…And gives his views on Belize and Guatemala going to the ICJ

Still on the issue of the border dispute, Senator and former Foreign Minister, Eamon Courtenay, on Tuesday outlined a best case scenario of seven years before the Belize/Guatemala dispute would see the light of day at the International Court of Justice. That timeframe was based on upcoming election cycles in both Belize and Guatemala, which would land the required simultaneous referendum on the back burner. Today the current foreign minister agreed that the process would take time but said he feels it is time to move the local education campaign full steam ahead.

Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs
“It doesn’t look to me as if it is going to be finalized during the life of this presidency. I don’t get that sense. Now I get the sense however, that this was perhaps one of our best chances because both the foreign minister and the president to my mind were very seasoned diplomats and were not hawkish and really seemed to have wanted to resolve the issue. If you have a change of administration, the situation can well change. You may well find people who have no interest in going to the ICJ, who may be hardliners. In the case of Belize, however, I believe that it is exceedingly important that we start to educate the Belizean people about the Belize/Guatemalan dispute because most people don’t know anything about it. You ask the average Belizean to tell you about it and they can’t because we have not educated them. We have some resources from the British and I’m urging the technocrats in my ministry to start that process. They assure me that they have started it by going to the universities and the institutions. I would want to see it versed out into the media.”

Elrington also addressed the question of whether other issues along the border, including incursions, pollution and criminal activity. He says law enforcement bodies from both countries are already collaborating to address those problems.