Yesterday, we received this leaked communication of a threat assessment by the BDF of the Sarstoon River. Penned on October 22, 2015, the document is a report from Major Beltran, on behalf of his BDF Commander, and it is addressed to George Lovell, the CEO in the Ministry of National Security.

This letter says, quote, "Records show that the aggressive behavior of the Guatemalan Navy/Military started in 2006. The aggression to the BDF personnel are done whilst the BDF are conducting changeover at Cadenas, and have to go through the Sarstoon River." End quote.

The BDF notes that the encounters are usually heightened during the years that Guatemala has its general elections.

This document, labelled as confidential, then outlines the first encounters of this nature, which according to the BDF records first happened on December 18, 2006. Before that, there had been other encounters in 2003, 2004, and 2005, but this December 2006 encounter was the start of the stand-off type confrontations. On that date, the BDF Boat Squadron Unit were intercepted by a vessel containing 4 Guatemalan Armed Forces soldiers, who were all armed with Galil rifles. Both sides got into a dispute and the GAF soldiers asserted that that the Belizean vessel had crossed into Guatemalan territory. They also demanded that if the BDF wanted to traffic the area in front of Guatemala's Sarstoon Village, they needed to submit their names for a check in. The BDF soldiers stood their ground, and refused to accede to that demand. The Belizean soldiers were eventually allowed to continue on with business.

According to this assessment, in 2007, the Guatemalan Army increased the number vessels in the area, from 1 to 4.

Then, on May 29, 2007, the BDF were on a regular changeover mission the Cadenas Observation Point when they encountered 4 vessels, one of which had a 50 caliber machine gun mounted on it, and all 4 vessels carried armed Guatemalan soldiers. Now, as all Belizeans know, by way of the 1859 Boundary Treaty, Belize's territory ends at the southern channel in the Sarstoon River, south of the Sarstoon Island. But, these vessels were situated in the South Channel, and when the Belizean vessel passed by to and from the Cadenas Observation Post, the Guatemalan soldiers signalled them to use the north channel.

The then BDF Commander, Brigadier General Lloyd Gillett, realized the potential for an armed standoff to take place, and he met with his Guatemalan Counterpart, Brigadier General Mario Aguilar Bran, and they crafted a "Gentleman's Agreement" to diffuse the rising tensions between military personnel from both sides in the Sarstoon River.

This agreement, which took effect in June 11, 2007, stipulated that both approaches would be used by the BDF, and that the Guat Armed Forces would conduct a joint patrol with BDF soldiers as a confidence building measure for the people living in the area. Both sides agreed additionally that they would share intelligence of any illegal activities spotted in the Sarstoon area. Most importantly, it was agreed that there would be no more "blocking of the Sarstoon or belligerent actions"