Nicaragua and Its Neighbors: DR-CAFTA and the United States

The DR-CAFTA is a free trade agreement for Central American countries and the Dominican Republic with the United States. Nicaragua’s neighbor, Costa Rica, had a lot of opposition to sign this accord, and was an item of discussion during their presidential elections in 2006. When Oscar Arias won the elections, he was in favor of signing this agreement, and Costa Rica became part of DR-CAFTA in 2007. Usually, Mr. Ortega is not in favor of supporting “Yankee Imperialism”, as he calls it, but he surprisingly supported the accord. (Trading Arguments: Central America) Many had feared that Ortega’s re-election would de-stabilize Nicaragua’s relations with the United States. (Ribando Seelke) By signing the DR-CAFTA agreement, Ortega is taking an approach that re-establishes important economic ties between the United States and his Sandinista government. Although Ortega has expressed a lot of anti-US rhetoric in recent years, the United States has had many attempts to reform Nicaragua’s government institutions, like allowing opposition parties to run in elections. (Ribando Seelke)

Nicaragua and Its Neighbors: Costa Rica and Nicaragua

As Nicaragua has increasing unemployment and poverty, many laborers leave to Costa Rica in search of work. Historical relations between the two countries have been conflicting, as some Costa Ricans have strong prejudices against Nicaraguans. In many cases, women immigrants seek jobs as sex workers or domestic employees. The illegal prostitution that is exploiting Nicaraguan immigrants violates the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 4: “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.” As these jobs do not bring a stable income and the cost of living in Costa Rica is high, many of the Nicaraguan immigrants must return to their homeland or find shelter in poor and violent zones of Costa Rica. Although Nicaragua is poor, violence and homicide is the lowest in all of Central America. Nicaragua’s chief policewoman has the top drug control program in Central America as well, and because of her determination, the country has remained relatively free of illicit drugs. In Costa Rica, however, drug activity is flourishing and gang violence is common even in the wealthier areas. Currently, there are 600,000 Nicaraguans in Costa Rica; representing 12% of the latter’s population. (Don’t let Nicaragua’s Ortega become a Mugabe)

Nicaragua and Its Neighbors: Colombia and Nicaragua

There has been a long dispute between Colombia and Nicaragua over a group of Caribbean islands off of the Nicaraguan coast. These islands (San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina) are used by Colombia as a military base. They were given to Colombia after the U.S. military signed a treaty in 1928, as the United States was occupying Nicaragua at the time, leading Mr. Ortega to say that this treaty is invalid. During this dispute, Nicaraguan fishermen were discouraged from fishing in the area by Colombian gunboats that chased them away. Apparently, there is untouched oil in these islands, which is a resource that Nicaragua wants to obtain. The International Court ruled that the three islands belong to Colombia, but ownership over the surrounding islets has been opened for debate. (Arostegui)

Works Cited:

• Arostegui, Martin. “Ortega pitches ties with Chavez; Claims ‘sovereignty’ on islands.” The Washington Times. 8 February 2008.

• Booth, William. “Democracy in Nicaragua in Peril, Ortega Critics Say.” The Washington Post. 20 November 2008.

• Caroit, Jean-Michel. “Nicaragua elections municipales; Le pouvoir sandiniste intensifie ses attaques contre l’opposition.” Le Monde. 21 October 2008.

• Casas-Zamora, Kevin. “Don’t let Nicaragua’s Ortega become a Mugabe.” Christian Science Monitor. 30 December 2008.

• Glassman, James. “Decline of Ortega’s Nicaragua; U.S. missing a chance to mend fences in Latin America?.” The Washington Times. 4 March 2009.

• “How to steal and election; Nicaragua.” The Economist. 15 November 2008.

• “Inglorious; Nicaragua.” The Economist. 7 June 2008.

• Lacey, Mark. “Sandinista Fervor Turns Sour for Former Comrades of Nicaragua’s President.” The New York Times. 24 November 2008.

• “Nicaragua vows to be “staunchest supporter” of Taiwan’s UN bid.” British Broadcasting Corporation. 15 September 2008.

• “Nicaraguan president speaks of need for “unity”, “justice” on arrival in Iran.” British Broadcasting Corporation. 10 June 2007.

• “Physical Map of Central America.” Physical Map of Central America. 2009. 24 March 2009. <http://geology.com/world/central-america-physical-map.shtml>.

• Ribando Seelke, Clare. “Nicaragua: Political Situation and U.S. Relations.” 17 March 2008. <http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:jbKNIyv4mmQJ:fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RS22836.pdf+nicaragua+relationship+with+the+US&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&client=firefox-a>.

• Rosenberg, Tina. “The Many Stories of Carlos Fernando Chamorro.” The New York Times. 22 March 2009.

• “Russia: Nicaragua’s recognition of Abkhazia, South Ossetia seen as “trial balloon”.” British Broadcasting Corporation. 7 September 2008.

• Schmidt, Blake. “Mayor fights turns violent in Managua.” The Washington Times. 19 November 2008.

• “Tearing up the rules; Nicaragua.” The Economist. 16 August 2008.

• “Trading Arguments: Central America.” The Economist. 14 July 2007.

• “‘Twixt Washington and Caracas; Nicaragua.” The Economist. 13 Jan 2007.