Costa Rica News – Seems that tensions continue to remain high between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. However, not everyone is getting caught up in what is turning into a personal vendetta between Chinchilla and Ortega’s administrations.
Businessmen in Nicaragua are refusing to raise the tariff on Costa Rican products. The Ortega government intended to use the 35% tariff on all products entering from Costa Rica in order to pay the ever increasing fees to the ICJ, the International Court of Justice.
The ICJ has open cases from both nations, over boundary issues. One case demands reparation for Nicaragua’s invasion of Costa Rican territory and environmental damage caused. The other is against Costa Rica, for alleged environmental damage of the San Juan River.
The suggestion of the “patriotic duty” came from Nicaragua’s former Foreign Minister, Francisco Aguirre Sacasa, after Costa Rica filed another claim before the ICJ against Nicaragua last Tuesday over a maritime boundary issue. It’s not the first time such a drastic measure has been thought about. In 1999 a 35% tariff was approved on goods and services of Honduran and Colombian origin. That also followed a maritime boundary dispute.
Many business leaders believe that the tax will have no result,other than hurting their businesses. If taxes are raised business will decrease. There is currently a very active trade between the countries. Nicaragua imported $497.9 million in Costa Rican products last year and Costa Rica received $118.6 million in products imported from Nicaragua.
