New handbook on Belize-Guatemala dispute
Anyone interested in the history of the Belize-Guatemala territorial dispute will welcome a new publication by former Ambassador James Murphy. “The Guatemalan Claim to Belize: A Handbook on the Negotiations” gives a concise account of the efforts to end the claim in simplified language. Murphy spent the last year and a half researching archival material and sifting through reams of press releases, reports, and treaties. He told News 5 this morning at the launch that it was largely a labour of love intended to inform and educate the next generation of Belizeans.
James Murphy, Author
“My primary motivation was trying to create a convenient, a handy reference tool for students. I realized right of the bat that a text of this sort, primary market is going to be, I hope, the young people. There is an incredible amount of information scattered all over the place about the history of the negotiations, a lot of press releases, a lot of newspaper articles and since the advent of the internet, a lot of websites. What this text attempts to do is bring them all together into a single reference.”
David Gibson, President, CSSPAR
“I think it’s one of the more important works that have emerged out of this process, the ongoing process of negotiations especially for the general education of the Belizean public and the international community. And as I said to Ambassador Murphy, the Spanish translation should quickly follow, so that it can be introduced in Guatemala, because I think it will become an important part of the re-education of the Guatemalan public, even as we participate, that the proposals that have come out of the facilitation process will eventually be subject to a referendum there. It is part of the education that needs to be done, and this work I think can contribute to that.”
James Murphy
“My honest opinion is that it is the history of Belize?s participation in the negotiations is a history that does the country proud because both the pre-independence period when we were negotiating with the British delegation and the post independence period with the two different governments, I think the level of resolve and commitment has been incredible. And so I think it?s a proud history, a proud record, and the most recent effort, the facilitation process of course, has been a bipartisan effort which is in my opinion the way it has to be.”
David Gibson
“In a sense, we are dealing with an ongoing process; indeed Ambassador Murphy had some difficulties at times determining what would be the cut off point, but certainly in terms of capturing what has happened, what exist now by way of proposals, getting a better understanding of the dynamics of what has brought us to this point I would say that it is the definitive work.”
James Murphy
“I think one of the things I have tried to do largely through the footnotes is to give an indication of the extraordinary number of people who have been involved to one degree or another in the effort to find a settlement. It is a very, very large number of people and for the most part it?s forgotten to history. But if you read through the delegations that have gone to all the meetings over the years, you will see that it is a fairly significant number of Belizean officials who have made a contribution.”
The book was printed by Print Belize and sells for twenty-seven dollars. “The Guatemalan Claim to Belize: A Handbook on the Negotiations” will be available at bookstores countrywide next week.
