Guatemala denies military flight entered Belize, accuses Belize of ‘spreading misinformation’ at United Nations

By Breaking Belize News Staff: Guatemala has denied that one of its military aircraft violated Belizean airspace and has accused Belize of presenting a false version of events to the international community, directly challenging Belize’s claim that its radar tracked a Guatemalan surveillance aircraft inside the country for more than an hour.

The extraordinary dispute moved onto the floor of the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday after Prime Minister John Briceño informed world leaders that a Guatemalan military aircraft had entered Belize’s sovereign airspace on the night of September 24 and intentionally disabled its transponder.

Guatemala subsequently exercised its Right of Reply, rejecting Belize’s account of the incident and disputing that the alleged violation occurred.

The response effectively places the two governments in direct contradiction: Belize says it possesses primary and secondary radar records showing exactly when and where Guatemalan Air Force aircraft FAG706 entered Belizean airspace, while Guatemala says the overflight described by Belize did not happen.

Briceño told the General Assembly that the incident constituted a “serious breach of international law,” saying the aircraft violated Belize’s sovereignty and international aviation rules.

Guatemala, however, rejected Belize’s characterization in its Right of Reply, challenging the account Belize presented before the international body.

The latest denial follows a series of increasingly direct responses from Guatemala since the aircraft was first reported over Belize.

Guatemala’s first official response came from its Ministry of National Defence on September 25, hours after reports of the flight began circulating in Belize.

That initial communiqué notably did not deny that the aircraft had flown into Belize.

Instead, Guatemala said:

“All activities and operations of the Guatemalan Army are carried out in strict compliance with the national and international legal framework.”

The Ministry further said its military acts with professionalism, discipline and transparency and reiterated its respect for the law. Guatemala’s own government news agency reported that the statement provided no operational details about the aircraft or the circumstances of the reported flight.

Belize Foreign Affairs CEO Oscar Arnold later dismissed that statement as a “nothing burger,” noting that it neither confirmed nor denied what had taken place.

But Guatemala’s position became considerably more direct when Guatemalan newspaper La Hora specifically asked the Defence Ministry whether the reported overflight had occurred.

The Ministry’s communications office responded:

“No tenemos registro de ese supuesto sobrevuelo.”

Translated: “We have no record of that alleged overflight.”

The newspaper characterized Guatemala’s position as saying the reported military overflight had not occurred.

That position has now been carried into the international arena following Briceño’s address to the United Nations.

Belize, however, says its conclusion is not based simply on civilian websites such as FlightAware or FlightRadar24.

Ministry of National Defence CEO Francis Usher said Belize pulled information from both its primary and secondary radar systems, which he described as internationally recognized systems.

According to Usher, the radar data identified the aircraft specifically as Guatemalan Air Force FAG706.

Usher said the aircraft entered Belizean airspace at approximately 7:29 p.m. on September 24, approaching from the east just beyond Lighthouse Reef at an altitude of approximately 4,000 feet.

It then began circling between Lighthouse Reef and the aviation waypoint KIRAP.

“They circled in between the Lighthouse Reef and the aviation fix called KIRAP, and they began circling as if though they were looking for something,” Usher said.

At approximately 8:07 p.m., according to Usher, the aircraft disappeared from Belize’s secondary radar system — an occurrence Belizean officials say was consistent with its transponder being switched off.

But Usher said Belize continued tracking the aircraft through its primary radar, which detects the physical aircraft independently of a transponder.

“We were able to pick them up on the primary radar, and we continued following them,” Usher said.

According to Belize’s Defence Ministry, FAG706 remained within Belizean airspace until approximately 8:40 p.m., when it exited to the south beyond the Sarstoon River area.

Belize therefore says the aircraft spent approximately one hour and ten minutes inside Belizean sovereign airspace.

Usher said Belize could “categorically” state that an unauthorized entry had taken place.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently said it would provide Guatemala with the coordinates, radar information and other technical evidence collected by Belize and demand an explanation.

Adding another dimension to the dispute is the identity and history of FAG706.

The aircraft is a Pilatus PC-12/47E, an aircraft donated to Guatemala by the United States for surveillance, security, border-control and light-transport operations.

The particular aircraft has a history dating to the U.S.-supported Afghan Special Mission Wing, where PC-12 aircraft were used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance — ISR — missions in support of special operations.

The aircraft later returned to U.S. control before being transferred to the Guatemalan Air Force.

Specialist defence reporting has said that FAG706 retained some of its original equipment, although there is no public inventory showing exactly which sensors or surveillance systems remain installed.

Belize’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has itself said it was advised that the aircraft is used for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes rather than as an attack aircraft.

That background has raised questions about why the aircraft was allegedly conducting repeated circles near Lighthouse Reef rather than simply transiting through Belizean airspace.

KIRAP is a recognized aviation waypoint and is not itself a military installation.

It is, however, located only about 10 nautical miles from Half Moon Caye, at the southern end of Lighthouse Reef.

Half Moon Caye hosts Belizean conservation and maritime enforcement activity and has been used by the Belize Coast Guard and other authorities in joint marine patrol and enforcement operations.

That leaves several questions which the Belize Government may now face pressure to answer publicly.

Among them:

Will Belize release the radar images or complete primary-radar track showing FAG706 inside Belizean airspace?

Will Belize release the coordinates provided to Guatemala as part of its diplomatic protest?

What exactly did FAG706 do between 8:07 p.m., when its transponder signal disappeared, and 8:40 p.m., when Belize says it left the country’s airspace?

Did Belize’s radar detect any other aircraft in the area?

Were Belize Coast Guard, BDF, Fisheries or other government personnel operating around Lighthouse Reef or Half Moon Caye at the time?

And has Guatemala provided records showing where FAG706 actually was between 7:29 p.m. and 8:40 p.m. on September 24?

If Guatemala maintains that the flight described by Belize did not occur, the Guatemalan Air Force should possess operational records capable of establishing the location and mission of FAG706 during the period Belize says it was circling inside the country’s airspace.

Conversely, Belize says its own radar provides physical evidence that the aircraft was there.

The issue has therefore moved beyond a disagreement over why a Guatemalan military aircraft was in Belize.

The two neighbouring countries are now publicly disputing whether it was there at all — with Belize presenting the incident as a documented violation of its sovereignty and Guatemala effectively accusing Belize of taking an inaccurate or false account of events before the United Nations.

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