Foreign Affairs Minister says Belize to issue diplomatic note following Sarstoon blockage

By Zoila Palma:  Foreign Affairs Minister Francis Fonseca says the Government of Belize will issue another diplomatic note condemning what it describes as illegal actions by the Guatemalan military in the Sarstoon River following Wednesday’s blockade during the Belize Territorial Volunteers (BTV) annual expedition.

“Despite our best efforts, we have always tried to work with Guatemala to try to arrive at some agreement on how we approach matters in the Sarstoon-we discussed it only last week, the challenges that we face there-so that is why we were talking to everyone. But the good news is that, you know, at the end of the day, nobody was hurt, there were no incidents. But there, yes, there was a heavy, heavy presence of Guatemalan military boats and some civilian-some civilian boats-in the Sarstoon. But the BDF and Coast Guard were able to have a good, nice little ceremony, flag-raising ceremony at the FOB, and the BTV participated in that ceremony,” Fonseca said during an interview with 7news Belize.

Fonseca said the incident highlights the challenges that will continue to exist along the Sarstoon until the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivers a final judgment.

“So yes, the Belize Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, every time we have one of these incidents, we record it and we send an official diplomatic note recording our absolute objection to the behavior of the GAF and our condemnation of their exercise of illegal authority over the Sarstoon,” Fonseca added.

Minister Fonseca explained that Belize’s response goes beyond diplomatic notes, with government officials engaging their Guatemalan counterparts in an effort to prevent future incidents.

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