San Vicente villagers fear lives after border incident
Tension is still high along the Belize Guatemala border after three Guatemalan farmers were killed by a joint BDF/Police patrol on Thursday near San Vicente in the Toledo District. Late tonight we were informed by Ambassador James Murphy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Belize Government has extended an invitation to the government of the Republic of Guatemala to conduct a joint investigation into the incident on a police to police level. This investigation would be separate from that of a third party, to be conducted by the Organization of American States. But as Belmopan navigates the diplomatic channels, the story on the ground is that the residents of village are not only fearful for their lives, they are also feeling the economic pinch, as they are no longer able to conduct business across the border. Over the weekend, News 5’s Jacqueline Woods and Rick Romero travelled to the area and files this report.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
The quiet atmosphere in the village San Vicente gave no indication of the repercussions of the latest incident to take place along the Belize/Guatemala border. The community is located in the Toledo District, approximately two miles from where three Guatemalans were killed after they attacked a joint BDF/Police patrol on Belizean territory on Thursday.
There was no presence of the Belize Defence Force in the village. However, a troop has been stationed in neighbouring community of Jalacte. It was difficult to get a guide to take us to the site of the incident. The soldiers we encountered claimed not to know the exact location and advised us to get help from San Vicente. The village chairman, Domingo Pop, agreed to take us to the area but warned us that because the Guatemalans may still be up in arms about the deaths of three members of the Ramirez’s family, we might not make it.
On our journey, Pop spoke about the problem that existed between The Lobos and Ramirez families; one that he says started ten years ago, when sixty-one year old Jesus Ramirez, a Guatemalan, moved his family across the border and illegally settled in Belize. Shortly after, a land dispute arose between Ramirez and his neighbour, Belizean Rojelio Lobos. Apparently, both men had agreed to a border line to separate their properties, but one day, Pop says he received a letter from Lobos complaining that Ramirez had moved onto his land and planted corn.
Domingo Pop, Chairman, San Vicente Village
“In the letter I saw, he got a farm where the road is and Mister Jesus Ramirez plant his corn there, exact in the road where Mr. Lobos pass. Mr. Lobos couldn’t pass in the road because he plant where Mister Lobos passed.”
The feud continued between the families and even though Lobos was advised to move closer to the village, he remained on his farm. On November sixteenth, Lobos was on his land cutting down a tree for firewood, when it is alleged that members of the Ramirez family, armed with guns, approached Lobos and threatened to kill him if he did not get off their property. Lobos went to the Punta Gorda police and reported the incident. It is this event that the Ministry of National Security says led to the visit of the BDF and the police patrol to the Ramirez’s farm on Thursday, November twenty-second.
Pop says he does not know what exactly unfolded but just after noon that day, he saw soldiers running into the village asking for their driver because there was an emergency. It was not until later that evening they heard about the incident on a Guatemalan radio station.
Domingo Pop
“We saw a BDF running into our village and we didn’t know what happened. But the thing is that like 3 o’clock in the evening we heard it on the radio from the station in Poptun. It was then we know that we got a problem close to our village.”
The Belize Government says the patrol had no alternative but to fire after they were attacked with machetes by Jesus Ramirez Sr. and his two sons. According to Pop, on the day of the incident another villager was with Ramirez and one of Ramirez’s sons, tending to crops, when they heard gunshots.
Domingo Pop
“When he came running he said that they are shooting where Mr. Jesus Ramirez is. But we don’t know if they killed somebody. Mr. Jesus Ramirez told us that he was cleaning his plantation and when he heard a shot, then he sent his one son on top of the hill to go and find out what is happening. When his son reached on top of the hill, he called his father to make him go and see what is happening. So that is what the man tell us.”
That witness has since left San Vicente Village.
Jacqueline Woods
“The Ramirez family lived just about half a mile away from where I’m standing and it’s over there that the shooting took place. We were warned not to visit the location because of the tension and danger that exists as a result of the incident.”
We had no difficulty reaching the Lobos farm, but when we got to that location, all we found were a number of household items and personal effects scattered about, as if they had hurriedly left the area.
Jacqueline Woods
“We could not find anyone on the property. On Thursday, the family abandoned the place and have left the area, fearing that relatives and friends of the Ramirez family will come and kill them in retaliation for the shooting deaths of Mr. Jesus Ramirez and his two sons.”
It’s ironic that the land both the Ramirez’s and Lobos’ have been fighting for so long to keep, now appears to have been abandoned.
San Vicente villagers say even though the problem existed outside of their community, they have become wary not only about their safety, but of their livelihood which has been seriously affected. The villagers earn a living by farming and they selling their crops in the Guatemalan village of Santa Cruz. Today, no one is buying and the villagers have had to stockpile the sackfulls of produce.
Domingo Pop
“They are afraid to go across. We make a group yesterday evening and we explained about that problem and me, the Alcalde and my members, said what we would do, because we always go there. We can’t sell our corn, our beans. Now we think that we have to solve that problem with the people from across from Santa Cruz.
We want this problem to be solved because we don’t want this to take long and we’re not able to sell our corn, beans and rice. We don’t want this so. We want it to stay like how it was before. That’s what the people say.”
Pop says on a whole, the community feels very vulnerable as they continue to face the consequences of Thursday’s incident. Reporting for News 5, Jacqueline Woods.
As of newstime, the Guatemalan Government has not responded to Belize’s invitation.
