ICJ Battle Pits Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras Over Sapodillas

Who really owns the tiny islands scattered across the Gulf of Honduras? That question is now at the center of a tense legal battle before the world’s highest court. Guatemala says it has a stake in the Sapodillas, pointing to Belize’s overlapping claims. Honduras disagrees, arguing that Guatemala’s interest isn’t clear or legally valid. Behind these arguments lies a bigger issue, when borders blur and history collides with law, how do nations decide what’s theirs and what’s not?

 

Prof. Carlos Jiménez Piernas, Legal Counsel, Honduras

“Guatemala is claiming an alleged interest in the Zapotillas case. Guatemala could claim such in a case to which Belize is a party and in which the question of sovereignty over the case has been raised in the Gulf of Honduras. But the mere existence of a link between the proceedings that are being heard concurrently and in parallel, the court does not constitute, in and of itself, an interest of legal nature in the meaning of Article 62 of the statute. The existence of an interest of a legal nature belongs to a qualified category, according to the court’s jurisprudence, an interest of a legal nature that is affected must be precise, specific and well established. Guatemala justifies its application on the basis of the alleged overlapping submissions of Belize in both proceedings. Furthermore, Guatemala notes that it has, and I quote, requested the court to adjudge and declare that the Sapodillas belong to it, end of quote. These statements are not correct. Guatemala has stated in the submissions contained in this memorial of December eighth, 2022, that were reiterated by referral in the submissions of its rejoinder that it was claiming sovereignty, and I quote, over all the islands occupied by Belize in the Gulf of Honduras.”

 

As the arguments unfold, one thing is abundantly clear, this fight is about how nations define ownership when history, geography, and law collide. The ICJ must now decide whether Guatemala’s claim is grounded in legal substance or political ambition. And in that decision lies a question that echoes far beyond the Gulf of Honduras: when borders blur, who gets to draw the lines?