PM Says to Be Realistic about Guatemalan Territory Dispute

Recently, tensions flared on the Sarstoon River when the Belize Territorial Volunteers travelled to Sarstoon Island to plant the Belizean flag. There, the BTV was met by the Guatemalan Armed Forces, who attempted to block them. Following the incident, Guatemala’s Foreign Ministry released a statement claiming that units of the Belize Defense Force entered Guatemalan territory via the Sarstoon River without authorization. In response, Belize’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement rejecting claims made by the Guatemalan government. The statement claims that Guatemala presented an alternative fact seeking to distort the narrative of what transpired at the Sarstoon. It reads, quote, The Sarstoon Island lies squarely within Belize’s sovereign territory. Furthermore, the 1859 Treaty provides that the channels of the river are equally free and open to the vessels of both countries. In any case, Guatemala’s claim is before the International Court of Justice for adjudication and final settlement, end quote. We asked Prime Minister John Briceño about the concerning statements made by the Government of Guatemala.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I did not have that listen to their statement. It doesn’t matter. We have our statement. We just had the Commonwealth. We just had another release from the Commonwealth, our friends, to show that Belize has strong international support and we will continue to push the diplomatic part. I know that a lot of people, you know in Belize that want to talk macho and, oh, we need to go and fight back. The truth of the matter is that they have an army of about almost twenty thousand, we have an army of about a thousand. And they have all the equipment. They’re eighteen million, we four hundred thousand. We have to be realistic. We need to fight diplomatically, and we have been having success after success and we continue to have success and I have every confidence that whenever the court listens to the case at the ICG, that we are going to be successful.”