Many people don’t know this, but the complete map of Costa Rica still has a part that needs to be defined. The dividing line that defines the boundaries between the country and Panama in the Caribbean Sea must be drawn.
In 1980, the Calderón-Ozores Treaty was signed to define marine and cooperation areas. Now it will be time for their amendment to finalize the division lines at sea.
“This process will complete the entirety of Costa Rica’s borders, with this space being the only one that has not yet been delineated,” stated the Foreign Ministry in a statement.
The work will be carried out by a Maritime Boundaries Commission, where the respective bilateral negotiations will take place. Its integration was signed by the Foreign Ministers Arnoldo André, for Costa Rica, and his Panamanian counterpart Javier Martínez-Acha.
Important step
“This is an important step for Costa Rica.” Having all borders delineated will strengthen national sovereignty, ensuring the territorial integrity of the country and promoting maritime security,” pointed out André.
And the other limits?
The official delineation of Costa Rica’s territory began during the Colonial era, but even in recent decades, the boundaries have been refined. Regarding the land territory, the Cañas-Jerez Treaty defined the boundary line with Nicaragua in 1858. By 1941, the same was done with Panama through the Echandi Montero-Fernández Jaén Agreement.
To this, the maritime boundaries must be added. There, negotiations have had to be conducted not only with neighboring land countries but also with Ecuador and Colombia, with whom it shares maritime borders.
The Facio-Fernández Treaty (1977) and the Gutiérrez-Lloreda Treaty were signed in Bogotá. (1984). This is because it is limited both in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
Regarding Ecuador, the boundary corresponds to the protected areas between Cocos Island and the Galapagos. These extensions were established in the Gutiérrez-Terán Boundary Treaty of 1985.
