the 1800s is pending. The court has also ruled on borders between Peru and Chile as well as Romania and Ukraine.

A ruling in the case is expected next year.

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