One word you've been hearing in the news a lot recently is "annexation". We've used it to refer to what's happened on the Sarstoon - where the Guatemalans have exercised authority over the entire river, like they own all of it.
The dictionary tells us that "annexation" means to "add (territory) to one's own territory by appropriation," and that sounds about right for the Sarstoon, but it, really? Well, not according to Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington. In a comfortless semantic differentiation, he says they can't annex what they already claim to own:...
Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"They would technically claim the whole country and so it is not correct to say that they are annex in the Sarstoon. What is the proper situation is to say that they are stopping people from using the Sarstoon, because really and truly they are claiming the whole territory as theirs."
Jules Vasquez
"Yes, but the Sarstoon for some reason or the other, they have fixated on it since August of last year and seize upon it as a staging ground to show that they are asserting their sovereignty over just that. Why they choose the Sarstoon? It is a matter for them. But I am saying that that effectively becomes an annexation."
Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"You can't annex what you already claim to own."
Jules Vasquez
"Possession is nine tenths of the law."
Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"That's a British saying. The issue of possession not even come into view, they say 'this is ours.'"
We note that Elrington's statement that the Guatemalans claim all of Belize is new to us, since we had read that the claim is for the lower half of the country and the cayes.
According to Ambassador Stuart Leslie, the Guatemalans had sent an official correspondence saying that they reserve the right to claim all of Belize and that was some time ago.
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