Nicaragua May Bypass Costa Rica On SICA Presidency Rotation
Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega, plans to hand over the presidency of the Sistema de Integración Centroamericana (SICA) to Guatemala's president, Alvaro Colom, instead of Costa Rica president, Oscar Arias, come July.
The Nicaraguan vice-chancellor, Manuel Coronel Kautz, says the move is due to Costa Rica's differing position than that of the rest of Central America, evidenced by Arias' skipping meetings held over the last six months, three of which were held in Managua.
Thus, Nicaragua feels it should skip handing over the presidency to Costa Rica, avoiding risking Central America's integration.
Kautz made the statement on a local Nicaraguan television channel, saying that Costa Rica is neither a member of the Corte Centroamericana de Justicia (CCJ), nor of the Parlamento Centroamericano (Parlacen).
The vice-chancellor continued with "costa Rica does not subscribe to the free mobility of Central America, known as CA-4, nor is it part of the single visa agreement for Central America.
According to Kautz, Costa Rica is not part of the political dialogue and co-operation between the Central American governments and the European Union.
Arias said last week the Central American presidential summits are a waste of time and fail to address important issues, failing to address the principal problems facing Central America.
The Arias comments could have been seen by Ortega as an insult, as he is the responsible for setting the agenda of the talks.
Kautz said that Nicaragua has to "think things over carefully" before handing over the presidency to Arias, especially following the comments made by the Costa Rican president.
The rotation of the presidency is based on article 3 of the Reglamento de la Presidencia Pro Témpore del SICA, which was signed in Managua on March 25, 2009, which clearly states Costa Rica is next on the rotation come July 1, 2009.
Costa Rica reiterated that it is respectful of the legal system in force in Central America.
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