Foreign Minister Elrington on BTV’s Sarstoon Mission

Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington, in the wake of what transpired along the Sarstoon River on Saturday, has indicated that government will be lodging another protest note to Guatemalan officials in the days ahead.  Elrington told the media this evening that the blockade by the Guatemalan military was to be expected since a claim over the entirety of Belize, including Sarstoon Island has been in place.  And while there is footage of Guatemalan boats within Belizean waters, Elrington only go as far as to say that the Guatemalan navy may have ventured into Belizean waters yet again.

Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Wilfred Elrington

“You would have noticed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had sent out a release, even prior to Saturday, indicating that there could be some difficulty with Belizeans going into that area.  So that what transpired on Saturday really did not come as a surprise to me, nor I imagine to the members of government.  I think what we are very thankful for is that nobody got injured and in fact they came back safe.  Nobody was taken to Guatemala, nobody was taken in custody and that ended well.  There is a suggestion coming from our military that one of the Guatemalan vessels may have entered into Belizean territory and that we are going to deal with in the usual way.  We would lodge a protest and a strong protest to the Guatemalans saying that we do not countenance that kind of activity where they are coming into our waters.  That is the usual diplomatic way in which we handle it.  But all in all I thought that we were happy to see that there was nothing more unfavorable transpiring”.

Isani Cayetano

“Why does the Government of Belize seemingly takes the position of dissuading citizens from visiting these parts despite the controversial nature of the border situation between Belize and Guatemala?”

Wilfred Elrington

“Well, it is done simply because there is the potential for people to get hurt.  This is an area that is disputed and you have the potential for harm to come about.  It could be inadvertently but in situations where there is tension or there is likely to be tension, one needs to be prudent.”