The Nicaraguan military reported Thursday that a Colombian man has been arrested in the Central American country for spying on the behalf of the Colombian state, according to Colombian weekly Semana.
Luis Felipe Rios, a 34-year-old Colombian national allegedly employed by the intelligence wing of the Colombian military, was arrested in the capital Managua on Tuesday after having been followed by Nicaraguan authorities for over a year, said General Julio Cesar Aviles of the Nicaraguan army.
“He was looking to obtain Nicaraguan state documents about defense and national security,” said the general.
The alleged spy arrived in the country in 2010, apparently presenting himself as a Spanish citizen working for a publication that writes about security and violencem issues, wrote Colombian newspaper Vanguardia Liberal.
Nicaraguan prosecutor Armando Juarez said that there was “sufficient proof” to raise a case against Felipe.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos responded to the national security issue Friday. “[Authorities] are investigating information about an alleged spy, a Colombian citizen,” he said.
Relations between the two countries have been strained since Nicaragua laid new claims to the Colombia’s San Andres archipelago, located close to the Nicaraguan coast. Colombia has controlled the archipelago, which includes the islands of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina, since the 1928 Esguerra-Barcenas Treaty. Nicaragua has long refuted the treaty which was put into effect while the country was under U.S. military occupation. The dispute is currently being settled at the International Court of Justice in Holland.
