Guatemala Seeks Role in Belize/Honduras Sapodilla Cayes Dispute

This morning, the International Court of Justice opened a critical hearing that could reshape regional borders. At the center of the dispute is a cluster of islands known as the Sapodilla Cayes, claimed by Belize, but also contested by Honduras. Today, Guatemala stepped in, seeking permission to intervene as oral arguments got underway. It’s the latest chapter in a decades-old sovereignty battle that resumed when Belize filed its case back in 2022. News Five takes you inside the courtroom at The Hague for the details.

 

Iwasawa Yuji, President, International Court of Justice

“The court meets this morning, under Article 84 Paragraph 2 of the Roosevelt Court, to hear the first round of oral arguments of the Republic of Guatemala on its application for permission to intervene in the case concerning sovereignty over Sapodilla Cayes, Cayos Zapotillos, Belize versus Honduras. I shall now recall the principal steps of the procedures in the present case. On November 16th, 2022, Belize filed in the registry of the court an application instituting proceedings against the Republic of Honduras with regards to a dispute concerning sovereignty over Sapodilla Cayes, referred to by Honduras as the Cayos Zapotillos. In its application, Belize sought to find the court’s jurisdiction on Article 31 of the American Treaty on Pacific Settlements, signed on April 30^th, 1948, officially designated, according to Article 60 thereof as the Pact of Bogota. By an order dated February 2^nd, 2023, the court picks May 2^nd, 2023, and December 4^th, 2023, as the respective time limits for the filing of a memorial by Belize and the counter-memorial by Honduras.”