Foreign Minister Wants Media to Stop ‘Obsession’ with Sarstoon Protocol

But even before Guatemala’s referendum on April fifteenth, questions were raised in a lawsuit in Guatemala’s Constitutional Court about the validity of the 2008 Special Agreement and 2015 amendment. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that the result of the Guatemalan referendum and Belize’s upcoming one are final and whatever the I.C.J. rules if both countries’ populations agree to go there is final and binding as well. Both countries have agreed to respect the result. In related news, with the continuing issues on the Sarstoon, the necessity of a protocol regarding managed access to the southern boundary remains a priority for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington says there’s no immediate pressure.

Wilfred Elrington

Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs

“There’s an obsession with the Sarstoon protocol…”

Aaron Humes

“It is our southern boundary, is it not?”

Wilfred Elrington

“And I think the entire intention is to make mischief. All countries which has border conflicts and other potential for conflicts, try to enter into agreement with a view to managing those conflicts when they occur. We have been working with the O.A.S. and Guatemala to arrive at the type of agreement to deal with the situation in the Sarstoon, as well as in the wider Caribbean Sea – because I can foresee that we can also have conflicts out in the sea until we demarcate our boundaries there and even after. That is a work in progress; these things don’t happen overnight. It takes time to get them in place; we continue to work with the O.A.S. and Guatemala to get it done. That is the situation. But I think it would be good and helpful for the media to explain to people that it is really an agreement that articulates how one goes about minimizing conflicts and problems when they do arise.”