But before the press conference was finished, the press asked the Guatemalan Foreign Minister about the compensation for the grounding of their navy's gunship on the Barrier Reef, and the status of the investigation into the murder of slain Lawman Danny Conorquie.
He basically avoided those issues completely while he was answering:
Reporter
"About the gunboat grounding, a letter was sent to the Guatemalan officials saying that they request payment for $46,000. This is specifically to the Guatemalan Minister, because I want to understand what's their position. Was that letter received and will that $46,000 damages to the reef be paid to Belize? And then in relation to an investigation into the death of Danny Conorquie, one of our special constables that was killed in the Caracol Archaeological Reserve. Is that an incident that the Guatemalan government is placing any emphasis on in trying to bring the killer (believe to be a Guatemalan) to justice?"
H. E. Carlos Raul Morales - Guatemalan Foreign Minister
"I am not going to solve our differendum today in this place. This is why we are going to the ICJ. What I can assure you is that the spirit of Minister Elrington and my spirit is to conserve the peace, is to create the peace. We can have a big debate with you, a big discussion in this very moment about the rights or no right of Guatemala, but this is not our point. This is going to be solve by the ICJ. Today, what you have is goodwill of both countries, of both ministers, to avoid any kind of incidents. Why people insist to confront both countries? What you will win? More news? That somebody die in the island, in the caye, as a result of the confrontation of both countries? You want it? No, nobody wants it. We want peace and I am very clear in this message - we want peace."
Immediately after he finalized the answer, the OAS representative ended the press conference, and so none of the press could ask any follow up questions.
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