What they say in Nicaragua about the Hague ruling: “Colombia is pretending to ignore the sentence”

On the recent ruling indicated by the International Court, deputies from the Nicaraguan country and even the dictator Daniel Ortega himself have spoken out, who highlighted the ruling but also pointed out the need for the government of Iván Duque to comply with the decisions taken by the International Court.

“Colombia must respect Nicaragua's sovereignty and above all it must seek ways to remedy these violations that country has committed... it is a resounding victory that we must celebrate,” said Central American MP Adolfo Pastrán.

Another comment, this time by Nicaraguan deputy Wilfredo Navarro, pointed out what he called the pride of President Duque, whom he called a 'gorilla': “Today Colombia is pretending to ignore the sentence... the world court will have to judge Colombia for its ignorance, its zeal and its pride and the attitudes of the ' Gorilla President of Colombia' who is ignorant of international failures”.

While the head of the regime, Daniel Ortega, said in a statement regarding the ruling: “Today the International Court of Justice has issued a firm, final and mandatory judgment in which Nicaragua is right in confirming that Colombia has implemented a state policy that has violated jurisdiction and sovereign rights of Nicaragua”.

In the text signed by Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo, it is stated that the Colombian government, headed by President Iván Duque, failed to comply by “interfering with Nicaragua's fishing, marine scientific research and naval operations in its exclusive economic zone, attempting to impose conservation measures on resources natural and marine environment of Nicaragua and to authorize fishing activities in Nicaragua's exclusive economic zone”.

Ortega concludes the statement stating that the so-called Government of Reconciliation and National Unity has the willingness and commitment to the roots of the archipelagos, and they also pointed out that they have never denied the right to fishermen: “Similarly, the High Court has confirmed that Nicaragua has not violated the right some of the historical fishing of the raizal population of the San Andrés and Providencia Archipelago. At the same time, the Court recognized as positive the gesture of the Government of Nicaragua in expressing interest in addressing bilaterally by way of agreement the situation of the island population of the archipelago.”

For its part, the Colombian Government, through a video in which Foreign Minister and Vice President Martha Lucia Ramírez spoke, pointed out its perceptions of the Court's ruling.

For her part, the Vice-President and Foreign Minister of the Republic, Martha Lucia Ramírez, stated that the ruling was not about limitations or the alleged maritime platform: “This decision today had nothing with either sovereignty or maritime limitation, this was a dispute over the rights of both sides of both Nicaragua and Colombia, and that is why it was necessary to see if the actions of these countries were subject to international law.”

Regarding the dispute, the vice-president said: “The important thing is that Nicaragua's aspirations did not prosper in its attempt to deny Colombia to have a presence and activities in the southwestern Caribbean Sea.”

On the benefits for the national territory, Ramírez said: “The Navy can continue to be present in the Caribbean and advance in the pursuit of transnational drug trafficking activities, the Colombian integral contiguous area is preserved in this way there is a unity, an absolutely indivisible integrity of our archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, Santa Catalina, the cays and all the islands that make it up, so that Colombia can protect its submerged cultural heritage.”

On the rights of the raizales, Vice President Ramírez said that the Court gave her the right to fishermen: “Now then the raizales will be able to continue to sail freely to reach the fishing banks that are in Colombian waters and Nicaragua will not be able to prevent their free movement, which was what had been happening in recent years.”

He also spoke about a counterclaim against Nicaragua by the National Government due to an illegal decree issued by the Central American country. “Decree 33, in which it defined some points and baselines and it is defined by the International Court that this Nicaraguan decree violated international law and the rights of Colombia.”

Most of those 51 incidents that Nicaragua had alleged against Colombia were ruled out. There is only one statement by the Court in relation to some very specific cases involving 16 incidents, and some of them are related to the regular activities of the National Navy in the area “as such was Nicaragua not recognized either none of the compensation he was claiming for alleged damages... We have a decision that confirms that the measures taken by Colombia as part of its defense strategy were successful,” Vice President Martha Lucia Ramírez concluded.

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