Is There Really Confusion About Maritime Border?

George Lovell

This latest incident where, for clarity, the Guatemalan military suddenly seems unsure of where the maritime borders lie, comes on the heels of comments from Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington. In interviews with News Five both in Belize and Guatemala, Elrington has expressed uncertainty about our maritime and land borders. Today, we asked C.E.O. George Lovell, a former B.D.F. soldier, if there really is any confusion about our maritime border.

Mike Rudon

“There’s a battle being fought on mostly political and diplomatic grounds. You are neither a politician or diplomat, so maybe you can clear it up for us. It’s been said that we don’t know where Belize’s maritime borders are.”

Ret’d. Col. George Lovell, C.E.O., Ministry of National Security

“Who said that?”

Mike Rudon

“The Foreign Minister has said that we don’t have it clear. Other persons, for example Eamon Courtenay who was one of the negotiators, has said how can we not know? Ask any coastguard person out there; when they are out there, they know exactly where the border is. The argument has confused a lot of Belizeans. Do we know exactly where our borders are on the sea?”

Ret’d. Col. George Lovell

“Yes we do. I guess what he foreign minister was saying, while you are on the seas, drifting, how would you be able then to say that this man was…there is no point on the sea to say this man was on this marker, he was at this position so he was in Guatemala or Belize. So how then do you prove that in a court setting? I guess that was his contention. He was not saying that we do not know where our borders lies or where our maritime borders lies because it is clear in terms of charts where those points are.”

Mike Rudon

“So Belize has a clearly marked maritime border? Not marked on the sea, but…”

Ret’d. Col. George Lovell

“If you look at the charts in terms of where we have our twelve miles limit and what have we, in most areas, it is quite clear.”