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This comes after the BDF killed a 13 year old Guatemalan boy in the Cebada area of the Chiquibl Forest last night. The BDF says the Guatemalan hostiles opened fire on them in the dark and they returned fire. We'll have that full account later on, but first to President Jimmy Morales. He recorded a strongly worded statement and put it up on his website this afternoon. It's some of the hardest language heard form a Guatemalan President in decades, and we will air the full three minutes of it, with English captions underneath:

Citizens of Guatemala, with profound sadness and with total condemnation, I communicate to our people that yesterday members of the Belize Defense force killed another Guatemalan. To our dismay, this time the victim is a 13-year-old boy. The cowardly and excessive attack was against 13 year old Julio Rene Alvarado Ruano, whose body is still in the hands of the Belizean authorities.

During the attack his brother Carlos Alberto Alvarado 11 years old and his dad Carlos Alfredo Alvarado Ramirez, 48 years old, also sustained gunshot injuries. They were found planting pumpkin seeds in the Adjacency zone.

I ask the Belizean authorities, what threat to your sovereignty do these two children pose? One 13 and the other of 11? This act provokes severe indignation and repudiation. I want to express my strong condemnation of this cowardly act of aggression and use of excessive force against minors on the part of the Belize Defense Force.

By the above mentioned I expound that

1. The Government of Guatemala demands that the Belizean Government take responsibility or have those responsible for murder of the Guatemalan minor judged at the appropriate court.

2. We have brought to the attention of the Inter American Commission of Human Rights this violation of human rights by the Belize Defense Force against Guatemalan minors.

3. I request that the organizations that uphold the protection of Human rights to investigate this cowardly act on the part of the Belize Defense Force.

4. Considering the goodwill of Guatemala and the conciliatory work on the part of our Ministry Of Foreign Affairs geared at finding a peaceful and permanent solution to the dispute with Belize, while at the same time maintaining and developing a good relationship which does not appear to be supported by these actions of Belize, we have decided that from this moment we shall exercise strict protection of the sovereignty of the Sarstoon River and all the adjacency zone to ensure that there is no more abuse on the part of the Belize Defense Force against the territory and people of Guatemala.

5. I have decided to recall our ambassador in Belize for consultation until the authorities of that country clear up this regrettable act.

Finally I express my sincere condolences to the family of Alvarado Ruano, for their irreparable loss and I send solidarity in these difficult times. Citizens of Guatemala, may God bless you.

Most notable, of course, is points four and five - that the Guatemalans intend to basically lock down the Sarstoon River - which itself is an act of aggression since half of the river is within Belizean territory. And point five is also crucial. The President is also recalling his ambassador Manuel Roland Barillas - that's a very serious diplomatic action, often taken before breaking off relations.

These are the most drastic actions taken by the Guatemalans in decades - and we'd probably have to go back to the days of Francisco Sagastume and Ydigoras Fuentes for parallels. Sagastume - an agronomist - famously invaded Belize from the south with a small crew of men in 1961 and got as far as San Antonio village. During that time, military strongman Ydigoras Fuentes ruled Guatemala, and he also tried to enter Belize through the west.

But that's almost 60 years ago - and Morales's orders to his army today, and the subsequent mobilization are the most serious threat to Belizean sovereignty in decades. And tonight, it has this nation - especially those in Toledo - on edge.