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The Guatemalan's counter-proposal amounts to a rejection of the protocol. They want all Belizean vessels to check in with them before proceeding down the Sarstoon. It's a major disappointment for Belize, and just last week when Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington revealed the draft proposal, he told us that was optimistic that it would be well received on the other side of the border:

Daniel Ortiz
"Based on your discussions with the Guatemalan representatives, are you gentlemen hopeful that this modus Vivendi as proposed will meet its success?"

Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"This modus vivendi really is a follow up from the confidence building measures which were agreed upon in 2005. Those have done very well and we have no reason to think or believe that this new protocol, if agreed to by the Guatemalans, will suffer a worse fate. We think that we would be in fact be able to live with it and that it is going to certainly conduce to the reduction of tensions between our two countries."

Reporter
"What was the perception or the opinion of the Guatemalan Foreign Minister specifically and the head of their military, in relations to protocol draft proposals?"

Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"My own sense is that it was very favorable received really. There were discussion when each head was put forward and based on the discussions that took place, we did not form the view that there was any major difficulty of their part. They seemed to, at least initially, have a positive attitude."

Today, a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson told us, quote, "The ministry's position is that we will continue operate under the terms of the 1859 Treaty." End quote. This is famous treaty in which both the British and Guatemalan governments agreed that the Sarstoon river forms the southern boundary between Belize and Guatemala. That treaty states that the border starts, Quote, "beginning at the mouth of the River Sarstoon in the Bay of Honduras, proceeding up the mid-channel, thereof to Gracias A Dios Falls…" End Quote. The line shows that Belize's territory ends at the southern channel of the river, which makes everything north of that, including the Sarstoon Island, Belizean territory. This is the treaty that Guatemala famously denied as being valid since 1931, which was the start of the Territorial Dispute.

OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro will be visiting the OAS Adjacency Zone office in Belize tomorrow. This will be his first visit since taking the office in May of last year, and we hope to get his perspective on Guatemala's rejection of the proposals.

In news relating to the Sarstoon, the BDF and the Coast Guard will be officially opening the Joint Forces Forward Operating Base at the Sarstoon which has been under construction for months. We'll be there, and we'll show you what it now looks like in tomorrow's news.