Incursions Persist Despite Signature of Bilateral Agreements
Following the signing of the amendment to the 2008 Compromis on Monday, small political parties have come out strongly against the change because it will allow Guatemala to hold a separate referendum. Wil Maheia of PNP says that Belize seems to be acquiescing to Guatemala too often.
Wil Maheia, PNP
“As you look at history and you look at the trend, the Guatemalans continue to have their way; we in Belize show no signs of….if you are going to negotiate, you have to negotiate from a stand of strength. And we continue to be weak. Everything the Guatemalans say we go with; everything we then to appease the Guatemalans in every way possible. Why is it that we have to continue to appease the Guatemalans? So we are definitely not we with and we continue to stay on the point of saying no to the ICJ. I mean Guatemala cannot lose land by going to the ICJ; we can lose land. And this was never about Belize’s land; this was about giving Guatemala access to the Caribbean. So we are definitely not with that and we completely disagree with our Foreign Minister not even having them come to Belize, but he going like he’s happy to go over there to appease the Guatemalans. So we totally condemn that.”
Wil Maheia
Duane Moody
“The amendment is actually not having simultaneous referenda. What do you think are the dangers of not doing that?”
Wil Maheia
“Well Guatemala is clearly playing games. They are playing games with us by continuing…first of all the adjacency, only the Guatemalans benefit from that and you can check the records…only the Guatemalans construct in that adjacency zone. If Guatemala was serious about solving this problem, they would stop their citizens from crossing into Belize and doing all the raping of our natural resources. So they are not serious about it. They are taking Belize lightly and our leaders continue to appease them and act lightly. In Belize they have this saying that cow knows where weak fence deh; the weak fence is on the government of Belize right now. Guatemala already has the upper hand; they have no land to lose. Belize is not claiming any part of Guatemala. The judge in no way will say give Belize a part of Guatemala, so they have nothing to lose; we have everything to lose by going to the ICJ. And again, I am calling on all Belizeans. This is not about politics, this is not about P.U.P., PNP, VIP or U.D.P.; this is about Belize. This is about our country, about all Belizeans; not political party.”
Maheia says that Belizeans must now say NO to the ICJ because we should not risk losing a portion of our territory.
