Did Guatemalan Navy Provoke Confrontation with Coast Guard?

Wilfred Elrington

William Neal, this morning, pressed Foreign Minister Elrington if the Guatemalan navy acted in provocation since it was well within Belizean waters.

William Neal, Host

“So, when ordinary Belizean citizens do it, it is seen as an act of provocation that could lead to something else, but when the Guatemalan military come over and even interview our military in our territory, it is not seen as an act of provocation?”

Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs

“Whenever Guatemalan military or the Mexican comes over to our territory and we find out, we immediately send a protest note. It was believed that  during those 200-2002 period, it was believed that Guatemala deliberately sent people over to squat in Belize and deliberately made incursions into the country, but there was nothing much that we could do, except to launch our protest and  bring it to the attention of the UN and OAS. That is how small countries defend themselves. You defend yourself through diplomacy, that is the instrument for small countries but more and more it is becoming the instrument for the big countries as well. Might nor force doesn’t solve disputes. You have to sit down at the table; the pen is mightier than the sword.”