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Published: November 19th 2007
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For a political cartographer, the island of San Andrés is Colombia. For some
nicaragüenses, it’s Nicaragua, part of an archipelago unfairly allotted to Colombia by a 1928 treaty which Nicaragua claims was signed under duress during U.S. occupation of the Central American country. And for a tribunal in The Hague currently dealing with the dispute, it is… to be decided.
The archipelago - which also includes the islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina, as well as a number of islets, cays and sand banks - is located in the Caribbean, approximately 720km from the Colombian coast and 220km from Nicaragua. Early inhabitants included Puritans and pirates, Jamaican slaves, and Spanish, British, Dutch and French colonists. North American Baptists brought their beliefs to San Andrés in the 19th century, along with the wood from Alabama which was used to construct the island’s Baptist Church in La Loma. So, given San Andrés’ diverse history, what do the islanders consider themselves? Raúl decided to consult local opinion: “We’re San Andresinos”. Logical, really...
There are those on the island who seek independence from Colombia, denouncing the damage done to their traditional culture and livelihoods by what they view as another round of colonisation
- this time by mainland Colombians. In the early 1950s, the Colombian government - in what is perceived as a strategy to strengthen the country’s claim to the islands - declared San Andrés a tax free zone, constructed an airport, and instigated an immigration drive: continental Colombians were encouraged to relocate to the island. Over the following decades, the 12km long by 3km wide San Andrés became a haven for holidaymakers and those keen to escape the mainland’s crime and internecine conflict permanently. The population increased dramatically and it is now estimated that the island is home to approximately 80,000 inhabitants (though some claim this number is closer to 100,000), more than 50%!o(MISSING)f whom are mainland Colombians.
Many of the
raizales - the English Creole-speaking islanders with long local ancestry - argue that Colombian customs, as well as the Spanish language and Roman Catholic religion, have been imposed on them through the government-promoted migration from the continent, and that mainland Colombians are favoured when it comes to employment. The influx of both immigrants and tourists and the corresponding commercial development of the island has resulted in ecological damage to the local environment, stress on resources and services, and
Johnny Cay
Small island off San Andrés. the opening up of the area to drug trafficking and money-laundering. In a demonstration on San Andrés earlier this year, a declaration of independence was read out by a group of native islanders, and the Colombian flag replaced with one representing the
raizal population. For these people the island is a former community of fishermen and farmers, now drastically overpopulated and rapidly succumbing to the ills of modern urban society.
But what is the island for the average visitor? From the confines of a hotel compound, San Andrés is everything you might expect of a Caribbean resort - palm-lined beaches, beverages served in coconuts, paunchy lunges for the last sun lounger... in short, flip-flopped sloth. A short boat trip to Johnny Cay and a natural aquarium, or an alcohol-accompanied jaunt around the island on a
chiva (a type of rural bus), seems an exhausting effort, deserving of a self-congratulatory
piña colada back at the poolside bar. But venture beyond the pool-bar-buffet horizon and the scheduled shuttling from deck chair to departure gate, and it seems the island has a whole lot more secreted away in its slender surface area (not to mention in its underwater environment) than the hotel-sodden
northern end would have you believe. For UNESCO, San Andrés forms part of a biosphere reserve comprising marine and coastal ecosystems and approximately 10%!o(MISSING)f the Caribbean sea, the designated areas bumping subaquatic borders with Nicaragua. For the U.S. military, it is home to a radar, ostensibly used to combat drug-trafficking in the region, though some claim it’s strategically placed to keep an eye on, yes, Nicaragua.
So San Andrés is many things to many people, but back to the locals, who should get the final word...
A native islander plying Johnny Cay’s day-trippers with cocktails in one brief moment blasted the current international border dispute into insignificance with a certainty that should have political cartographers reaching for their coloured pencils. As we peeled ourselves from his beach hut’s rickety stools, three
coco locos the worse for wear, he waved us off, shouting: “Enjoy your stay! And...Welcome to Africa”.
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Frank D
non-member comment
unfairly?
Says who, are you a historian? Please don't make statements if you don't know the facts the dispute has no grounds for Nicaragua, besides if in a remote possibility Nicaragua was to take possession of San Andres Colombia would take a huge portion of the coast of continental Nicaragua; I doubt they would be willing to make that kind of trade.