The dispute over the Gulf of Fonseca restarts
Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua are once again clashing over the territory located in the Pacific Ocean.
The Honduran Ministers Council approved a decree on Wednesday, Oct. 13, to "promote peace and sustainable development in the Gulf of Fonseca," as well as to "reaffirm national sovereignty in the maritime spaces that correspond to Honduras in its waters," as it explained on Twitter.
1/ Hoy en Consejo de Ministros se aprobó el Decreto Ejecutivo PCM-111-221, para impulsar la paz y el desarrollo sustentable del Golfo de Fonseca y reafirmar la soberanía nacional en los espacios marítimos que le corresponden a en sus aguas. pic.twitter.com/ovxgJuD2AJ
— Juan Orlando H. (@JuanOrlandoH) October 13, 2021
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández also claimed sovereignty over the disputed Gulf of Fonseca, in the Pacific Ocean, where El Salvador and Nicaragua also claim territory.
The Gulf of Fonseca is located in the Pacific Ocean between Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua, countries that have historically disputed its territory due to its excellent location in the middle of the ocean.
Unlike Nicaragua, which has 352 km of coastline on the Pacific, and El Salvador, with 307 km, the gulf is Honduras' only exit to the ocean. If the Nicaraguan and Salvadoran authorities were to agree to limit navigation on their territorial seas, they could isolate the Hondurans.
In a 1992 ruling, the ICJ determined that both states had exclusive sovereignty over a strip of three nautical miles from their coast, but awarded administration of the rest of the gulf's waters to the three countries that share it.
The resolution establishes sovereignty over other islands: El Tigre, which belongs to Honduras, and Meanguera and Meanguerita, to El Salvador.
On the new decree, the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, responded to Hernandez's Twitter thread with a meme saying "Easy, Joh. Eat snickers."
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) October 13, 2021
However, Salvadoran opposition deputies pointed out that any dispute generated between El Salvador and Honduras over the decree would be a "smokescreen" to distract from each country's internal problems.
LEAVE A COMMENT:
Join the discussion! Leave a comment.