Photo: GAF skiff tailing Wil Maheia’s vessel at the Sarstoon on Friday, September 29, 2023

GAF soldiers angrily berate Wil Maheia and the Belize Territorial Volunteers at the Sarstoon

PUNTA GORDA, Toledo District, Fri. Sept. 29, 2023

Wil Maheia, the leader of the Belize Territorial Volunteers (BTV), regularly visits the Sarstoon for what he calls routine monitoring of Belize’s natural resources. It is not unusual that his vessel would be tailed by elements of the Guatemalan Armed Forces (GAF). During such encounters, whichever Guatemalan soldier appears in charge lays out a characteristic order that the Belizean civilians head to the nearest captaincy in Guatemala to obtain the requisite clearance for entry. On Friday, September 29, when Maheia made a trip to the Sarstoon, there was a marked difference in the tone used by the soldier who communicated the order. The GAF soldier berated him in a tone that quickly escalated to anger. Maheia in an interview would later describe it as the Guatemalan soldier violently telling him and his captain that they needed to get out of Guatemala. The exchange with the GAF, whose elements were in a Guatemalan naval skiff backed up by a second skiff, played out in Belizean waters just several hundred feet away from the Sarstoon Forward Operating Base (FOB) of the Belize Defence Force (BDF). The following is a translated version of that exchange, during which Maheia responded to the soldier in broken Spanish.

Maheia: You are in Belize territory.

GAF soldier: No! If you want to enter Guatemalan territory, go to the captaincy! There you can follow the procedures established by Guatemala. In the meantime, YOU CANNOT BE HERE IN GUATEMALA! [the caps indicate the part of the declaration of the GAF soldier where he clearly raises his voice in an angry tone.]

Maheia: This is Belize territory.

GAF soldier: IT IS NOT BELIZEAN TERRITORY! DON’T BE TALKING SILLINESS. THAT’S NOT SO! COMPLY WITH GUATEMALAN LAWS!

Maheia: Comply with Belizean law.

GAF soldier: Go to the closest captaincy for Guatemala and comply with the established procedures. In the meantime, you need to withdraw from Guatemala!

Maheia: You cannot be in Belize with weapons.

GAF soldier: We are not in Belize!

Maheia later explained that they had come upon a Guatemalan fisher vessel in Belize’s waters at the Sarstoon not far from the BDF’s FOB. He also noted that it was clear the Guatemalans were using gillnets, and so they were talking to them about it. Maheia says he is unsure if the GAF was upset about that, but when he and his captain were going around Sarstoon Island, they were followed by the two GAF skiffs containing about 14 heavily armed soldiers who, as is also usual on such trips, kept their weapons on hand.

Maheia affirms that these run-ins will continue if the Government of Belize does not put a stop to it. He proclaimed, “We cannot sit idly back and watch them destroy our natural resources. Today, there were gillnets in Belizean waters. Belizeans can’t set gillnets. It’s illegal, and Belizeans abide by the law, so why should we abide by the law when Guatemalans don’t?” Maheia committed to continue exposing “these atrocities against the environment.”

And while that heated exchange played out on the waters at the Sarstoon, inside the hallowed chamber of the United Nations in New York, a diplomatic clash followed the statement made by Belize’s Foreign Minister, H.E. Eamon Courtenay during his contribution to the debate for the United Nations’ 78th General Assembly. Courtenay had addressed the Assembly on Saturday, September 23, three days after Guatemalan president Alejandro Giammattei. President Giammattei had used the example of the Belize/Guatemala case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to make the point that disputes between countries ought to be resolved peacefully. He also condemned the “constant and ever-increasing military manoeuvres seen in the waters and airspace around Taiwan. These manoeuvres imperil security in the region and affect international transport and trade.” While expectedly, Giammattei omitted speaking about the showdowns at the Sarstoon, Minister Courtenay highlighted to the General Assembly that even as the Belize/Guatemala case is before the ICJ, “illegal incursions by Guatemalans continue. Recently, Guatemalan military forces illegally entered Belizean waters and unlawfully removed Belizean flags placed on Belizean soil.” He added that deforestation, cattle ranching, and cultivation of illegal drugs by Guatemalans continue in remote and protected areas of Belize. He affirmed, “These activities are contrary to international law and good neighbourliness. Concluding a Sarstoon Protocol to avoid unnecessary incidents in our southern and maritime space remains outstanding but necessary.”

Exercising Guatemala’s right of reply at the end of the debate that same day, Foreign Minister of Guatemala, H.E. Mario Búcaro via translation made an accusation that “Guatemala has systematically been the victim of radical, social independentist Belizean groups who, year upon year, attempt to provoke instability in the Sarstoon River area, thus violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country.” Even more deceitful, Búcaro went to make an untrue generalization when he said, “throughout our history, we have borne witness to the deaths of fellow Guatemalans who have perished at the hands of Belizean armed forces, but there has never been an issue despite the systematic provocation of these groups who claim that Guatemalan soldiers have violated the human rights of their Belizean brothers or disrupted peace.” Búcaro went on to affirm that Guatemala is committed to continue cooperating closely with the Government of Belize to “continue developing the Adjacency Zone and continue working together to preserve the security of both nations. Guatemala honors its commitments and abides by the jurisdiction of the ICJ to settle any difference between our nations with regard to sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Búcaro even affirmed that “Guatemala is today one of the main investors in Belize, thus demonstrating our conviction that together we can achieve a prosperous and peaceful future for future generations.”

At the conclusion of the UN General Assembly debate, Belize’s Permanent Secretary to the United Nations, H.E. Carlos Fuller, set the record straight regarding Búcaro’s generalization about Guatemalan civilian deaths (plural) at the hands of Belizean soldiers. Fuller stated, “The assertion made in the Guatemalan statement regarding deaths of Guatemalans at the hands of Belize’s armed forces is completely baseless and false. The truth is, as confirmed by OAS verification reports, that Guatemalans on a daily basis encroach on Belizean territory, deforesting our protected areas, cultivating illegal drugs, poaching endangered species and looting Mayan artifacts. These activities are contrary to international law and good neighborliness.” Fuller proceeded to restate Belize’s longstanding position regarding the boundaries of both countries being settled by the 1859 boundary convention between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Guatemala “which provides that the mid-channel of the Sarstoon River marks the boundary between the two countries.” He highlighted that Article 6 in that convention provides that “the channels of the Sarstoon River should be equally free for navigation for citizens of both countries.” He concluded that “Belizeans are fully entitled to utilize the Sarstoon River without harassment or intimidation.”