Arias, Ortega to Meet Twice This Week
by Rod Hughes
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias will meet with his Nicaraguan counterpart, Daniel Ortega, twice this week at largely ceremonial events. Although the schedules do not formally include discussions about the diplomatic crisis surrounding Colombia, it is a safe bet that off-the-record conversation will touch on the theme, since one of Arias’ specialties is foreign policy and peace-keeping. Last week, the leftist Ortega broke diplomatic relations with Colombia to show solidarity with Ecuador and Venezuela in their dispute with Colombia.
The first meeting will be in an attempt to present a united front in trade issues with the European Union and will include presidents Alvaro Colom of Guatemala, Manuel Zelaya of Honduras and Antonio Saca of El Salvador. Then, Friday, two days later, Arias goes to the colorful southern Nicaraguan city of Granada to kick off a series of meetings of various ministries to clear up thorny problems between the two countries that have nothing to do with the three belligerent South American countries.
The latter event, a bilateral commission, results from a meeting between Arias and Ortega last August in an attempt to warm the increasingly icy relations between the neighboring nations and clear the air. At least superficially, the two presidents then appeared to have abandoned their long months of verbal sniping at each other from long range. But the border dispute regarding navigation on the San Juan River still remains to be decided by the World Court. Unlike the saber-rattling between Colombia and Ecuador, Costa Rica has no patience with this sort of foolishness and Nicaragua is in no economic shape to become too obstreperous.
Last Friday, Arias limited himself to the mild comment that he “laments” Ortega’s decision to break his country’s diplomatic relations with Colombia. The commision is expected to steer clear of potentially abrasive issues.