The Government issued a response to the PUP resolution this afternoon. It says GOB rejects the PUP demand for the SI to be rescinded. Now, government says that through diplomatic measures, quote, "the military tensions regarding the Sarstoon are no longer as explosive as they were when we passed the Regulation." But the release adds, "until the negotiations actually begin, we are not comfortable enough to conclude that all danger has been eliminated regarding large-scale, civilian political expeditions to the Sarstoon." End quote.
But, the release adds, quote, "all non-political, legitimate Belizean civilian traffic into the restricted area will immediately be given lawful authority...to proceed. The only requirement for this is that they check in at our Sarstoon Forward Operating Base so that our military can confirm the legitimate nature of their use of the river." End quote.
The release adds that on Tuesday, the BDF went upriver to do its normal change-over at Cadenas.
The release stresses, quote, "We also make clear that while there will be no immediate rescission of the Regulation, we do reserve the right to repeal it before it expires if no sufficient further progress is made with the bilateral Belize/Guatemala diplomatic engagement." End quote.
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