The Esguerra-Bárcenas Treaty was signed between

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

on 24 March 1928. Under the terms of the treaty, Nicaragua recognized Colombia's sovereignty over the

Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina The Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina (, ), or San Andrés and Providencia, is one of the departments of Colombia, and the only one located geographically in Central America. It consists of two island groups in the Caribb ...

. Colombia recognized Nicaragua's sovereignty over the Coast of Mosquitos. This treaty is heavily criticized by the Nicaraguan government as it was signed during the

United States occupation of Nicaragua The United States occupation of Nicaragua from August 4, 1912, to January 2, 1933, was part of the Banana Wars, when the U.S. military invaded various Latin American countries from 1898 to 1934. The formal occupation began on August 4, 1912, ...

. In 2001, Nicaragua declared that they disputed the agreement and filed a formal complaint before the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, claiming maritime boundaries east of longitude 82 of Greenwich, whilst disputing sovereignty over parts of the archipelago of San Andrés. On December 13, 2007, the International Court of Justice recognized the full sovereignty of Colombia over the islands of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, and recognized Colombian sovereignty over the cays of

Serranilla A serranilla is a genre of short poem in Spanish literature which focus on commonplace subjects, the best known authors of which were Juan Ruiz also known as the Arcipreste de Hita (''Por la ruta serrana del Arcipreste'') and Íñigo López de Men ...

, Quitasueño, Serrana, Roncador and

Bajo Nuevo Bajo Nuevo Bank, also known as the Petrel Islands (), is a small, uninhabited reef with some small grass-covered islets, located in the western Caribbean Sea at , with a lighthouse on Low Cay at . The closest neighboring land feature is Serranil ...

. The question of maritime delimitation was tenuously answered, but the Court ruled Colombia's 1969 claim that Nicaragua's maritime boundary was the 82 West Meridian was illegal.

References

Treaties of Colombia Treaties of Nicaragua Treaties concluded in 1928 Colombia–Nicaragua relations Territorial disputes of Colombia Territorial disputes of Nicaragua Eponymous treaties United States occupation of Nicaragua {{treaty-stub