BELIZE CITY, Fri. Oct. 2, 2015–The United Nations General Assembly opened on September 15, 2015 at the UN headquarters in New York City, where statesmen and government leaders of the 198-member body have been articulating their nation’s urgent, pressing problems at this year’s 70th General Assembly.

       Today was Belize’s turn to address the General Assembly, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington’s address was spectacular in the omissions that were made, and in its inadequacy in addressing the sovereignty issue of Belize in the light of stepped-up Guatemalan aggression and rhetoric in efforts to advance the country’s unfounded claim to Belize.

       How would it have hurt Belize to explain to the world body that Guatemala is employing “gun-boat diplomacy” in asserting its claim to the entire Sarstoon River, which separates the two countries at their southern border?

       Belize could have at least gained the sympathy of UN members if it had made an attempt to move away from the one-dimensional foreign policy approach that hinges on the hopes that the Guatemalan claim will be solved by adjudication at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and explain to that world body that Belize is being subjected to bullying by the Guatemalan military authorities, whose civilian leaders have also communicated bluntly, in response to a so-called, “strongly worded protest note” from the Barrow government, that they do not recognize Belize’s borders.

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        That Guatemalan response came in reply to the Barrow government’s protest note following the incident with the Belize Territorial Volunteers on August 17 when Guatemalan Navy boats accosted the over 150 territorial volunteers who were on an expedition to Sarstoon Island, trying to prevent them from accessing the island, which is in Belizean territory.

       In their response to the Belize protest note, the “facey” Guatemalan government told the Belize Government that they provide “escort” to the Belize Defence Force (BDF) to and from their military base at Cardenas, and that Belize “should be grateful for the escort [they] provide.”

       Minister Elrington’s only remark to the UN General Assembly about the Belize-Guatemala territorial dispute is that Belize and Guatemala signed an amendment to the Special Agreement (compromis) earlier this year to take the matter to the ICJ.

       Elrington told the General Assembly, “Earlier this year, we signed a protocol to the special agreement between Belize and Guatemala to submit Guatemala’s territorial, insular and maritime claim to our country to the International Court of Justice. We expect that this will facilitate and speed up the process to finally and definitively put an end to the unfounded claims that have plagued us and our region for far too long. I thank you, Mister President.”

       That “special agreement” was signed by Foreign Minister Elrington in Guatemala a few months ago, in August, without the knowledge and consent of the Belizean people.

       In his apparently reluctant mention of the signing of the amendment to the compromis, however, Foreign Minister Elrington failed to explain that going to the ICJ is contingent upon the approval of both the Belizean and Guatemalan peoples in referenda.

       Elrington’s omission, however, did not go unnoticed by the Opposition People’s United Party (PUP) and COLA (Citizens Organized for Liberty through Action), as both organizations issued press releases within hours of his speech.

       The Opposition press release explained, “At no point during his speech, did Elrington ever say that there must be referenda in Belize and Guatemala, in order to approve any such submission.”

       The release added: “As stated in the Resolution passed on July 4th, 2015, the People’s United Party is convinced that for the territorial integrity and the security of Belize, we can no longer place our trust, permit or allow the current United Democratic Party administration to continue to deal with and manage the territorial differendum with Guatemala in the present reckless and high-handed manner without any consultation with or input from Belizeans.”

   The PUP release ends by saying, “Because of this, the PUP reiterates that it will not agree to the holding of a Referendum in Belize in order to ask Belizeans if they support the taking of the matter of the unfounded Guatemalan Claim to Belize to the International Court of Justice, and the PUP will continue to work and internationalize the position of Belize to the unfounded and unjust Guatemalan claim to Belize and to ensure that we continue to safeguard all the rights of Belize to all of its sovereign territory, and all insular and maritime areas and preserve them intact.”

       The COLA press release was less circumspect and more combative in addressing the Foreign Minister’s UN General Assembly omissions.

       COLA said in its release, “This is a sellout of the right of our peoples to a referendum, the right of our people to participate in our democracy, and most importantly, the right of our people to recognize all 8,867 square miles of territory as solely ours and not subject to anyone else.”

       “Again, the Foreign Minister has betrayed us. He and his government have continually undermined Belize’s territorial integrity and ability to defend Belize on the international scene. Promises are a comfort to a fool. COLA remains strong in its call to build the [Coast Guard’s Forward Operating Base (FOB)] base now,” stated COLA.