1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
One of the most disputed superimposed borders within Latin America is the Colombian-Nicaraguan dispute concerning sovereignty over the maritime features located between both countries in the Caribbean Sea. For 11 years, Nicaraguan lawyers have argued that nearly 50,000 square kilometers of Colombian sea in truth belonged to the Central American state. The area in question includes the archipielago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina, a group of tropical islands surrounded by coral reefs. The archipielago is located 482 miles from the Colombian coast and just 140 from Nicaragua, but has been settled by Colombians since the 19th century.
In the 1800’s, Colombia was part of a larger territory called the Gran Colombia in South America, while Nicaragua was part of United Provinces of Central America (UPAC), a similar governing body within Central America. The precise origins of this dispute between both countries vary, although historians believe it began around 1803 when the islands where made part of the Providence of Cartagena, now part of Colombia’s main land. After the Republic of Gran Colombia gained independence in 1822, the native inhabitants of the island voluntarily adhered to the governance of the then Colombian state. However, the UPAC failed to recognize the occupation of the islands and claimed ownership over them, which Colombia protested. The UPAC dissolved in civil war in 1830, and, the resulting state of Nicaragua carried on with the dispute.
Colombia later established a local administration on the islands; with the Esguerra-Bárcenas treaty in 1928 and both countries temporarily resolved the dispute in favor of Colombia. However, since 1980, when the Sandinista government a...
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...n order to cater to worldwide needs, but also to seek to become a richer country by exploiting the natural resources with little or no concern for the environmental repercussions this may have. The Nicaraguan government also constantly states that the islands are closer to their coast than that of Colombia’s, a weak argument considering the history Colombia has with the territory.
4. CONCLUSION
For the past 200 years, Colombia and Nicaragua have been disputing ownership over the maritime border near San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina. After originally being under Colombian control, the ICJ extended Nicaragua’s maritime borders. However, Nicaragua’s intentions are purely economic while Colombia’s are more vested in the culture and wellbeing of both the natives and the environment. Therefore, the ICJ should return the maritime sovereignty to Colombia.
The Great Tuna Boat Chase and Massacre Case has Ecuador claiming that the United States is in violation of its 200-mile territorial sea. From it’s inception, Ecuador had accepted the customary three mile limit as the demarcation of its territorial waters. However, after 130 years, Juan Valdez achieved power in 1952. Under his regime, he proclaimed that the three mile boundary was never meant to be considered a fixed and unalterable boundary, and that historical practices as well as the natural features of the area justified a 200-mile territorial sea. Each Ecuadorian president since Valdez claimed this as well.
Over the course of the Spanish-American war , the obvious need for a canal came apparent.The canal would stregthen the navy, and it would make easier defense of the islands in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The problem of where to build the canal came into play. Congress rejected Nicaragua and Panama was an unwilling part of this project. The course of the building was shifted to Colu...
Burns, E. B., & Charlip, J. A. (2007). Latin America: an interpretive history (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Two conflicts during this time are seen as significant towards this battle between the interests of the Natives in the Americas. One of which was between two men: Bartolomé Las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda. Las Casas defends t...
April 9, 1948, was a tragic day in Colombia’s history. On this day, Jorge Eliécer Gaítán, a candidate for the presidency of Colombia, was assassinated. In the 10 hour period that followed the assassination, angry mobs marched throughout the city of Bogota, looting and burning down over 100 buildings. Before the night would end, nearly 3,000 people would die in the streets. This terrible event in Colombia’s history is today referred to as the Bogotazo. This paper examines some of the underlying reasons contributing to the outbreak of this violence and the events that transpired during the Bogotazo. The paper concludes that the events leading to the violence of the Bogotazo are still present in Colombia today and will hamper its prospects for peace in the future.
Published in 1493, Luis Santangel received the embellished journal of Christopher Columbus as validation for the much-promised riches in the Indies. Centered around an era of power and conquest, Columbus tapered his writings and findings to pacify his Royal sponsors for the voyage. Santangel was also one such wealthy sponsor. Although the tone of the letter was vastly hyperbolic, Christopher Columbus still managed to document the labeling of the numerous islands and its topography. Yet even the size and measurement is a bit exaggerated as well referring to one island being twice as large as that of Great Britain and Scotland. Columbus did his best to acknowledge various “thousands upon thousands” in this letter with that of spiceries and gold mines with mountains in a “thousand shapes...full of trees of a thousand kinds” as well as deeming the exotic islands incomparable to any other islands that “there could be no believing without seeing” firsthand. Colu...
