BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC -Foreign Affairs Minister Francis Fonseca says he remains “very hopeful” that Belize and Guatemala can reach a mutually agreed upon protocol to govern travel along the contested Sarstoon River that forms part of the international border between the two countries.
“We had an opportunity in Guatemala, a sort of coincidental byproduct of all the waiting that we had to do, was that the Prime Minister and I had the opportunity to spend time with the incoming president and the incoming foreign minister because for several hours, for example, we were all in one room waiting for the president to be sworn in,” Fonseca told reporters.
Bernardo Arévalo was sworn in as Guatemala’s president on January 15 despite months of efforts to derail his inauguration, including foot-dragging and rising tensions until the transfer of power.
Prime Minister John Briceño and Fonseca were in Guatemala City for the inauguration. While there, they could briefly discuss the often tense situation at Belize’s southernmost tributary.
Guatemala has disputed its land boundary with Belize since its independence in the 19th century. The border and resulting dispute stem from colonial documents, first between the United Kingdom and Spain and later between the United Kingdom, on behalf of British Honduras, now Belize, and independent Guatemala.
In 2008, at the urgency of the Organization of American States, Belize and Guatemala signed a Special Agreement to settle the long-standing territorial dispute between both countries at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Fonseca said he remains optimistic that a new Sarstoon Protocol will be hammered out in the months ahead.
“ As you all know, we are following the process through the ICJ. We respect that process, but Belize’s position is that we should not wait for the outcome of the ICJ to resolve some of these issues that are challenging us on the ground.
“So the issue of Sarstoon, for example, and the issue of security on the ground, the issue of deforestation, of intrusions into our territory. We believe that all of these are very important, urgent matters that require the attention of both governments.”
Fonseca said that Prime Minister Briceño and himself “expressed that view to the president and the foreign minister that we are prepared to discuss these matters and we hope, we are very hopeful that with this new administration that perhaps there can be a reset on these important issues and that in the next few weeks, we can have an opportunity to perhaps engage with them and discuss them.”
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