Rachel Steffen
Model UN UWM
Nicaragua, officially known as the Republic of Nicaragua, has been its own
country since 1850, after it declared its independence from Spain in September
1821. It is the largest country in the Central American Isthmus. It lies in between the
Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. On the Pacific side of Nicaragua lay the two
largest freshwater lakes in Central America: Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua,
which serve for most of the waterway transportation. Surrounding these lakes are
fertile plains with with very rich soil from ash from nearby volcanoes. Nicaragua is
essentially a biodiversity hotspot. The rivers are used by the densely populated area
in the east side of the country.
The country is divided up into three zones: Pacific Lowlands, cooler central
highlands, and the Caribbean lowlands. Since Nicaragua is right on a subduction
zone, it is surrounded by a large portion of the Central American Volcanic Arc. Being
by the Volcanic Arc, it makes our soil fertile and good to grow crops in.
Before UNCLOS, the Sea laws were known as the Freedom of the Seas, but it
set forth restrictions that caused the more powerful nations to feel threatened. The
first UNCLOS was held in Generva, Switzerland in 1956. At the Law of the Sea
Convention, it was reaffirmed that the ocean floor and seabed, including its
resources, should be beyond national jurisdiction and are “the common heritage of
mankind” (UNCLOS). It focused on four important areas: the Territorial Sea and
Contiguous Zone, the Continental Shelf, the High Seas, and Fishing and
Conservation of Living resources of the High Seas. Still, many issues were not
addressed in UNCLOS I, so there was a second and third Convention, held in 1960,
and 1973-1982, respectively. UNCLOS III Had the most effect, and is the guide for
modern day Ocean and Sea law. Still several states have not yet ratified the current
version of UNCLOS.
In Nicaragua’s Navy’s summary of claims, we address that our baselines
were established to be in compliance with UNCLOs. In order to do this, we passed
the Law of Maritime Areas (Law No. 420). Nicaragua signed the convention in
December 1984, and ratified it in May 2000.
Nicaragua has had disputes with other countries over maritime boundaries,
navigation rights, and canal problems, specifically with Honduras. (Write more)
Nicaragua has a strong stance on our ocean and sea fronts being clean and
unpolluted. Due to the fact that Nicaragua is a biodiversity hotspot with very fertile
soils, ecotourism is one of our main industries. In order to keep this up and make
profit for our country on this, we must maintain the beauty and aesthetics of our
nation’s coasts. Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America and the second
poorest in the Western Hemisphere, so it is critical that we keep this market strong,
in order to keep our economy going. If we do not, our already high poverty rates
could climb even further.
The Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade
Agreement (CAFTA-DR) has made it possible for us to export many of our
agricultural products, our largest market and employment area. We do not have a
strong fishing industry, other than shrimp and lobster. While this may come
surprising to other countries considering we are surrounded by water, the industry
has only just started growing in the past few years, and we think that if we have
equal access to the ocean with everyone else, we would be able to have this
industry grow. We support UNCLOS for this reason and many more. If we can
increase our fishing industry, we would be able to provide better, hopefully higherpaying jobs, and the standard of living could grow from 42.5% poverty to
prosperity. We prefer that there are set laws that make it so there are no other
countries surrounding us that are polluting the waters.
Sources
http://www.jag.navy.mil/organization/documents/mcrm/nicaragua.pdf