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This meeting of the National Security Council happened late this afternoon in the Cabinet Room in Belmopan. That meeting finished about 2 hours ago, and we got an opportunity to speak with a few the officials about what was discussed:

Brig. Gen. David Jones - Commander, BDF
"We had a Guatemalan vessel go over in front of the operating base that the BDF is constructing at the time and were speaking to the troops there over a loud hailer, informing them that the previous day which was the Friday, that a vessel had gone up the Sarstoon and gone all the way to Cadenas and did not actually report to them. They are not aware of our complete schedule of how we go through the Sarstoon. So, they were expressing their dissatisfaction that they didn't know. Our troops had never gone in there and asked permission to go through and we continue to go through the Sarstoon without asking permission. The vessel that was there speaking to the troops did not want to leave the area. They stayed in the area and they were given the impression that they were going to remain there, expressing that we are not going to be allowed to go back up through the river if we don't ask permission. The troops in that area took it as some form of intimidation and they start making phone calls, that eventually reached my ears. I in turn informed our CEO, that also inform our minister and then the message also reached our prime minister. I subsequently spoke to my Guatemalan counterpart and expressed the concern with the situation currently happening at the Sarstoon. He said General, we just came back from this meeting because we returned back Friday evening and then this incident actually happened Saturday. So he said he is going to pass the direction that there isn't going to be anymore interception and we are going to work towards peace in the area. So immediately after I called him, it was within 5 or 10 minutes the vessel that was in front of the BDF FOB had disappeared and left. So, it was a sign of good faith that the meeting that I had with him is working and is going to work."

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"We can't settle it in consequence of any outbreak of war. That is unthinkable and we don't want to go there. Of course this meeting was also about tasking both our military people and our diplomats to be quite clear and to reduce to writing a way forward for Belize in the event of whatever contingencies. Every effort will be made, is being made to try to come up with a diplomatic resolution to the tensions in the Sarstoon and such resolution can only come by way of an agreement over how we will proceed."

Reporter
"The press release report hostility on the part of Guatemalan armed forces. Can you clarify the level of hostility? Were the lives of our soldiers threatened?"

Brig. Gen. David Jones - Commander, BDF
"I wouldn't say the lives were threatened at the time. Our soldiers view it as a sort of intimidation, because they have never gone in front of our base like that before. This is the first time and the soldiers that were there was trying to reason with the gentleman and said we are both professionals, let us work together peacefully to resolve this issue."

Hon. John Saldivar, Minister of National Security
"We do intend to maintain the status quo in the Sarstoon with respect to the BDF accessing its various facilities through that river."

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"In the same way as there are protocols to deal with other sensitive border areas and the modalities for handling potential flashpoints. It is our view that there must be similar protocols to govern the Sarstoon. Otherwise, ultimately inevitably, there is going to be a problem. They are not going to relinquish their position. We sure as hell are not going to relinquish ours."