Nicaragua Friday agreed to use friendly means to resolve complaints of xenophobia and discrimination it filed against Costa Rica before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission in February.

Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Norman Caldera stated in a letter to Commission Secretary Santiago Cantón that “ Nicaragua officially accepts the invitation” to find an amicable solution to the dispute, as the Commission suggested July 18.

“Nicaragua is in agreement with initiating procedures to reach a friendly, open solution in good faith,” Caldera said.

Nicaragua filed complaints of xenophobia and discrimination before the Commission Feb. 6 over the death of two Nicaraguan citizens in Costa Rica : Natividad Canda, who was attacked and killed by dogs while attempting to enter a warehouse on Nov. 10, 2005 (TT, Nov. 18, 2005), and José Ariel Urbina, who was lynched by a group of Costa Ricans last December.

In Canda’s case, Nicaragua argued Costa Rican police and firefighters watched the attack and did nothing to stop it.

-ACAN-EFE and Tico Times