Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega accuses Colombia of heading a “conspiracy” of countries within the Organization of American States (OAS), newspaper El Colombiano reported Sunday.
Following the OAS’s ruling on Friday that both Nicaragua and Costa Rica should withdraw all armed forces from a disputed border area, Ortega accused Colombia of leading a campaign within the international body along with Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama and Guatemala, countries which he said “have an interest in drug trafficking.”
Costa Rica does not have an army, but had reportedly stationed police in the area.
The president accused Colombia of having “an expansionist policy in the Caribbean” and of encouraging Costa Rica to take over Nicaragua’s San Juan River.
Ortega at the beginning of November claimed that Colombia has encouraged maritime treaties with Honduras and Costa Rica that conflict with Nicaragua’s territory.
The Nicaraguan president announced that he will take the case to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. “We, as the offended party, will appeal to the Court and report Costa Rica for aiming to occupy Nicaraguan territory, because that is what they want, to take over our territory,” Ortega added.
Ortega threatened to withdraw from OAS, which he describes as a failure as the body has “lost all credibility”.