Last Tuesday, Prime Minister Dean Barrow revoked the 30-day ban on the Sarstoon a few days early. That was a decision which his Cabinet took following bilateral Talks in Istanbul, Turkey between Belize and Guatemala.
That Cabinet release said that the outcome of that meeting was that, quote, "the two sides have informally accepted a situation in which there will be untrammeled traffic for Belize's military and civilians along the Sarstoon." End quote.
Well, on last week Friday, Channel 5 and Krem News tested that this supposed informal agreement which would allow Belizeans to travel the river freely. And, not surprisingly, they were stopped by the Guatemalan military.
So, this agreement appears to have been exposed as nothing more than just diplomatic talk. And the PUP released a statement today to note their concern. Their statement says, quote, "This latest incident is evidence of Guatemalan bad faith which erodes the very limited progress achieved at the bilateral meeting between Belize and Guatemala held in Istanbul, Turkey on 23 May 2016.
It continues, "Belize needs to adopt a more aggressive and urgent approach to the Sarstoon problem in order to guarantee full Belizean sovereignty and territorial integrity. The PUP therefore calls for the Belizean Government to act as follows:
To adopt a comprehensive plan to restore full Belizean sovereignty and control over the Belizean internal waters of the Sarstoon River and of Sarstoon Island;To immediately recall Ambassador Alexis Rosado for consultations;To insist on a meeting between Belize and Guatemala, under the auspices of the OAS, that will result in a signed protocol guaranteeing free navigation in the Sarstoon River in accordance with the 1859 Treaty and international law; andTo appoint a National Team to competently manage Belize/Guatemala relations."
This evening, we got a chance to speak with the Opposition Leader's Representative in the bilateral talks, and here's what he told us:
Eamon Courtenay - Representative of the Leader of the Opposition
"I am disappointed that the Guatemalan forces felt that they were able to assert sovereignty and to assert the right to stop anybody from travelling into the Sarstoon. Based on what occurred in Istanbul, I think it was a matter of wait-and-see from my perspective to see whether Guatemala was in fact going to allow at least in an informal way whilst we agree to negotiate and to actually negotiate a formal arrangement that would apply to the Sarstoon. It seemed to me that Guatemala would have allowed the free access to the Sarstoon. The fact that the media has stopped, shows to me that the situation on the ground has not changed. I had alluded to this last week, I had expressed my hope that Guatemalan government and the Guatemalan forces would have acted in such a way that would have reflected the understanding, if not, the spirit of what happened in Istanbul, but as I have telegraphed last week, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. What has happened has happened and it has once again highlighted so far, as the PUP is concerned, 2 things; the need for an urgent and structured approach to this problem by Belize and I say Belize, because I mean the government, the opposition and any other relevant social partner. Secondly, it requires our people to understand that this is a matter that is extremely serious and it requires all parties to come together to have a singularity of purpose."
We understand that the Guatemalans may disagree with the press account, and that they may be in the process of communicating that formally to the Belize Government.
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