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Colombia Isla de San Andrés and Isla de Providencia
Colombian concerns pertaining to sovereignty over the
San
Andrés and Providencia archipelago were renewed after the
1979
victory of the Sandinista National Liberation Front in
Nicaragua,
when that country's new leaders revived the Nicaraguan
claim to the
territory. The Sandinistas asserted that the 1928
Barcenas-Esquerra
Treaty between Colombia and Nicaragua was invalid because
it had
been signed under pressure from the United States. After
Nicaragua
renewed its claim, the Colombian government dispatched a
naval task
force, a squadron of Mirage fighters, and some 500 marines
to San
Andrés, the capital of San Andrés and Providencia
Intendancy. A new
military base was constructed to serve as Colombia's naval
headquarters for the Caribbean. During 1980 and 1981, the
presence
of Nicaraguan fishing boats in waters near the islands
provoked
numerous minor clashes, yet Nicaragua maintained that it
sought a
peaceful resolution to the dispute and did not wish a
military
confrontation over the islands. At that time, the
Colombian
government also signaled its willingness to defend its
claim over
the islands, including use of military force if necessary.
Upon the inauguration of the administration of
Belisario
Betancur Cuartas in 1982, diplomatic relations between
Colombia and
Nicaragua improved. As a result, the Nicaraguan government
placed
less emphasis on its public campaign to reclaim the
territory.
Nonetheless, the strategic location of the islands near
the
Caribbean side of the Panama Canal concerned United States
policy
planners. Although the Colombian government made clear
that it
would not permit the establishment of foreign military
bases on the
islands, it was also clear that the United States
government did
not wish to see the islands fall under the control of a
government
that it considered to be hostile to United States
interests.
Moreover, the Colombian government's position left open
the
possibility that the United States might be granted access
and
landing rights to the archipelago, a possibility that was
especially appealing to United States strategic planners
as the
1999 expiration of the Panama Canal Treaty approached.
Data as of December 1988
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