Prime Minister Dean Barrow returned to the country from New York yesterday. He wasn't here when reports went out that Guatemalan troops were amassing at the border, but he was in the right place to meet Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales.
Both were there to sign the UN Climate Agreement and the two leaders had a sit down on Friday. That's one day after Morales recorded an inflammatory statement in response to the BDF's killing of a 13 year old Guatemalan boy. Morales also deployed the Guatemalan army to the western and southern border - an unprecedented move which sent shivers up the collective national spine.
But, as we reported on Friday, PM Barrow talked him down, and this weekend we saw the Guatemalan Minister of Defence say that there never really was any mobilization of three thousand soldiers.
So, with that the Prime Minister chaired a National Security Council meeting this morning, and then segued directly into a press conference, with the entire security council at the head table.
His main message was that the worse is behind us, and relations between Belize and Guatemala are on their way to being normalized:...
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"There has therefore been success in defusing the situation to a point where the return to normalcy has begun, I regretted the unfortunate loss of life of the Guatemalan minor but recollected that the BDF had several times before come under fire in that very area from armed and dangerous Guatemalans engaged in illegal activities. Our military had every right to defend itself and our patrimony."
"President Morales said that the killing of Guatemalans by the BDF could not continue, and that Guatemala must protect its citizens and would, among other things, seek redress for the death of the minor from the Inter American Human Rights Commission. But he agreed with me that while the OAS inquiry and Guatemala's petition to the Human Rights Commission were proceeding, it was absolutely necessary to dial down the tension between our two countries. He therefore committed to de-escalation."
"Yesterday afternoon I consulted once more by phone with OAS Secretary- General Almagro, who briefed me on a meeting he had just then concluded with President Morales. The SG reported that President Morales had also confirmed to him, Guatemala's commitment to de-escalate and proceed in peace with Belize as we try to work through our difficulties."
"Then last night the Guatemalan Foreign Minister spoke to our Foreign Minister and repeated the position of his President regarding the commitment to peace and de-escalation."
"You put all this together and on that basis, Ladies and Gentlemen, that I say, I repeat that any immediate danger has passed and our nation can, for the moment, rest easy."
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