“We can’t invade Guatemala as much as we would like to”, PM Briceño

Prime Minister John Briceño

Did Prime Minister John Briceño misspeak on Wednesday or was he being sincere when he said “we can’t invade Guatemala as much as we would like to”? Or, was he being serious?  The statement has come as a shock to many and there is not yet word as to how our Guatemalan counterparts are interpreting his remarks.  The comment was made during an interview with the media. A reporter asked Prime Minister Briceño about rising tensions on Sarstoon River and the Guatemalan Armed Forces’ aggressive behavior towards Belizeans. In his comments, PM Briceño noted how small Belize’s military and population is to Guatemala’s.  He also expressed concerns over potential loss of lives as a result of the conflict. For context, we bring back the PM’s remarks. We also heard from his Minister of National Defense, Florencio Marin.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“God forbid one day one of these people was to accidentally pull the trigger then what. I urge the territorial volunteers to be careful. While we accept what they are doing and understand that they are in our territory and Belizeans suppose to feel free to move anywhere in the country, including the Sarstoon. But because of the tense situation with eh military in that area, I am urging them to be careful. They take children out there sometimes and god forbids something is to happen. What are we going to do? We can’t invade Guatemala, as much as we would like to. But, we can’t.”

Florencio Marin

Florencio Marin, Minister of National Defense

“You sure the Prime Minister didn’t misspeak? I would like to think that he would have run that by us in Cabinet. So, we have gotten no such directive.”