Nicaragua cites Google Earth to justify 'invading' Costa Rica

Posted By Joshua Keating Friday, November 5, 2010 - 11:08 AM Share

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:

La Nacion -- the largest newspaper in Costa Rica -- says 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. 

EXPLORE:NORTH AMERICA
 

JOHNTL

8:48 PM ET

November 5, 2010

Do no evil

Yea right.

 

MEM

8:58 AM ET

November 7, 2010

Not Google's Fault Nicaragua is Stupid

Governments are run by people, often stupid people, who believe everything they read on the internet. Google maps is a free public resource, blaming them for this is like blaming an aid organizations for causing obesity because they give out food too freely.

 

MATTOLEJACK

2:10 PM ET

November 7, 2010

So FP "Editors" don't know who Eden Pastora is?

Obviously the FP blog is run by callow interns with short memories, rather than FP editors, since they didn't notice that the Nicaraguan 'commander' who invaded is none other than the former-Sandanista, former-Contra, former-presidential candidate, and full time self-promoter Eden Pastora. This little border incident has a lot more to do with the personage of the commander than the supposed Google Maps error.

 

DDSNAIK

6:41 PM ET

November 8, 2010

When did Google maps become military intel ?

And does mean that trial attorneys everywhere will simply submit Wikileaks and YouTube as evidence in courts of law next ?

 

FABF

8:58 AM ET

November 9, 2010

what a joke...

as ddsnaik previously stated relying on google maps instead of military intel is plain stupid. I'm pretty sure there will be more conflicts if governments decide to trust that kind of data.

werbeagentur bodensee

 

Passport, FP’s flagship blog, brings you news and hidden angles on the biggest stories of the day, as well as insights and under-the-radar gems from around the world.

Read More