7 News Belize

Jones: The Sarstoon Situation Was Cool, Not Scary
posted (November 1, 2016)
And also from the BDF, 10 days ago, we showed you a video coming out of the Sarstoon River, which showed Guatemalan Navy Vessels allegedly making incursions into Belizean waters, and stopping the BDF from traversing the river on the Southern Side of the Island,

The images were cause for concern, suggesting that the Guatemalan Navy was once again attempting to block the BDF from using the River freely. We asked the BDF commander to clarify what happened there, and he said, that it was a simple misunderstanding, which was quickly cleared up:

Brig. Gen David Jones - Commander - BDF
"There was some incident a couple weeks back where there was a report that the Guatemalans were building a facility on the island. That was erroneous information, it wasn't true. What was happening was that the Guatemalan armed forces were providing medical support to the people who live just opposite of the island. When the troops went there, they were actually stopped by the Guatemalan forces. They had their own reasons why, but it was not supposed to happen. Immediately I contacted General Perez who was informed and apparently the officer had just recently gone out there to work. So he wasn't aware of the protocol but it was corrected immediately. So there isn't any hindrance of what's happening there, but it was actually erroneous information that they were building a facility but they were actually providing medical support. One of the officers who weren't aware of what was expected out there, had actually informed the soldiers that they were not to go south, but it was corrected immediately."

Reporter
"So no tensions at all?"

Brig. Gen David Jones - Commander - BDF
"No, at the moment there's absolutely no tension between us. I continue to communicate on a weekly basis with General Perez who is the commander of the Guatemalan armed forces and we're looking forward to having an agreement settled by sometime next month. We are hoping that we have something in writing of what the protocol should be in the Sarstoon."

As you heard, there negotiations for a Sarstoon Protocol at the military level. The last we heard about any such negotiations, it had all but stalled because of the Guatemalans were rejecting the results of the OAS independent investigation, which exonerated the BDF, the Police, and the FCD Rangers in the fatal shooting of the 13 year-old Guatemalan minor. But, as you saw in the interview, the BDF General is hopeful that a protocol will be finalized in the next few weeks.

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