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General David Jones
"I sympathized with the patriotism that these people have. However I don't believe it's a wise idea because as I soldier walking up and down the border especially the Western border with Guatemala it is difficult in some areas to determine exactly where the border is. Even us as soldiers stray sometimes into Guatemala. In advertently sometimes we meet up with the Guatemalan armed forces - they were courteous enough to escort us back and there have been cases where Guatemalan soldiers also have strayed into Belizean territory and out of courtesy we escort them back to where they belong. Some of the terrain is so thick, some of the trees are so thick, even with the global position system that we have you cannot tell that you are in Belize or in Guatemala. It is easy to create an international incident and this is something we should try to avoid because working along with Guatemala we are aware of the territorial dispute and we would like to have a friendly relationship with the Guatemalans. Now if they stray into Guatemala which is very possible, which is between 75%-100% it will happen they will be under Guatemalan law and it's not like the border is where you can stand and look and see where it is. You cannot so that because for many miles along the border its jungle and its open pasture in some areas. It's not like there is a line there that you can stand up and say that yes you are in Belize or you are in Guatemala - that is not the case. It is very easy to go over to Guatemala and it is very easy to create an international incident."

"If such an incident occurs; if it occurs in Guatemala we have no jurisdiction. We as the Belize Defence Force will not be able to help them. If something occurs in Belize and it's their right then the law authorities in Belize will protect them. However if they commit an offence over in Guatemala and they are captured by Guatemalan authorities they are on their own. We have patrols along the border and we have observation post along the border and we have other priorities that we need to deal with now. We have explained to these people already that what they are doing is not something sanctioned by us. We as the Belize Defence Force do not agree with it and we would prefer that it doesn't happen."

"They have been warned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They have been warned by the Ministry of National Security and we are not going to deploy soldiers out there because we don't want to have any unfriendly with our neighbor at the moment. We are going through a process right now that will lead up to a referendum to decide if the country is going to the ICJ and I definitely do want to let it seem as if though there is some military standoff between Belize and Guatemala."

Despite the state's response to his initiative, Maheia is not discouraged. He sent out a release today to say that more and more members of the Belizean public have given support, including former security forces personnel, attorneys, and members of the media. Maheia says he is going to be accompanied by some of the most trained and experienced guides who move along the border very regularly. Today in the Costa Rican Press, Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina is quoted as saying that his Government will be on the alert and will be vigilant - regarding Maheia's Clear The Border campaign. Guatemala's Foreign Minister, Fernando Carrera has been quoted as saying that the border effort will undermine the referendum.