Nicaraguans don’t believe the payment to Costa Rica for environmental damage to Isla Portillos will be a reality any time soon.
One of the legislators who support the Sandinismo, Wilfredo Navarro, confessed to the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa that it is ‘almost impossible’ that the executive branch submits an amendment to the budget to pay Costa Rica $ 6 million.
That amount was determined following an environmental assessment conducted by the Neotropical Foundation, which was supported by the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2015 in the border dispute between the two countries.
According to Navarro, the Nicaraguan government did not put into its budget the payment claimed by Costa Rica. Apparently, there are discrepancies in the amount estimated by the experts.
The deadline for Nicaragua to pay expires on December 16th. However, the diplomatic authorities of Costa Rica feel is highly unlikely they receive the payment.
This situation comes a few days after Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega expressed his desire to visit Costa Rica and meet with his counterpart, Luis Guillermo Solís.
For Ortega, relations between the two countries ‘are not back to normal’, so he approves negotiations.