Guatemalan President Issues Statement Following Meeting in New York

The Government of Guatemala has also issued a statement following the meeting between Prime Minister Dean Barrow and President Jimmy Morales in New York.  That statement makes no reference on the de-escalation of tensions as the Prime Minister asserted this morning. In the statement, Morales rejects the Belizean version that the B.D.F. acted in self-defence and told the PM that he was recalling its Ambassador to Belize for consultations, demanding that those responsible for the death of the minor appear before the relevant authorities. According to Morales, the Prime Minister of Belize undertook to hold an impartial investigation and additionally proposed that through the O.A.S., the investigation could be carried out with the participation of a US agency.  In the release, “Morales reiterated that Guatemala is a country that wishes to live in peace, but that with this type of attitude, bilateral relations are damaged and the human rights of those residents in the Adjacency Zone are violated. Furthermore he claims the Government of Guatemala is tired of the abuses by the B.D.F. against the civilian population who live along the Adjacency Zone.”