Thus, it shifted its historical view: according to them, the Nicaraguan part had signed the agreement when it was under the control of the United States. Nicaragua decided to pursue the task of recovering what it considered its possessions since 1980. And on the Esguerra-Barcenas treaty, signed in 1928 and jointly ratified in 1931 by both nations. Magistrates based their decision on a Royal Order of 1803 by which the Captaincy General of Guatemala transferred those islands to the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada, as part of a strategy to fight against pirates. That principle stated that the boundaries of political divisions of Spanish colonies in that year would be used as basis for the border agreements between the newly independent countries.Įver since, the case has had its fluctuations, including a decision in 2007 that ratified Colombia’s sovereignty over Quitasueño and other two keys (Roncador and Serrana), and of the current archipelago and touristic hotspot of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina. Actually, Latin America has more legal actions than appear at first sight, and perhaps more disturbingly, they are all long-lived and an agreement does not seem to be on the horizon.ĭifferences between Colombians and Nicaraguans, which have been subject to the recent ruling of the International Court of Justice, date back to 1969, when Nicaragua established concessions with private parties to look for oil in areas surrounding Quitasueño, a Caribbean key that belongs to Colombia in the light of the uti possidetis Iuris legal principle of 1810. And the third, among others, is local overzealousness, which, although does not reach the exacerbated nationalism levels of other places, does set a boundary beyond geography.īut there is another open front that needs attention: the long-standing territorial disputes between neighboring countries and their effect on integration. The second are the sudden changes in foreign policy depending on the ruler and his or her ideology. The first one is the market’s economic orientation, which aims more at the United States and the People’s Republic of China than to other countries in Latin America. At least that is what the multiple fractures conspiring against that possibility attest. Two centuries later, facts show that the liberator’s dream of five nations is in fact still chimerical. In both cases with a single backdrop: the integration of Latin America. Let us unite and be invincible.” Simon Bolivar’s words make a frequent appearance in presidents’ summits and in official documents. “The unity of our people is not a simple chimera of men, but an unyielding decree of fate.
Illustration by Erick Retana By Victor Diusaba*
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