The Costa Rican Foreign Ministry does not see it “opportune” to resolve a dispute between the two countries using friendly means, according to a statement released by the ministry yesterday.

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

The complaints concern 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 who witnessed the attack did nothing to stop it.

Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno said a friendly solution is not “opportune” considering comments Nicaraguan government officials recently made to local media, the statement said.

In speaking with Nicaraguan press, Nicaraguan authorities incorrectly labeled the case it presented before the Commission a “complaint,” rather than a “communication,” the statement said.

Stagno stated this argument in a letter sent to the Commission’s Secretary Santiago Cantón Friday, the same day Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Norman Caldera sent Cantón a letter expressing his country’s agreement to settle the dispute on friendly terms, as the Commission suggested July 18.

Meanwhile, Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry spokesman Oscar García told The Nica Times Costa Rica is going back on its word by refusing to come to a friendly agreement.

“Costa Rica said on July 18 … that it was willing to take the advice of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission to seek out a friendly resolution to the problem. Now they are saying they are not,” García said. “It is also important to remember that this is not about finding a solution to two isolated cases — this is much bigger than that; it’s about Costa Rica’s incompliance with protecting the human rights of Nicaraguans in Costa Rica.”

The Costa Rican Foreign Ministry has asked the commission to reject the case, while García said it will be up to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to decide.

-Tico Times