There may be more to Nicaragua's accidental invasion of Costa Rica last week than meets the eye, according to new information obtained by the Haaretz newspaper.
   
Nicaraguan troops, relying on Google Maps, reportedly entered Costa Rican territory along the San Juan River because Nicaragua is in the process of deepening the river channel.
   
According to Haaretz, the border dispute is all part of an ambitious plan by Nicaragua, Venezuela and Iran to create a new rival to the strategically and economically important Panama Canal.
   
"We say to the north of the San Juan River they can do whatever they want. If they want to make a canal, they can as long as they don't harm Costa Rican territory, which to our effects it is what interests us," Costa Rican Foreign Affairs Vice Minister Carlos Roverssi told CBN News.

Meanwhile, Nicaragua has denied that it invaded Costa Rican territory, and it has refused to remove its soldiers from the disputed territory.

"I repeat, on a matter of principle, we are not leaving any area within Nicaraguan territory along the borders with our brotherly nations of Costa Rica and Honduras," Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said, "nor are we pulling any of our forces from any maritime borders. Not the army, not the police who are in the fight against drug trafficking."