Belize, Guatemala Hold High‑Level Talks as ICJ Ruling Nears

Even as Joseph Budna serves a lengthy sentence in Guatemala, the foreign ministers of Belize and Guatemala took another diplomatic step forward today in their ongoing efforts to manage the long standing territorial dispute. Foreign ministers from the two neighbors met at the Organization of American States Office in the adjacency zone; this, as the case steadily moves toward a final ruling at the International Court of Justice. The high level meeting, called by the OAS, focused on strengthening confidence building measures and mapping out what cooperation will look like once the ICJ delivers its judgment. Belize’s Foreign Minister shared more during a brief press conference held right there at the OAS office.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs

“We met today here at the OAS Office, the adjacency office at the request of the new special representative for the secretary general of the OAS, her excellency Ambassador… Both Belize and Guatemala have worked through this office to advance our discussions on the confidence building measures and to advance our work as we move towards the final definitive determination of the claim against Belize. So, the OAS Office has played a critical role throughout this process for the last twenty years and today we met to get a review and report of the ongoing work, the ongoing activities to look at what has taken place in 2025 and also to discuss the future role of the OAS Office as we move towards a judgement from the ICJ. So what will be the role, the post ICJ role of the OAS office. So that was the main purpose of the meeting today, and I am very glad that distinguished foreign minister of Guatemala, his excellency Carlos Ramiro Martinez joined us and we were able to talk about issues of mutual concerns to both Belize and Guatemala and to discuss meaningful ways in which the OAS office can continue to support our efforts to advance peace and stability between our two countries.”