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Now that river is right at the edge of the Toledo District, so today we flew down to Punta Gorda to see if they had started any amassing of troops or arms on their side of the river. Daniel Ortiz reports:...

Daniel Ortiz reporting
Shortly after arriving in PG, the Belize City based media houses quickly boarded the boat arranged by Border Activist Wil Maheia.

The intention was to go the Sarstoon Border, since hearing the bold public statements from Guatemalan President, Jimmy Morales to increase military presence at the Borders.

File: April 21, 2016
Jimmy Morales - Guatemalan President
"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."

Along the way, we saw the usual illegal fishing, which was business as usual, just another ordinary day in Belizean waters.

After about an hour or little more later, we arrived at the mouth of the Sarstoon, and it looked more or less like it has in the recent past trips.

From what our cameras could catch, there had not been any increased military presence. The number of vessels or personnel at the Guatemalan Naval Base didn't appear any bigger than it had the last times we saw it. The Military Presence wasn't beefed up in any measurable way that these tweets from the Guatemalan Government suggest. That could mean a number of things, including the fact that the new troops hadn't deployed yet, or that they could still be en route.

But, being out at the entrance of the Sarstoon, it was tense. When our boat finally arrived near the Belizean Sarstoon Forward Operating Base, the BDF made us know that our presence was not welcomed. It was quite a contrast to Wednesday's Ceremonial Opening, when they warmly invited the entire media unto the compound of their base.

Sarstoon Patrol Officer
"You can't dock here. We haven't grant you permission to dock here."

Boat captain
"Can we are asking permission to dock?"

Sarstoon Patrol Officer
"No boss."

Boat captain
"Even in an emergency, you could see the engine shutdown."

We saw a ranking soldier making a phone calls, more than likely signaling their Commanders in Central Belize that civilians were at the border.

Unfortunately, another vessel followed the media out to Sarstoon, and a few of the men onboard appeared drunk and were behaving belligerently.

The corresponding demeanor of the soldiers suggested that our mere presence was aggravating. That certainly was made clear because as soon as the Guatemalan military spotted 2 civilian vessels in the river, they revved up the engines of their riverine vessels and raced out in front of Sarstoon Island.

That apparent blockade, plus the stony silence from the Belize Military was enough and we got the message. It was time to leave before we attracted hostile attention.