Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sets the Record Straight on Southern Border

The Opposition swung first this morning, via text from Senator Eamon Courtenay. He wrote, “The Reporter editorial of today is factually and legally wrong. It is a bizarre and possibly treasonous editorial. The Reporter owes Belizeans an unconditional apology and a complete retraction of this crude attempt at distorting reality. Once again we are making the Guatemalans happy.” And as we told you, there is, for the moment, complete accord between the Government and the Opposition. This afternoon Foreign Affairs C.E.O. Lawrence Sylvestre wrote a letter to the author of the Editorial, Harry Lawrence, in which he points out that both the Sarstoon River and Island at the subject of the 1859 Treaty between Britain and Guatemala. Article one of that Convention clearly defines the middle of the main navigable channel of the river, which is the southern channel, as the boundary line between countries. Article six of the Convention refers to Sarstoon Island, stating that any island within the river belongs to the country on whose side of the main navigable channel it is located. Sylvester tells Lawrence, then, that “you will observe that the foregoing makes clear that the mid-channel of the Sarstoon River is the southern-most border of the country of Belize and that the Sarstoon Island which is situated completely to the north of the main navigable channel of the Sarstoon River, is wholly Belizean territory. In the circumstances, we would kindly request that you take the necessary steps to furnish your readership with the correct legal position regarding both Belize’s entitlement in the Sarstoon River and its ownership of the Sarstoon Island as articulated in the 1859 Convention at the earliest opportunity.” We could not get a comment on the editorial from Lawrence, the Ambassador to the Holy Sea, on that most disturbing article because they were closed for the day.