Islands and War

Moving slowly through shallow reefs two weeks ago, a battered shrimp boat carrying a Nicaraguan newspaper editor and three Miskito Indian sailors approached the tiny Caribbean island of Quita Sueno (literally "takes away sleep"), 140 miles off Nicaragua's coast. One of the Indians transferred to a canoe and paddled ashore. Watching for any Colombian troops who might possibly be near by, he proudly raised the Nicaraguan flag over the rocky ground.

Thus, with a degree of opera bouffe unusual even for Central America, began another round in what local newspapers have grandiloquently dubbed "the war of the flags." In fact, it is quite possibly the world's silliest international dispute. Nicaragua and Colombia are battling for jurisdiction over Quita Sueno and two smaller islets, Roncador and Serrana--all desolate, uninhabited specks of sand, coral and rock that vanish from sight during high tide.

The war, such as it is, began two months ago when the U.S., which had exercised joint control over the islets with Colombia since 1928 (mainly for navigational purposes) decided to renounce any jurisdiction over them. Nicaragua promptly challenged Colombia's right to claim the islets as its own. In response, Colombian Defense Minister Hernando Currea Cubides, accompanied by military escorts in two destroyers, showed his country's flag around Serrana. As it happens, he did so more or less as an afterthought. The Colombian ships could not find Quita Sueno, which apparently was under water at the time, and the seas were too rough for the voyagers to make a beachhead on Roncador.

Nicaragua is not yet ready to give up. It contends that since the water surrounding the islets is no more than 200 meters deep, the three rock specks are part of the continental shelf, which Nicaragua claims for a distance of 150 miles out to sea. In pursuit of its territorial rights, Nicaragua may file suit against Colombia in The International Court of Justice. Meantime, Nicaragua is considering granting concessions to foreign oil companies as a means of reinforcing its rights in the area. It does not seem to matter much that no oil has ever been discovered on the three disputed islets.

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