Nicaragua Accidentally Invades Costa Rica, Blames Google Maps

Techdirt ^ | Novemberr 6, 2010 | Staff

[lbryce]

You would think that military professionals would rely on something other than Google Maps in determining where countries have their borders. However, down in Central America, there's apparently been something of an international incident, after a Nicaraguan military commander, using Google Maps as his guide, brought his troops into Costa Rica. He insists that he was just following what Google Maps said, and that he never intended to go into the neighboring country.

Yet... the report also notes that there was a Costa Rican flag there, which the Nicaraguans took down and replaced with their own flag. You would think, at that point, that everyone involved might double check to make sure they were on the right side of the border. After raising their own flag, the Nicaraguans apparently set up camp, cleaned up a nearby river (nice of them) and then dumped sediment into Costa Rican territory (not so nice of them).

If this truly is an honest mistake, then hopefully nothing more is made of it, but it sounds like Costa Rican citizens are quite upset about the whole thing, leading Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla to go on TV to ask citizens to "be calm... amid the outrage that these events provoke within us."

[lbryce]

Turns out, the error was caused by incorrect border data from the State Department. In a blog post, Google says they've now corrected the error.

From a related article:Imagine Hitler using this excuse to invade Poland.

The truth is that Hitler's premise for invading Poland was even flimsier than the Google Map border fiasco.

[BlueDragon]

Maybe the Nics thought Google maps to be infallible enough that it lead to the assumption that the CR flag was on Nic territory?

So they took it down, then started going about their biz like they were on home ground.

An apology should suffice. Maybe a small fine, reduced by some other small amount for the clean-up work that was done.

'Then everybody go out for a beer...

[Mr_Moonlight]

Algore invented the Internet, so therefore — Algore’s Fault !!!

[goldstategop]

Oops... someone misread their MapQuest print-out.

Funny how those things happen!

NOT!

[rfp1234]

Don’t mess with a Chinchilla.

http://www.thechristianista.com/fun/its-tuesday-true-story-the-attack-of-the-chinchilla/

[Razzz42]

http://www.answers.com/topic/military-of-costa-rica

If a good defense is a strong offense then Costra Rica is in trouble as in easy pickins if you are running out of bananas are in need of some sugar.

[Rastus]

Go to Google Maps, click Get Directions, put Japan as A and China as B, and look at Step 43.

[streetpreacher]

Too funny.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Anybody remember this web gem;

“John Edwards retracted his statement about there being two Americas, saying that he had gotten that information from Mapquest.”

[coloradan]

I expected that step, but I didn’t expect China to have so many toll roads. Seems very uncommunist.

[Cailleach]

I think I’ll row... lol

[sbMKE]

Uzis! Get ‘em both, the Nicaraguans are invading!

[no-s]

43. Jet ski across the Pacific Ocean 782 km

where do ya get a jet ski with that kind of range?

[gman992]

If they used mapquest, they could’ve just hve said that they were taking the long way...

[June K.]

“Algore invented the Internet, so therefore — Algore’s Fault !!!”

~~
Absolutely!!

[holden]

I trust the anomaly was noted many moons ago by the Nicaraguans and they dreamed up this pretense to cover their blatant provocation.

HF

[Kevmo]

This stuff is better than the blather that John Semmens comes up with.