Illegal Guatemalan settlers to be sent home
The news blackout is over and the newsmakers are back from Washington… and what they have to report should bring Belizeans at least some measure of relief. In a nutshell, the mapmakers commissioned by the OAS have determined that the three principal markers delineating the so-called adjacency line between Belize and Guatemala are almost exactly where Belize has always claimed. Similarly, the three settlements of Guatemalans that Belize has maintained are illegally situated on Belizean territory–Machaquila, Rio Blanco and Valentin Camp–have all been found to be not only east of the adjacency line, but also, with the exception of one building in Valentin, more than one kilometre to the east. The result is that Guatemala has agreed to help move the settlers back across the border and will even pay them compensation for their crops and buildings. Those who refuse to leave will not be paid and will be forcibly evicted by Belizean authorities. While the result of the three days of negotiations could be viewed as a validation of Belize’s position, delegates returning to Belize today were cautious in their optimism and reported that the diplomatic wrangling was long and hard. News 5 spoke to chief negotiator Ambassador Assad Shoman and the UDP nominated member, Fred Martinez, as they arrived at Philip Goldson International Airport. The first question for Shoman was why the talks took so long when the facts on the ground were so clear?
Assad Shoman, Chief Negotiator
“Mr. Peeler presented his report and indicated in that first report that these settlers were outside of the adjacency zone, almost all of them; the entire Machaquila settlement, the entire Rio Blanco settlement and almost all of the dwellings in Valentin Camp that we had complained about. However, he did not deliver the map and the Guatemalans were desirous of having the whole package, seeing it as a whole before emitting any release. That’s one part of it. The other part of the process is that although the Miami protocol allows us in a situation like this to go ahead and remove these people without any cooperation from Guatemala, it was felt by the facilitators and by ourselves and well, and by Guatemala, that it will work much more smoothly and with much less chance for hostility or anything to go wrong if Guatemala could cooperate in this endeavour. That took a little time to work out.”
Stewart Krohn
“Why did they go along with this process presumably knowing that the people were in Belize all along?”
Assad Shoman
“I guess for them it’s a bit of a political problem if they were merely to accept the word of Belize on an issue like that. Therefore it was necessary, and I think it was useful for us as well, to get an independent institution that both of us previously committed ourselves to accept the findings of, to declare with precision, number one, where that line is, and number two, where these settlements were. So we think it was a very useful exercise for Belize as well as for Guatemala.”
Will the Guatemalans comply with these agreements?
Fred Martinez, UDP Appointed Member
“I have confidence that they will, especially now that we have had the Pan American Institute reading out and saying exactly what is what, with the Secretary General of the OAS and the members of the OAS council indicating, well listen, it is your responsibility, you must live up to those agreements. Other friendly countries have been in touch with us throughout the process in Washington, to ensure that they would put diplomatic pressure on Guatemala to live up to its part of the agreement. We believe that, we don’t want to sound too victorious, of course you never know what happens, but we do believe that Guatemala is under increased international pressure to live up to it’s agreement. All the countries in the region are telling them that.”
Stewart Krohn
“While we’re all happy with the result, are we really any further ahead?”
Assad Shoman
“We’re further ahead for several reasons. One, because as you know there has always been a dispute about exactly where this line is. As you know, the borderline as such was never fully cut and marked. The Guatemalans have been contesting many of the reference markers that were put in place in the 1930s, apart from the three main ones, the one at the Mexican border, Garbutt’s Falls and Gracias a Dios. Now we have a definitive line that has been mapped out on the map by an independent institute, which Guatemala has accepted.”
“But also, you cannot compare times without comparing what has been happening in those times. The fact is that regardless of what we might have done in the past, it used to cause problems. But more recently, we have seen a different kind of attitude on the part of Guatemala, which led as you know, to a sense of threat even I would say around the time December to January. It was very difficult merely to take unilateral actions, which could cause a problem near the border or on the border. Therefore, now that we have this agreed procedure that Guatemala recognises where that line is, and recognises that those who are on the east of the line come under our jurisdiction and will have certain agreements relating to that, where also the facilitators made a pronouncement, accepted by Guatemala that Guatemalan nationals should not cross that line at all without permission from Belize.”
While the problems at the border dominated much of the negotiations, a procedure was established under which the two parties will begin to tackle the substantive issues of the dispute. It was agreed that by the end of March Guatemala will submit a written presentation of its case to the facilitators. By April thirtieth Belize will submit its case and by May fifteenth, the Guatemalans will reply. The presentations will be discussed with the facilitators at a ministerial level meeting to be held from the twenty-first through twenty-third of May at the OAS in Washington. At the end of the meeting, the facilitators, Sir Shridath Ramphal and Paul Reichler, will make recommendations on the way forward. For a more detailed analysis of what went on in Washington, tune in tonight at eight for a special edition of One on One. Guests will be Assad Shoman and Fred Martinez.
