Throughout this year, there has been a string of unprecedented acts of Guatemalan military aggression on the Sarstoon. The targets have been both Belizean military and civilian vessels. It's become so problematic that it seems that if you are Belizean military or a common man or woman, just taking a trip down the Sarstoon is complicated.
Today, we asked Foreign Minister Francis Fonseca if Belize has effectively lost the river that forms our southern boundary with Guatemala:
Francis Fonseca, MFAT/MOECST
"As always, we're very proud of our security officers, the BDF, the Coast Guard, but obviously, as I have said, we are alarmed at the way the Guatemalans have been behaving-obviously deliberately-in trying to intimidate our security forces. So our security forces are well trained; they have exercised great restraint, they have acted with great professionalism, with dignity. Yet they have been very courageous and strong and firm in delivering our message to these persons, these Guatemalan Armed Forces personnel who are trying to bully them and intimidate them. So they follow their procedures. Our soldiers follow their procedures, follow their orders. And we're very proud of what they've been doing."
Courtney Menzies:
"Does it concern you that while we know that the Sarstoon is ours, that by, it seems by force, we're almost blocked from that part of our water because not military nor civilians can... they're almost prohibited from entering that part of the water?"
Francis Fonseca, MFAT/MOECST
"No, no, no, no, that's not the case. That's not the case. Yes, the Guatemalan Armed Forces, we've had a few face-offs with them. But as I said in the House yesterday, our armed forces, the BDF, the Coast Guard, routinely patrol the Sarstoon in our territorial waters. Even these latest incidents, they have gone on to complete their mission. They have returned to the Forward Operating Base. They have continued their mission around the island. They continue to go and pick up supplies, deliver supplies to the base. So they are not prevented from continuing to do their job and exercising our sovereignty over our territorial waters. Civilians as well. The BDF rightly cautioned civilians. They said, 'Listen. Be careful, because we know that these GAF personnel are trying to provoke an incident.' So but there's no question that Belize continues to exercise full sovereignty over our portion of the Sarstoon River that belongs to Belize, that is a part of our sovereign territory, our sovereign waters. We continue to exercise full sovereignty over that. And I keep making the point. We should not play into the hands of those who want to undermine the peaceful process that the Belizean people have determined that we should pursue in terms of settling this claim; we should not play into the hands of those who want to undermine that, and who don't want us to go to the ICJ."
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