The illegal incursions by Guatemalan loggers, xateros, milperos and settlers came into sharp focus again on Tuesday when Amandala featured an extensive headline story on the expanding incursions by Guatemalans into Belize. It continues to be a situation that concerns conservationists tasked with managing the resources set aside in so-called “protected areas” – but the real truth is that these areas are far from protected from pillaging, as more and more acreage of what are protected areas on paper and in legislation, is in reality being stripped of its natural and even archaeological wealth.
It is a lingering problem, and one that Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, told Amandala this morning will not go away, in his view.
Elrington told us that with respect to the three illegal settlements of Guatemalans inside Belize, including the Leiva family at Sapote, the OAS “is working on it.”
Belize would never be able to stop what is happening on the border, as more Guatemalans are finding life harder and harder in their country, they will increase their incursions into Belize, Elrington further said.
This, of course, is no comfort to conservationists, particularly the management of Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD), whose resources are already stretched thinly in their attempts to help ensure the protection of the Chiquibul National Park. Today, those efforts seem largely futile as over the past two weeks the FCD observed even more land clearings by Guatemalans and even survey lines that signal a more organized strategy of taking over and exploiting Belizean territory.
Of great concern is the fact that there continues to be very limited military presence along the Belize-Guatemala border, with only one Belize Defence Force observation post in that protected area, at Rio Blanco.
The Government cannot stop the Guatemalans from coming over to Belize illegally, Elrington insisted, adding that not even the United States has been able to stop illegal entry into their country.
Elrington is one of the leading proponents of submitting the Belize-Guatemala territorial dispute at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which he argues will give Belize the international support it needs to enforce its territorial rights, and defend against incursions.
However, there are also those who question whether taking the territorial dispute to the ICJ will truly bring an end to the incursions’ illegal harvesting of xate, forestry resources, and other resources from Belize’s forests.
Elrington continues to describe the situation on the border as “sensitive.”