International Court Cedes Disputed Territory to Honduras

The maps of Nicaragua and Honduras may have to be redrawn, but leaders of both countries say they are satisfied with an International Court of Justice ruling that settles a century-old border issue on the Atlantic coast.

The world’s highest court, in the Hague, Netherlands, awarded four disputed Caribbean islands to Honduras in an Oct. 8 ruling. Meanwhile, the court says that both countries can use the territorial waters surrounding the islands. The ruling gives Nicaraguan fishermen far more access than they had before.

The islands—Bobel, Savannah, Port Royal, and Sur—are rich in natural resources, say Honduran officials. The area is also eyed for oil exploration—to which both countries now have rights.

Honduras had claimed that its boundaries were set by the King of Spain in 1906, but Nicaragua filed suit in 1999, contending that it owns part of the coast that stretches to the 17th parallel. The area has been a source of conflict for years, with both sides seizing fishing vessels from the opposing country when they stray into disputed waters. The territorial line is now north of the 15th parallel and is expected to end tensions.

Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega has signed additional concessions with Honduras over the Gulf of Fonseca, on the Pacific coast, calling it a “zone of peace.” The Gulf of Fonseca had also been a source of dispute.

Your Latin America Insider,

Suzan Haskins