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To referendum or not to referendum – that is the question or at least one of the questions. Another involves the amending of Belize’s Referendum Act. It’s been reported that Guatemala wants Belize to change its law so that a simple majority would pass the vote. Currently, there needs to be a sixty percent threshold. […]
This week’s editorial in the Reporter newspaper has managed to accomplish what little else has – accord between the Government and the Opposition. We’ll get to that, but first the apparently incendiary article on page two of the Reporter. It’s on the Sarstoon and starts like this, “There are many in Belize who still believe […]
The Opposition swung first this morning, via text from Senator Eamon Courtenay. He wrote, “The Reporter editorial of today is factually and legally wrong. It is a bizarre and possibly treasonous editorial. The Reporter owes Belizeans an unconditional apology and a complete retraction of this crude attempt at distorting reality. Once again we are making […]
As we mentioned earlier, the Reporter Editorial was written by newspaper owner Harry Lawrence. He received the letter from C.E.O. in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Sylvester this afternoon, and News Five managed to get a comment from him this evening via phone. On the Phone: Harry Lawrence, Owner, Reporter Newspaper “We will […]
Following talks in Washington between Belize and Guatemala on Tuesday, there’s been no clear sense that progress has really been made in resolving the conflict in the Sarstoon. Certainly there is no agreement on paper, no draft proposals or protocols and no clear-cut timeline. The Opposition seized on the recurring uncertainty following G.O.B.’s every diplomatic […]
Last week the P.U.P. announced that it would be withdrawing its representative from the talks with Guatemala. That move is designed to send a clear message that the P.U.P. believes that the negotiations status quo has got to go. Senator Eamon Courtenay told News Five that for the Opposition it’s anything but a game, and […]
Foreign Minister Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington returned from Washington this morning after leading a delegation of government representatives to meet with Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales and his delegation along with the O.A.S. Secretary General Luis Almagro. Since Istanbul, Turkey, it was the first round of talks at the ministerial level towards formulating a mutual […]
So with no protocols established, no formal or informal draft and no concrete establishment of a relationship in the Sarstoon pending the formal protocols, what really came out of that Washington trip? Senator Eamon Courtenay, the Opposition Representative for the Guatemala talks prior to them removing themselves from those talks, had definite ideas about that […]
As we said earlier, Brigadier General Jones met with Guatemalan counterpart Carlos Eduardo Perez, Chief of Defense Staff of the Guatemalan army. Guatemala proposes that the head of the armies define procedures to access the Sarstoon. At the discussions, that proposed mechanism was not formalized. Elrington also says that the blockage of News Five to […]
Where the B.D.F. is concerned, the changeover of personnel at the Cadenas Observation Post, using the Sarstoon River as ingress to the remote location, has been unhindered since early May. While that is good news for the military, from a civilian perspective, it’s pretty much the same old, same old. Entry into the Sarstoon, even […]
Elrington admits that to reach a Sarstoon Protocol is a gradual process that hopefully will materialize a document within the next six months. As for untrammeled access, well that too has been relegated to a work in progress. Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs “We don’t have total and complete control over the […]
While the meeting has been described as fruitful, there were more questions than answers this morning when the foreign minister returned to the country. Elrington could not even say when a follow-up meeting will be held. Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs “Nothing has been put in writing yet, but nothing is agreed […]
There you have it. After five hours in Washington there is no agreement on the Sarstoon, no structured plan for discussions – not even a date for the next meeting to discuss whatever it is that was discussed in that intensive session. But the Opposition says it has a plan – and it includes the […]
Elrington, as foreign minister, constantly faces harsh scrutiny from the public, particularly because of his seemingly passive approach towards Guatemala. In some corners, he has been blasted as disingenuous. Elrington says it is a criticism that only comes from those who do not understand the diplomatic process. Reporter “Can you speak to that letter […]
While Elrington says he doesn’t pay any attention to that, he may pay attention to the stinging criticism leveled at him by P.U.P. Senator and former Foreign Minister Eamon Courtenay. According to Courtenay, Elrington is so caught up in his love for Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales that he’s forgotten his role in the […]
Foreign Ministers Wilfred Elrington and Carlos Raul Morales met in Washington today. The start of the meeting was somewhat delayed because the permanent council of the Organization of American States was debating developments in Venezuela. There was no representative from the Opposition at the meeting since the P.U.P. announced last Friday that it would not […]
There’s also political news coming out of Queen Street. As you know, Guatemala military forces are maintaining a heavy presence in our side of the Sarstoon River. The situation has exacerbated to the point that Belizeans can no longer enter into the river. So far, despite statements by the government to the effect that Belizeans […]
The O.A.S. General Assembly concluded its yearly meeting in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic last Wednesday. The General Assembly passed a resolution and we will come to that later, but days prior to that regional meeting, the opposition representative to that meeting, Lisa Shoman, was told she was no longer required. But the P.U.P. says its […]
At the press conference this afternoon; Party Leader John Briceño also spoke of the resolution that was passed earlier this week at the General Assembly of the O.A.S. That declaration endorsed by member states, urges both Belize and Guatemala to take the territorial, insular and maritime dispute before the International Court of Justice. According to […]
Is the P.U.P. reacting to government’s decision to call them off from the O.A.S. delegation? Well, Briceño says there can be nothing farther from the truth. He told the media this afternoon that its representative will not participate in the Washington trip because the party has been disrespected. Briceño also says that the P.U.P. the […]
Immediately following the Istanbul talks, the government made the infamous public statement that Belizeans have untrammeled access to our side of the Sarstoon. The ink was barely dry on that release when Guatemala declared not so. In fact, Guatemala wrote in a diplomatic note on May twenty-eighth, that there was no agreement of that nature, […]
Earlier this week, Belizeans were treated to an address by Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington in which he informed the members of the O.A.S. in the Dominican Republic that he and Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales share an excellent relationship. This afternoon while in San Ignacio, Senator Eamon Courtenay, a former foreign minister, was not […]
Guatemala’s unfounded claim to Belize is nothing new, but what seems to be a consistent policy of aggression is. Currently, as News Five proved again just Thursday, Belizean civilians are unable to enter the Sarstoon River – that prohibition enforced by Guatemalan military force. On one level the situation seems distinctly hostile and uneasy. On […]
Our News Five team was turned back from the Sarstoon on Thursday. They were clearly in what has traditionally been Belizean territory, sticking close to the northern bank of the river when a Guatemalan naval vessel with nine soldiers approached them and ordered them to stop. They didn’t, and motored off, which led to a […]
Citizens Organized for Liberty through Action, COLA, has weighed in on the latest development coming out of the O.A.S. General Assembly, as it relates to Belize and Guatemala. Earlier today, the organization issued a release calling on government to clarify specific aspects of the ICJ discussion. According to President Geovannie Brackett, government is trying to […]
