The International Court of Justice, the main judicial organ of the United Nations, which has its seat in The Hague, Neatherlands, defined this Friday, that Nicaragua has to pay $378,890 to Costa Rica for the damages caused in Calero Island, also known as Portillos Island or Harbor Head Lagoon, as it is called in Nicaragua, between 2010-2015.

The international court had ruled on December 16, 2015 that this area belongs to Costa Rica, and ruled that Nicaragua had to compensate Costa Rica because they had allegedly established a military camp in Costa Rican territory and built three artificial trenches violating the integrity of Costa Rican territory.

A year was given to parties to reach an agreement regarding the compensation amount, in June 2016, Costa Rica submitted an estimate for material damages which was assessed at US$6,723,476 ($2.8 million for environmental damages and $3.9 million on operational costs the country had to take on to repair the damages). Nicaragua rejected the Costa Rican estimate in November saying it was too high, and requested more documentation which Costa Rica provided a few days later. Nicaragua failed to respond even after being granted an extension and therefore Costa Rica requested the Court to make a final determination on the amount due.

The amount established by the International Court of Justice is very low in comparison to what Costa Rica requested, this because not all the amounts requested for the different damages were accepted by the judges who considered that some of the estimates were not effectively demonstrated.

As of this point Nicaragua has two months to pay the compensation, otherwise interests will run over the amount established by the Court, the interest rate was established at 6% annually.

“Costa Rica accepts and respects the ruling of the International Justice Court”, said Manuel Gonzalez, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The International Justice Court will also establish maritime boundaries both in the Pacific and Caribbean between both countries after 8 a.m. (local time) today.