The recent detention of a small Costa Rican fishing boat by Nicaraguan authorities Tuesday has fed the fires of ill will between these neighboring nations.

Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno yesterday expressed his “energetic protest” against Nicaragua's detention of a boat named “El Privilegio” Tuesday in what he said are Costa Rican waters.

Nicaraguan authorities claimed this small fishing boat with six people aboard, among them two children and two U.S. citizens, entered Nicaraguan waters illegally, the statement said.

The passengers were freed at the border town of Peñas Blancas, but the ship remains in the hands of the Nicaraguan military, the daily La Nación reported.

Stagno called Nicaragua seizing the boat a “serious violation” of Costa Rica's sovereignty in a letter he sent Wednesday to Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Samuel Santos. Information indicates the boat was clearly in Costa Rican waters, he said.

Stagno said this “illegitimate act by Nicaraguan military authorities” as well as recent comments made by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega accusing Costa Rica of seizing Nicaragua's Caribbean waters “are attitudes that go up against the historic ties of friendship and brotherhood between both countries,” Stagno said, calling for the immediate return of the detained boat and a guarantee that such an act is not repeated.