In yesterday's press conference, Elrington toed the Government line when the media kept pressing him on the cause of the hostility from the Sarstoon. The Barrow Administration has consistently pointed fingers at Wil Maheia and the territorial volunteers as the cause of the increase in tensions at between both Militaries.
Elrington was adamant in his rejection of any suggestion that the rules of engagement in the Sarstoon have changed, or that Guatemala's conduct has changed. Assad Shoman, the Opposition Leader's Representative in the Tuesday Bilateral Talks contradicted him only a few minutes later, right at the head table when the press asked for his input in the discussion.
He made the point once again, the Sarstoon situation is different from what it was when he was Foreign Minister:
Dr. Assad Shoman - Opposition Leader's Representative, Bilateral Talks
"With respect to the Sarstoon, we have no doubt that the line agreed by the British and the Guatemalans runs under the isle of the Sarstoon and along the mid channel and we have never wavered from that position. Guatemala's position that the river belongs to them; that to me is new, that is relatively new. I have looked at negotiations that were taking place long before I even began to be part of them and yes, they've always discussed the Sarstoon and what does mid channel mean because in Spanish they say something else. The Spanish version and the English version where does it lie and so on. But never have I heard them say, 'The whole river is ours', which is what they are saying now. So that is a difference and it is one that we have to take very seriously. I think the government is taking it very seriously and the government is saying this is where our border lies; the way the treaty has defined it. And the way that several maps published by the British, for example, since the '70s and '80s which to my knowledge have never been protested by the Guatemalan government. So we have very strong grounds on that. So you have these incidents taking place. I blame the Guatemalan Armed Forces for that. And what are you going to do about it? What is being sought to be done now. The minister went there and he made it clear that the objective of Belize is to extend the confidence building measures to the Sarstoon area as well."
Shoman is one of the chief architects of the Confidence Building Measures and the OAS Adjacency Zone Office.
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