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OAS votes on Costa Rica-Nicaragua row

The Organization of American States (OAS) has approved a resolution calling on Nicaragua and Costa Rica to remove security forces from a disputed border area.

Costa Rica called the resolution a “diplomatic victory” in the territorial dispute with its northern neighbor while Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega described the vote as “manipulated” and “a conspiracy.”

Nicaragua has dismissed the resolution and says it will not withdraw its forces.

Costa Rican Foreign Minister Rene Castro voiced hope that Nicaragua would reconsider its decision, adding that the OAS had sent a “clear message” regarding the issue.

Nicaragua and Venezuela voted against the resolution at the OAS extraordinary session, while 22 member states voted in favor of it.

Ortega also said his government was considering a withdrawal from the OAS.

“We have been in it due to inertia because the OAS should have disappeared a while ago,” Ortega was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

The OAS also called on both sides to immediately resume talks on the dispute.

Nicaragua sent about 50 soldiers to the disputed area along the San Juan River in a move that was described as an “invasion” by Costa Rica.

On Friday, unknown assailants tossed a gasoline bomb out of a vehicle at the building that houses the Nicaraguan Embassy in San Jose.

The explosive device, however, did not go off and nobody was injured in the assault.

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