Have Tensions in the Sarstoon De-escalated?

While all eyes will now almost certainly be turned on the arbitration award, the situation at the Sarstoon continues in limbo. Coming out of a meeting at the O.A.S. last week, Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington had no real progress report because there seemed to be no real progress to report. In fact, the only timeline we could get was a tentative one, a hopeful resolution, maybe, by the end of the year, maybe. Today, the Prime Minister told News Five that G.O.B. needs a real resolution to the Sarstoon dilemma sooner, rather than later, even though there seems to be tentative progress since the meeting in Washington.

Dean Barrow

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“We cannot be satisfied until we get that so called Sarstoon cooperation mechanism in writing and I believe that the efforts to do just that are fully underway. Ambassadors Rosado from our side and Roldan from the Guatemalan side are to take the first stab at reducing what has been discussed to writing with a view to producing this protocol. In the meantime, it is my expectation after the O.A.S. meeting, the last O.A.S. meeting that Tuesday, June twenty-first, my expectation as a consequence of that meeting was that our people would be able to traffic the Sarstoon unimpeded. Now the Guatemalans have not formally said this and therefore I have to be careful not to attribute anything to them that is not an official position. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating and as far as I know, since that meeting, people have gone—again well, not Mister Vasquez, but his reporter—without let or hindrance. So I have to consider that progress.”