Minister Saldivar Says He Long Decided on a “Yes to I.C.J.”

On Tuesday, cabinet approved a consensus position of a YES vote, which means that the lines are clearly drawn between the two main political parties.  In a release, the government said that the entire cabinet was fully convinced that Belize needs to take the territorial claim by Guatemala to the International Court of Justice.  Today, Minister of National John Saldivar spoke on the government’s position.

John Saldivar

John Saldivar, Minister of National Security

“Yes, I was and for a long time I held the position that going to the I.C.J. is in the best interest of this country. I believe that being the minister of national security and having a unique touch with our border issues, things that are happening at the Sarstoon. I believe that we do need to get a definitive settlement to this problem other times we are going to continue to have these problems and it can escalate, in my view, and become more of a security problem for us on the border if we don’t get this resolved. And by resolving and going to the I.C.J. what we do achieve from that is perhaps to get the Guatemalan Government on board in terms of cooperating with us on the border.”

Reporter

“Speaking about the Guatemalan Government, the FCD provided the media with a study that they did in 2017 talking about narco-cattle ranching in our protected forest along the border. Any comments from you as the Minister of National Security?”

John Saldivar

“Except to say that many of these things are hidden or away from the public eye in terms of the Belizean public, we don’t seem to place enough emphasis on what is happening out there and there is a lot that is happening out there that is damaging to our environment. A lot of criminal activities are happening out there and we do need to fix it. We do need the cooperation of the Guatemalan Government to fix it and that is why we need to go to the I.C.J.”