Cross-Border Abductions Expose Gaps in Belize’s Protection

Could it be that an ordinary Belizean can be abducted, handed over to Guatemalan authorities, and convicted of a crime there without their own country even knowing? That is the case of Sebastián Pop.

Today, Prime Minister John Briceño addressed the issue of Pop, the Belizean man taken by a Guatemalan mob in 2023 and later convicted of femicide.

PM Briceño said Pop’s case is that it “obviously just came to light” to his government. He claimed that “nobody came to make any kind of report to us that this happened.”

Meanwhile, Pop’s family maintains that the abduction was reported to local authorities, but nothing came of it.

“We could not take action if we did not know about it. Now that it has come to us, I think the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should have already taken steps,” Briceño added. “I think the minister had said so, writing a diplomatic note.”

Pop is now serving a 30-year sentence in Guatemala.

Briceño said that his government “does not condone anybody coming into our country and abducting people illegally, but also if you committed a crime elsewhere, I think we can’t turn our heads to that.”

In an interview on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Francis Fonseca described Pop’s case as “very tragic” and said that Belize is considering both an appeal and repatriation. “There is a provision under the confidence-building measures that allows for that sort of exchange. It has never been used before, never been implemented. But we are looking into that issue,” Fonseca said.

Pop’s case has garnered public attention only after Joseph Budna was subject to a similar case of abduction. Budna maintains his claims that Belizean police were involved in his handing over to Guatemalan authorities.

PM Briceño is now demanding answers from the police department on Budna’s abduction and is expecting a full police report “today or tomorrow at the very latest.” Briceño added, “I am telling you right now, if there’s the need to name an independent investigation, I will do it; my government will do it.”