By Amanda Roberson, Tico Times Staff

The five Central American countries that make up the Central American Integration System (SICA) didn’t involve Costa Rica when naming Nicaraguan Foreign Minister as its coordinator to negotiate an association agreement with the European Union, Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno said yesterday during a press conference following President Oscar Arias’ weekly Consejo meeting.

“At no time was Costa Rica consulted,” Stagno said, explaining that the presidents of Guatemala, Oscar Berger; El Salvador, Elías Antonio Saca; Honduras, Manuel Zelaya; and Nicaragua, Enrique Bolaños, signed an agreement placing Caldera at the helm of negotiations during the swearing-in ceremony of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe July 11.

Stagno offered no explanation as to why the four other countries would make a decision about the association agreement without consulting Costa Rica, which accounts for 60% of the region’s trade with the European Union.

Nicaragua, however, tells a different version of these events.

Caldera, an economist with a master’s in foreign trade and experience working with the World Trade Organization (WTO), was named coordinator because of his experience and not to represent Nicaragua, said Oscar García, spokesman for the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry. Each country will be represented during the negotiations by its own negotiating team, he added.

Caldera’s naming should have come as no surprise to Costa Rica, since Stagno and Caldera discussed the possibility during a recent meeting, García said.

Meanwhile, Costa Rica “laments that there was a meeting without Costa Rica’s knowledge,” Stagno said, adding that it has always been clear that an association agreement between Central America and the European Union would not be possible without the signature of the presidents of all five SICA member countries.

By the same token, Stagno said he does not see the naming of Caldera as coordinator “binding” since it has not been signed by President Oscar Arias.