Category: Central America

An agreement has been reached between President Enrique Bolaños of Nicaragua and the left-wing Sandanista leader Daniel Ortega to delay until next year constitutional reforms which will weaken presidential powers. Growing conflict between President Bolaños and the opposition-controlled Congress has created a deepening political crisis in the country, described by the President as a ‘creeping coup’.

Nicaragua has recalled its ambassador to Costa Rica, Francisco Fiallos Navarro, as a long-running border dispute between the two countries escalates. Since 2001, Nicaragua and Costa Rica have been disputing sovereignty of the San Juan River border between the two nations. Costa Rica says it is considering bringing the case in front of the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

The World Bank’s board of directors has said it will provide grants worth $780 million to Guatemala over the next three years. Guatemala, one of the poorest countries in the world, needs to increase growth by approximately 5 percent annually and raise public spending on human development and infrastructure investments to meet the World Bank’s Millennium Development Goals and halve poverty by 2015.