The Organization of American States (OAS) has urged Nicaragua and Costa Rica to withdraw their security forces from a border area each country claims as its own. The dispute over the contested area is over a century old but flared up recently when Nicaragua sent troops to an inland island on the San Juan River to support a dredging operation. Costa Rica objected to the presence of Nicaraguan forces on what it claims as its own territory, and despite having no real army, sent their own police forces into the area.
On Saturday, the OAS passed a largely toothless resolution directing the two countries to get a grip. The vote was 22-2, with Nicaragua and Venezuela the only ‘nay’ votes. In an interesting twist, Google maps has come under fire for erroneously identifying the disputed area as part of Nicaragua, an error that local media claim was used by the Nicaraguan military to justify the incursion. Google has since amended their maps to restore some 1.7 miles of territory to Costa Rica’s side of the border.
There are a lot of online gambling companies based in Costa Rica, many of whom must be nervously monitoring the local media for updates on the situation. Fortunately, we’re happy to report that the whole situation is actually a shameless attempt by Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega to get an invite to the world famous Bodog Compound outside San Jose. Dude, next time, just call Calvin, okay?
