The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua issued a note of protest against his counterpart from El Salvador for the alleged incursion into Nicaraguan territorial waters by four armed vessels from that country.
The events would have occurred between 4 pm on Friday, February 4, and 7:20 am on Saturday, February 5, in waters that, according to the statement sent by the Foreign Minister Denis Moncada Colindres, to her counterpart from El Salvador, Alexandra Till, jurisdictionally they are part of the Nicaraguan territory.
“I have the honor to address your Excellency, to express the strongest protest against the violation of Nicaraguan maritime space, by military artillery ships of the Naval Force of El Salvador,” cites the letter of protest from Nicaragua.
“All these naval means entered the jurisdictional maritime space of Nicaragua with military personnel deliberately carrying weapons in a provocative attitude and even stopping their march for several hours in the indicated areas,” the statement added.
The Salvadoran ships had been intercepted by the ships of the Nicaraguan Naval Force, Coast Guard 402 “Cacique Diriangén” and Coast Guard 202 “Cacique Tenderí”, whose members criticized the crew of the Salvadoran ships for their presence in Nicaraguan seas.
According to the Managua statement, Salvadoran artillery vessels identified as PM-15, PM-10, PC-01 and a Boston Whaler-type fast artillery boat entered national waters.
“The members of the Naval Force questioned the ships of the Naval Force of El Salvador about their presence in jurisdictional waters of Nicaragua and the unit of the Naval Force PM-10 responded first that they were ‘disputed waters’ and then that they were are in the waters of El Salvador and that the surface units of Nicaragua are in the waters of El Salvador”, adds the Foreign Ministry statement.
The incident occurred in the waters of the Gulf of Fonseca, a place historically disputed between El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. On October 27, 2021 a treaty was signed between Daniel Ortega and the then Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, known as the Treaty between Nicaragua and Honduras in the Caribbean Sea and its outlying waters in the Gulf of Fonseca, which establishes the border delimitations on land and sea established by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and It would open the doors for a joint exploitation of the resources of the area. El Salvador did not adhere to this treaty.
“The Republic of Nicaragua strongly rejects the violation of its sovereignty by the Republic of El Salvador and reaffirms that Nicaragua is respectful of international law and has historically demonstrated this by abiding by the resolutions of the International Court of Justice on various matters, especially those related to the definition of its bordering spaces, both in the Caribbean Sea and in the Pacific Ocean”, adds the Foreign Ministry statement.
The statement also warns San Salvador that the actions that Nicaragua adopts will always be in safeguard of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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