Nicaragua says that the Colombians detained by the Nicaraguan authorities when their boats entered disputed waters will be deported by Wednesday, reports Caracol Radio.
Colombian consul in Nicaragua Cesar Fernando Plazas said that the three Colombian boats detained by Nicaraguan authorities and the 28 Colombian fishermen on board will be released once their deportation paperwork has been processed.
Plazas said that the fishermen are in good health and are in the care of staff from the Colombian Embassy in the Nicaraguan Caribbean port town of Bluefields.
Alejandro Serrano, one of the Colombian detainees, insisted that his boat was in Colombian territory when it was detained.
The Nicaraguan navy intercepted and towed the boats in disputed waters last Friday. Colombia media originally reported the interception of one boat. The fact that three boats and 28 fishermen had been detained was revealed following communications between Colombia and the central american nation.
Relations between the nations became frosty after the Nicaraguan government gave asylum to three guerrillas from the FARC and a Mexican female student, the only survivors of the Colombian military’s attack on a FARC camp in Ecuador on March 1, 2008.
There is a long-running dispute between Colombia and Nicaragua over maritime rights. Nicaragua announced in April 2008 that it would detain Colombian fishing boats that entered the disputed area in the Caribbean.