Carlos Raul Morales on Referendum

Carlos Raul Morales

News Five was the only media house in Guatemala City where an amendment was formalized to the 2008 Special Agreement this past Monday. It is all part of a process which could land the territorial dispute before the International Court of Justice. Belize’s Foreign Minister Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington signed on the dotted line for Belize while Carlos Raul Morales signed on behalf of Guatemala. Both are advocating to go to the ICJ. But on Sunday, we sat with Morales at the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry for an exclusive one-on-one on matters relating to the Special Agreement. On the issue of the amendment, which was just recently disclosed in Belize, Morales said that discussions took place some time ago and that Guatemala is pushing ahead to hold its separate referendum as early as October.

Carlos Raul Morales, Foreign Minister, Guatemala

“Remember we planned to realize the referendum in 2013 in October, but we couldn’t do that because many things happened and since this time, we started to talk about the possibility to change, to amend the special agreement and try to do it in separate dates. The political situation in each country, for example in Guatemala, the elections; we have the first round in September and then the second in October. Another very important thing is the cost of the referendum. In the case of Guatemala, our electoral is almost eight million people; in Belize it is one hundred and sixty thousand people…there is a big different and of course the cost in Guatemala is very high. My plan at the beginning was to take advantage of the elections and try to do it at the same time but again it depends on the political time. I hope that I can do it, but try to say today we will do it in September or we will do it in October is a little difficult today. If we wait for a moment for when we can do it together it can be two hundred years and we cannot wait so long. We need to solve as soon as possible this situation. We need a border, Marleni.”

Marleni Cuellar

“Belizeans would say we have a border.”

Carlos Raul Morales

“Well, but you know when you got to Mexico for example, and you see the border with Mexico, you will see a line very clear with Mexico. With Guatemala, there is not a line and we need it. In Guatemala, we need a border because we need to give security for our people in the area.”

Marleni Cuellar

“Do you believe Guatemalans will vote yes to the ICJ?”

Carlos Raul Morales

“I think yes, yes.”

Marleni Cuellar

“What happens if they vote no?”

Carlos Raul Morales

“Well we’ll have to go again to another referendum because there is not another International Court of Justice in the universe that will solve our bilateral issue.”

Marleni Cuellar

“…The very same referendum or a reworded referendum?”

Carlos Raul Morales

“No, we have to go again and ask the population again. If the result is no, we have to do a better campaign of course and we have to go to another one because there is not another International Court of Justice in the Universe that will solve our problem.”