“…and good borders make good neighbors too!”

Confidence or no confidence?
Belize and Guatemala have “agreed on the need to promote dialogue between parliamentarians, the private sector, local authorities, academia, churches, cultural and educational sectors among others, as the best way to create a climate of confidence conducive to the fixing of a date to hold the necessary referenda to lead to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).”

Belizean nationalist Wil Maheia, leader of the People’s National Party (PNP), issued a statement today, in response to a joint statement by the Foreign Affairs ministries of Belize and Guatemala, announcing in their respective languages (English and Spanish) that a Joint Commission will be formed to set a “road map” for 2014—that road map leading to national referenda in both countries to take the territorial differendum to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The parties had previously committed to holding the vote on October 6, 2013, but Guatemala backed out of the process, claiming that Belize’s referendum laws make a successful “yes” vote unlikely.

Last Thursday’s statement did not clarify whether the protest by Guatemala against Belize’s referendum laws still stands, but it did say that Belize and Guatemala have agreed to “build more bridges”—and not “a wall” between our two countries.

In a statement issued today, the PNP insists, though, that, “The border should be clearly defined by creating an open chopped area along its entire length, guard posts should be established, as promised, and regular patrols should be undertaken by [Belize Defence Force] BDF personnel.”

It said that the Government has not lived up to its promise to establish border posts along the Belize-Guatemala border—which remains largely unmanned, resulting in repeated incursions and theft of Belize’s natural and material resources, including gold.

“Our border with Guatemala remains largely unmarked – an invitation for incursion onto our lands, theft of our natural resources, and banditry and lawlessness along our border,” the PNP statement continued.

“We have no quarrel with the Guatemalan people, but if they need land, cattle, horses, timber, xate, rare wild animals and plants, Mayan artifacts, even gold, then they are not entitled to come and steal these things from Belize, even if their government tells them that they are,” Maheia commented.

Maheia makes the point that, “We want to be good neighbors with our brothers and sisters in Guatemala, but there’s an old saying, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’ And good borders make good neighbors too!”

He added that unless and until Belize’s borders are clearly marked and regularly patrolled, Belize will continue to experience this slow motion invasion.

“With the government once again talking about going to the ICJ, the People’s National Party again states that it has no confidence in the validity of this process,” the PNP said.

Maheia comments that, “We have no confidence that Guatemala will respect any decision made by the ICJ. The government of Guatemala doesn’t respect the current borders now, so why should it respect them when the ICJ declares in our favor?”

The PNP said that it demands yet again—on behalf of the people living along the Belizean borders and the whole of the Belizean nation—that the Government of Belize takes its responsibilities seriously.

After a January 9, 2014, meeting between Belize and Guatemala, the Government of Belize announced that the parties are due to meet with the Secretary General of the OAS, H.E. Jose Miguel Insulza, on January 24, 2014, to coordinate the holding of a meeting of the Belize – Guatemala Group of Friends and to discuss other issues.

The Ministers agreed to meet again in June, to evaluate the work of the Joint Commission, which will be led by the Chief Executive Officer in the Belize Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alexis Rosado, and his Guatemalan counterpart. The release said that the job of the commission would be to enhance the implementation of the confidence-building measures and to formulate proposed measures that will contribute to the strengthening of the bilateral relations and the avoidance of any conflict.

It added that Belize and Guatemala have “agreed on the need to promote dialogue between parliamentarians, the private sector, local authorities, academia, churches, cultural and educational sectors among others, as the best way to create a climate of confidence conducive to the fixing of a date to hold the necessary referenda to lead to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).”

The Government announced that Belize and Guatemala have also agreed “to continue the dialogue to enable advances in the implementation of the Special Agreement of 2008”—which is the agreement signed by the parties when they committed in Washington, DC, to the ICJ process.

Of note is that no new date has been announced for the proposed national referenda to take the Belize-Guatemala dispute to the ICJ.