Minister for Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington has told us that the work to establish the Sarstoon protocol continues with our western neighbour and the Organization of American States, but that it will take some time. The protocol would articulate how to minimize conflicts on the river and the wider Caribbean Sea. Today, Opposition Leader John […]
More than ten entrepreneurs from Mexico were today at the Mexican Institute in Belize City for a trade mission. For years now, the Mexican Embassy in Belize has been facilitating these missions, twice a year, to pair Belizean consumers with Mexican producers and vice versa. In the past, the exchange focused on anything from tourism […]
Nicolas Maduro remains president of Venezuela after securing a second term on Sunday with more than sixty-seven percent of the nine-million plus votes cast, compared to just under twenty-one percent for his nearest rival, Henri Falcon of the Progressive Advance Party. The main opposition party refused to participate. However, a majority of Western countries and […]
Castillo Pena railed at the international powers that have refused to recognize Venezuela’s electoral process, citing their own internal problems in response. He also noted that some of Venezuela’s allies, from Russia in the far east to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean, have shown their support, and the results of the election […]
Despite his assurances that the Petrocaribe program would continue, Castillo Pena was not able to be pinned down on how the Belizean and Venezuelan governments would handle the ongoing issues. However, he says that will not stop the South American state from other projects to assist Belize, including in the areas of health with ophthalmology […]
On Tuesday, former Prime Minister Said Musa got the ball rolling by publicly condemning the unnecessary deaths of over sixty Palestinian nationals, including children, and thousands of injuries caused by confrontations at the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip. And on Wednesday, Prime Minister Dean Barrow joined in. Today, an official statement from the Ministry […]
On Monday, the United States inaugurated its embassy in Jerusalem, as the first country to relocate its headquarters from Tel Aviv, in the State of Israel. On Wednesday, Guatemala followed suit by also moving its embassy to the capital city, amid considerations being made by other countries, including Paraguay, Honduras, Czech Republic and Romania. The […]
The average Belizean doesn’t know that much about the island nation of Cuba – perhaps that it is a socialist state in a mostly capitalist region of the world, or that a classmate or two went there to study medicine. But there is much more, including that Cuba was one of the first nation-states to […]
The Prime Minister had not appeared in front of the media since his last press conference on March eighteenth, but today he did for the better part of two hours. Now, the Government has set a fixed date of April tenth, 2019 for a referendum to be held on whether the territorial dispute with Guatemala […]
The prime minister is on record stating that it is his personal view that the ICJ is the best option for the resolution of the claim. Barrow also says that a majority of those in his Cabinet are in agreement with that position and will be taking that message to the electorate in the months […]
While he would not put forward what percentage of Cabinet is in favor of a yes vote, the prime minister does acknowledge that there are indeed a few members who remain undecided on the matter. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “I can say, even at this early stage, that the vast majority of the individual […]
The relationship between Belize and Guatemala is at times tense, but for the sake of carrying out the education campaign successfully, the existing state of affairs between both countries must be preserved. Key to maintaining the status quo is the O.A.S. Office at the Adjacency Zone. PM Barrow discusses the role of the Organization of […]
Tensions flared up at the western border over the weekend when authorities sought to clear the area to allow for the discharge of construction material. Government has decided to upgrade the perimeter fence to improve the flow of traffic and other activity. Now, Guatemalan taxi drivers are known to operate freely in the adjacency zone, […]
Amid the chaos that ensued at the border on Sunday, the Guatemalan media also reported that students from neighboring Melchor who commute to Benque Viejo daily to attend school, would be refused entry at the border. According to Ambassador Guerra, that was furthest from the truth. He says the rumor was immediately cleared up during […]
Corozal fisherman Iginio Canto Bacab is tonight at home with his family in Caledonia, after being held in detention in Livingston, Guatemala for illegally harvesting lobster in its waters. Canto was busted along with Julio Rodriguez Blanco by military personnel in Guatemala on April twentieth. According to Ambassador Said ‘Badi’ Guerra, his mission to ensure […]
The countdown is on to next April’s referendum in Belize on the referral of the Belize-Guatemala Dispute to the International Court of Justice. The public awareness campaign is being stepped up and today in Belmopan at the National Showgrounds the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a diplomatic briefing on that campaign. Ambassador Alexis Rosado presented […]
Earlier this week, the Elections and Boundaries Department outlined the process for the re-registration exercise set to begin on July first and conclude in December. An area of great concern involves those thousands of Guatemalan nationals that have obtained Belizean nationality, but did not formally renounce their Guatemalan citizenship. The Belize Chamber of Commerce, National […]
Friends for Conservation and Development is reporting that the “Yes” vote to the International Court of Justice may have embolden the Guatemalans because since then, they have been increased incursions deep within Belizean territory. Just this week, the FCD’s rangers were on patrol and found new survey lines and crops as deep as two point […]
As expected, Belize’s announcement on Monday of the date for our referendum on the taking of the unfounded Guatemalan claim to the International Court of Justice was good news for our western neighbors Guatemala. According to Prensa Libre, within a few minutes of the announcement, Guatemalan president Jimmy Morales had tweeted, “I appreciate the decision […]
But don’t expect Citizens Organized for Liberty through Action (COLA) to pop any champagne. It issued a strong blast at both sides via press release this morning, pointing out that the government has practiced appeasement all along, in respect of the Guatemala claim, instead of standing up for Belize. It argues that there is apparently […]
COLA also noted in its press release that of those Guatemalans interviewed by Belizean reporters, including our News Five team which covered the recent referendum, the majority only want their government to recognize the borders, as they did in 1991, and avoid conflict. So what does COLA propose? Brackett told us Belize needs to lean […]
Late this evening, the Government of Belize announced that it has set the date for Belize’s decision on taking the dispute arising from Guatemala’s claim to Belize’s land and insular territories, and to the maritime areas pertaining to them, to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for final settlement. That date is Wednesday, April tenth, […]
Today, April thirtieth, is the anniversary of the signing of the 1859 Anglo-Guatemalan Treaty which was intended to establish borders between the Belize Settlement, run by Britain, and Guatemala. Among other things the countries agreed to build a road from Guatemala through Belizean territory to the coast, but it never happened and Guatemala later repudiated […]
Guatemala completed a successful referendum on taking the Guatemalan claim to Belize to the International Court of Justice two weeks ago. A super-majority of voters said yes, but soon it will be Belize’s turn. The push toward a formal vote locally has begun. Diplomat Alexis Rosado and Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington were in San Ignacio […]
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 […]
