Former Colombia presidents Andres Pastrana and Alvaro Uribe said they are too busy to appear before Congress to explain their governments’ responsibility in a loss of territorial sea to Nicaragua in a recent world court ruling.
Pastrana and Uribe, together with former Presidents Belisario Betancur, Cesar Gaviria and Ernesto Samper, were asked to appear before congress to explain how the strategies of their respective governments resulted in the recent International Court of Justice ruling which ceded a large chunk of Caribbean sea to Nicaragua.
Uribe claimed that while he could have been present had the hearing occurred this Wednesday, he will unfortunately not be able to attend the hearing on December 12 due to alleged commitments on that date. Pastrana likewise cited prior commitments as justification to excuse himself from the coming hearing.
The hearing was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but was postponed a week in order to ensure the presence of the congressmen for San Andres.
The archipelago’s lawmakers were unable to attend the original hearing due to meetings with sitting President Juan Manuel Santos.
The governments of Pastrana and Uribe were in charge of the court case that followed Nicaragua’s 2001 claim over disputed waters.
