Coto War
Coto War
Coto War (1921), an armed conflict between Panama and Costa Rica over the Coto, a region in Panama's Chiriquí Province along the Panamanian-Costa Rican border. The controversy began soon after independence from Spain. In 1911 the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Edward D. White, was asked to arbitrate. He rendered his decision in 1914, but Panama did not accept it, alleging that it favored Costa Rica. Hostilities broke out in 1921, when Costa Rica invaded the area. Panama recaptured the area easily. The conflict spread, however, when Costa Rica moved into the province of Bocas del Toro. Fearing that its interests might be threatened, the United States forced Panama to accept the White decision.
See alsoCosta Rica; United States-Latin American Relations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Manuel Octavio Sisnet, Belisario Porras o la vocación de la nacionalidad (1972).
Additional Bibliography
Cuestas G., Carlos H. Panamá y Costa Rica, entre la diplomacia y la guerra. Panamá: Litho Editorial Chen, 1999.
Juan Manuel PÉrez