Foreign Minister Elrington Says Belize has no Defense Guarantee

Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington

In an extended and exclusive interview this morning with Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington, we touched on a long list of pressing issues in respect of the Sarstoon waters in southern Belize where the Guatemalan military has been illegally entering Belize’s territorial waters. Last Saturday, it was patently clear that the military blocked the Belize Territorial Volunteers from proceeding on a planned trip to Gracias A Dios. On a previous expedition in 2015, there was a confrontation with the BTV when the Guatemalans also formed a blockade. Elrington acknowledged that since Guatemala is claiming the area, that country is not to be taken lightly. Besides that, he says, Belize has no defense guarantee. 

Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs

“You have two countries claiming the same thing you can only resolve that by some decision that is taken that both parties are prepared to accept. What would be our response if the Guatemalans started to come across and say “Belize es nuestro” let’s take it. Our defense, our military people, will have to take action because that is what they are being paid for, that is what they are being trained for. So it’s the same thing with the Guatemalans, they say it is theirs so they will not countenance people going across as if it is ours. It’s a reality; the British understood that, George Price understood that, all of us understood that. And it is only in recent times, I don’t think anybody else there than Will Maheia and the other people here in Belize who are encouraging him and sponsoring him and instigating his actions. These are the only people who have encouraged this type of behavior. It never existed before I was born and between forty-eight and between two thousand, maybe ten, twelve, I never heard of this kind of thing happening. Now you don’t take the Guatemalan lightly because it was in 1948 that they first threatened to invade Belize and because of that the British Garrison was stationed in Belize and between 1948 and 1981 the British had to strengthen their Garrison they had to send down the Arc Royal which is a their Aircraft carrier. The British took the threat of the Guatemalans very seriously and they understood the consequences they would have from a military invasion or incursion by Guatemala; we have to understand that. We have no defense guarantee; there is absolutely no nation in the world that has agreed to guarantee our security. The Americans are guaranteeing the Chinese, they are guaranteeing the Japanese, they are guaranteeing the South Koreans, we have nobody guaranteeing us and the British has made it clear to us, they are taking an even-handed policy and the difficulty in trying to solicit sympathy on the international community with respect in this kind of activity is that the international community understands fully the ramification and implications of what is going on; because there is nothing, nothing recent about this.”