OAS chief says ICJ is best recourse to settle Guatemalan Claim
The Guatemalan claim to Belize; it is the number one priority in foreign policy for the government of Belize. And while negotiations have been conducted for decades, it is now clear that a negotiated settlement will not be reached and that the preferred way forward is through settlement at the International Court of Justice in the Hague. On this, both Belize and Guatemala agree. Well today, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza, reiterated this recommendation. The OAS is the regional body under which the negotiations have been conducted and it maintains a presence at the border with Guatemala where it is responsible for promoting confidence building measures.
Insulza, who is in Belize on a two day visit, met with government officials and held discussions with the Opposition that is represented in the negotiating body as part of the bi-partisan approach that has been adopted in the negotiations. Last year on November nineteenth, when it was clear that negotiations would not reach an agreement, Insulza made a series of recommendations on the way forward, with the I.C.J. at the core of the proposals. Insulza told the press today that that arbitration at the I.C.J. is the way to go and Foreign Minister, Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington believes Belize has a good chance at winning.
Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General, O.A.S.
“My advice to both countries is to go to solve the dispute at the International Court of Justice. The reason for this is that it is the court that is probably most prestigious in the world and probably gives more royalties to all countries that go to it, they find that. Both Belize and Guatemala have signed a statute. The first thing that had to be done was the politicians to accept the recommendation and they did. First Belize did and once Belize did they sent me a letter saying that they are willing to abide by these recommendations. And then Guatemala sent me a letter with the same thing, saying that they are also willing to go to court. So the next thing to do is what they are doing now and that’s to meet and decide exactly what are the terms of our decision to go to court and write them down in a kind of a treaty or an agreement. That agreement, I understand, has to be approved by the congress or the parliament in both countries and then take it to referendum.”
Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs
“The hope is that they will be able to have the referendum by the first quarter of next year. That is the hope and how close we are to it, well we are just now at this point in time trying to settle on exactly what it the question we will be asking of the Belize people and exactly what is the question that we’ll be asking of the I.C.J. Those are two questions that have to be agreed upon first by the negotiators of both parties. It is only when the Belize team and the Guatemalan team together agree on those questions that we will be in a position to take the matter to our national assembly and to our referendum saying these are the questions, do we go to the I.C.J.?”
Marion Ali
“How good of a chance do you think Belize has if we go to this I.C.J.?”
Wilfred Elrington
“Personally, I think we have an excellent chance. I also think, personally, that the decision to go to the I.C.J. is the correct decision, it’s probably the best decision that we can make at this time. That is my personal view. I can tell you that this is not necessarily the view of my party. I don’t think we have canvassed the view of the party do I can say it’s a party view. It is just my own personal view that in fact the court is sufficiently eminent and sound. I have doubt it is going to deliver a good legal decision and I think that we have an excellent case based on the law as I know it and understand it and also based on the legal opinion which we have been getting from very, very imminent attorneys; people who have not only advised on international law but some of them have actually sat on the international court of justice. The referendum can only be held after our national assembly passes the necessary resolution giving approval for it and after the Guatemalan congress says yes it is alright to go to the I.C.J. Once that is done then we are going to have a referendum for the people again in general, not only for their representatives but for the people in general to say whether or not we should proceed with the process.”
A similar referendum is expected to be held in Guatemala at the same time.
