102 Chapter 2
MID#4508
Dispute Number: 4508
Date(s): October 2010
Participants: 94 Costa Rica/93 Nicaragua
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: Costa Rica and Nicaragua traded allegations of border incursions amid
a dispute over Nicaragua’s dredging of the San Juan River that comprises part of
their joint border. Both countries also sent additional border guards to prevent further
incursions.
93 Nicaragua/100 Colombia
MID#1196
Dispute Number: 1196
Date(s): December 24, 1913 to January 1914
Participants: 93 Nicaragua/100 Colombia
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: Nicaragua first proposed the idea of a 99-year lease of the Corn Islands
off Nicaragua’s Mosquito Coast (called the Mangles Islands by Colombia, just west
of Isla San Andres y Providencia, in Colombia) to the United States in early 1913.
Nicaragua signed a secret agreement with the United States on February 8, 1913, and
allowed the United States to lease the islands to the United States to assist with the
Panama Canal project.
Colombia learned off the secret agreement in the summer of 1913. Its diplomat
in Washington was given instructions to inform the United States that the secret
agreement regarding the Corn Islands was null as the matter concerned Colombian,
not Nicaraguan, territory. Nicaragua responded in a note dated December 24, that
Nicaragua, and not Colombia, had sovereignty over the matter and was free to lease
the islands as they pleased. Both sides exchanged communications reiterating their
respective sides for some time. Nicaragua threatened to occupy the territory, and
Columbia sent ships as a show of force.
The signature of the Bryan-Chammoro Treaty on August 5, 1914, formalized the
99-year lease to the United States. Mostly a minor issue with respect to the general
animosity toward Nicaragua, the matter was resolved when Colombia resumed peace-
ful relations with the United States in March 1922.
Both Colombia and Nicaragua soon began discussions regarding the dominion of
the islands. A compromise was reached on March 24, 1928. Colombia recognized
Nicaraguan sovereignty of the Corn Islands while Nicaragua recognized Colombian
sovereignty of Isla San Andres y Providencia. That status quo exists to this day.