The world in the 1940’s was not the ideal place for anyone to be living. Hitler’s Nazi movements being one of the catalysts for World War II, the citizens of the world were flung into an era of disarray and discontentment in the early 40’s. After Japan’s surprise attack on the U.S., forcing the Americans into war, it soon became a whole differnet ball game. In 1941, the United Nations was formed comprised of the inter-allies and its goal to "work together, with other free peoples, both in war and in peace". Now, all corners of the world were being affected. The history of Central American countries particularly, Nicaragua will be examined in this reading. This reading will focus specifically on the history of Nicaragua from 1945 to the early 2000’s. A critical analysis of how Nicaragua and its leaders handled certain situations and whether or not the situations were handled well. In addition, only Nicaragua’s more significant events will be regarded and analyzed chronologically and collectively, while trying to avoid going in depth as to why certain events occurred as that is for another time. This paper will represent the stance that Nicaragua’s leaders handled certain situations in a manner that was not very beneficial to Nicaragua and its citizens but beneficial to those in power up until the Sandistina government took over and began to make decisions beneficial to Nicaraguans however, hindered by opposing powers.
In section three Kinzer describes the American intervention in Nicaragua. “With a postage stamp led the United States to overthrow the most formidable leader Nicaragua ever had” (Kinzer 56). This led to a continuum of events causing Nicaragua to fall short of peace, happiness, and prosperity. Nicaragua was in the midst of a modernizing revolution but with American intervention history has since reported the county as poor and non-prosperous. Kinzer points out In 1876 a government commission studies possible routes and concluded that the one across Nicaragua “Possesses, both for the construction and maintenance of a canal, greater advantage, and offers fewer difficulties from engineering, commercial and econom...
The area between British Guiana and Venezuela had been in dispute for over 50 years. When gold was discovered in the contested area, the prospect of a peaceful resolution faded.
McCuen, Gary E. The Nicaraguan Revolution. Hudson, Wisconsin: Gary E. McCuen Publications, Inc., 1986. Print. The.
The so-called Battle of Nicaragua at the time of the American Revolution, however, ended British attempts to win a permanent foothold in the country. Their independence began at the beginning of the 19th century, and Nicaragua declared itself independent of Spain in 1821. A year later it became part of the short-lived Mexican empire of Agustn de Iturbide, and in 1823, after Iturbide's downfall, it joined the United Provinces of Central America. In 1893 a successful revolution brought the Liberal leader José Santos Zelaya to power. He remained president for the next 16 years, ruling as a dictator.
Republic of Colombia Constitutional Court, Sentence # c-239/97, Ref. Expedient # D-1490, May 20, 1997.
Religion in Latin America has always been tied closely to Catholicism because of the influence of Europeans who came to settle South America, bringing along their Catholic foundation. With the early formations of governments in Latin America, church and state were closely linked. The church had significant influence over what happened in the political realm of the countries’ relations. The case was no different for Colombia. The Catholic church has played a significant role in the history of Colombia, assuming an esteemed status in the country and exercising control over different areas of the government and public affairs, but as time passed its role in power has taken a slight downturn.
The main political issue within Chile resides in border disputes. Chile rejects Bolivian assertion to repossess the Atacama corridor, which had previously been ceded to Chile in 1884. The main reason Bolivia wants to retake this land is to regain access to the sea in order to export natural gas, and thus bolster their economy. Bolivia, as of now, has no access to a sea shipping route and thus desires the Atacama corridor. Chile also has another ongoing border dispute with Peru. In November of 2005, Peru drafted a unilateral legislation that would change the boundary between Chile and Peru, in order to gain more land for Peru. Chile rejects this plan, as it obviously favors Peru. The last border issue rests between Chile, Argentina,
Scholars have debated not only the nature of Iberian colonialism, but also the impact that independence had on the people of Latin America. Historian Jaime E. Rodriguez said that, “The emancipation of [Latin America] did not merely consist of separation from the mother country, as in the case of the United States. It also destroyed a vast and responsive social, political, and economic system that functioned well despite many imperfections.” I believe that when independence emerged in Latin America, it was a positive force. However, as time progressed, it indeed does cause conflict.