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Nicaragua, Costa Rica both see victory in Hague's ruling on border standoff

The International Court of Justice today ordered Costa Rica and Nicaragua to withdraw all troops, police, and security personnel from a contested border region.

A preliminary ruling today by the International Court of Justice on a tense border conflict between Costa Rica and Nicaragua is allowing both sides to claim victory and helping to defuse 鈥� at least for the moment 鈥� a high-stakes showdown that many feared would end in violence.

Tuesday鈥檚 ruling calls for both sides to withdraw all troops, police, and security personnel from a 1.2-square-mile contested border region, but does not prevent Nicaragua from continuing to dredge its San Juan River, which parallels the two country鈥檚 border. The high court calls on both sides to 鈥渞efrain from any action that might aggravate or extend the dispute before the court or make it more difficult to resolve.鈥�

Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla called it a fair and 鈥渙verwhelming victory鈥� for her country in using law to repel aggressors. Yet Nicaragua is also claiming victory. Carlos Arg眉ello, Nicaragua鈥檚 representative before The Hague, told state media that the ruling is satisfactory because it blocks Costa Rica鈥檚 alleged 鈥渙ffensive鈥� against Nicaraguan sovereignty.

The preliminary ruling is meant as a stopgap measure in a lengthy legal process expected to take another four years before reaching final verdict. While it allows all sides to save face, it may do little to mend the damaged relations between Nicaragua and Costa Rica, thus allowing the embers of mutual mistrust to continue burning.

Costa Rica gets tough

Last October, Costa Rica contended that Nicaraguan soldiers had 鈥渋nvaded鈥� its territory and destroyed part of its protected wetlands in an effort to dredge its river. Nicaragua, meanwhile, insisted its troops were always on its side of the border and said the environmental damage caused by the dredging effort was negligible.

As tensions escalated last November, Costa Rica, which abolished its army 62 years ago, sent some 2,000 police officers to reinforce security along the border. It also equipped its border region with security cameras and trained a new crack battalion of special forces that was to be deployed to the border region this week in the event of a negative ruling from The Hague.

Nicaragua, meanwhile, refused to withdraw its troops 鈥� reportedly less than two dozen were stationed in the disputed swampland region 鈥� or end its river-dredging operation, despite Costa Rica鈥檚 impassioned behest. Nicaragua insisted that Costa Rica鈥檚 efforts to halt the dredging and force its troop withdrawal are part of its neighbor鈥檚 alleged expansionist pretensions to steal its territory and natural resources.

'More questions than answers'

The Nicaraguan Army has said it will respect The Hague鈥檚 ruling, despite its apparent contradiction with the Sandinista party's slogan of 鈥淣ot One Step Backwards!鈥� As of Tuesday afternoon, President Daniel Ortega had not yet addressed the ruling or made any public appearance.

鈥淥rtega will call this a victory because it doesn鈥檛 require him to do anything,鈥� says opposition lawmaker Francisco Aguirre, president of the legislative commission on foreign affairs. Indeed, Nicaraguan officials claim they have already removed troops from the disputed area and that the dredging operation has already concluded and moved upriver.

But the public may not be as content as the politicians, who spent months rallying their troops and whipping up a media frenzy.

鈥淭his whole thing leaves me with more questions than answers, and as a Costa Rican I feel mocked. We can鈥檛 defend ourselves with arms and it appears that diplomacy only half-works,鈥� writes Daniel Jimenez on the message board of Costa Rican daily La Naci贸n.