Nicaragua cites Google Earth to justify 'invading' Costa Rica

[RandomGuy]

Costa Rica and Nicaragua are in the midst of a highly tense standoff after Nicaraguan troops crossed into a contested border region and set up camp, taking down a Costa Rican flag. Costa Rica, which has no standing military, has called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States.

In a very 21st century twist, Costa Rica's La Nacion newspaper reports, it seems that a Google Maps glitch may be to blame. The Seach Engine Land blog (which also created the composite image above) explains:

the Nicaraguan commander, Eden Pastora, used Google Maps to "justify" the incursion even though the official maps used by both countries indicate the territory belongs to Costa Rica. Pastora blames Google Maps in the paper:

See the satellite photo on Google and there you see the border. In the last 3,000 meters the two sides are from Nicaragua.

The paper points out that Bing Maps shows the correct and officially recognized border.

See FP's Geopolitics of Google Earth list for more unintended consequences.

EDIT:
Here is a link, it is a blog from the Foreign Policy Journal website.
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/...ing_costa_rica

[CubanMustGo]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...ng_costa_.html

Google corrects mistake after Nicaragua blames site's maps for invasion of Costa Rica

Google Maps is correcting its faulty maps of Nicaragua and Costa Rica after becoming the culprit in the latest border dispute between the two Central American countries.

"We determined that there was indeed an error in the compilation of the source data, by up to 2.7 km (1.6 mi)," Hale wrote. "The U.S. Department of State has provided a corrected version and we are now working to update our maps."

Earlier this week, former Sandinista commander Eden Pastora, who heads Nicaragua's controversial project to dredge the San Juan River which divides the two countries, used Google Maps as justification for incursion into Costa Rican territory.

Costa Rica claimed that Nicaraguan troops set up camp on the Costa Rican side of the river, while Nicaragua denied these claims, according to Agence France Presse (AFP).

Costa Rica has no army and President Laura hilla has increasingly asked international mediators to intervene.

"Costa Rica is seeing its dignity smeared and there is a sense of great national urgency," hilla said Saturday after a meeting with the Organization of American States Secretary General Jose Manuel Insulza, according to AFP.

Although both countries' official maps support Google's assertion, Nicaragua asked Google not to make the correction.

"I officially request that (the border marking) not be modified," Foreign Minister Samuel Santos asked Google representative Jeffrey Hardy, AFP reports.

The nearly 200-year-old border dispute reignited in mid-October after Nicaragua started dredging the San Juan to restore its route to what it was a century and a half ago, according to news reports.

Pastora claimed the territory in question is a frontier because the river has changed its course since the borders were first drawn up, according to La Nacion.

This is not the first territorial dispute that Google Maps has been involved in.

Earlier this year Cambodia requested that Google correct borders on a map that the country's Secretary of State Sway Sitha called "devoid of truth and reality," Reuters reports.

[The Reckoning]

this is why english speaking countries will always win out.

non-english speaking countries always have a failure to communicate

[Sisk]

I thought people didn't want us to police the world.

[lefty]

So much stupidity

[MaNuMaNiAc]

so ing pathetic. Its like a dispute among 10 year old children. Sadly we here in Argentina don't seem to be much better.

Brazil, Chile and Uruguay are Latin America's only saving grace, and anyone that is offended because they want to pretend otherwise...

[NASpurs]

I'm from Costa Rica and this is ing hilarious to me.