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Historic Times in Belize/Guatemala Relations: Limiting incursions into Belizean territory Print E-mail
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Written by Shane D. Williams   
Thursday, 11 March 2010 00:00

At a meeting with the Organization of American States in Washington D.C. in December of 2009, Minister Wilfred Elrington expressed Belize’s concern about the illegal entry into Belize by Guatemalan woodcutters near the Peten area. The Secretary General of the OAS suggested that Belize and Guatemala set up a special working group to deal with immediate issues such as illegal crossings. That working group is to include three (3) individuals from both parties. Belize’s Ambassador to Guatemala, Fred Martinez, is the head of the Belize Team. He is joined by Ambassador David Gibson and the third individual is flexible based on the topic of concern- if it is a military issue then an individual from the Ministry of National Security will be that third representative.

Historic Meeting
 
That special working group met for the first time on Tuesday, March 9, in Belize.

Obviously the issue of illegal crossings was the number one topic. What is happening is that Belize has established a force with the task of patrolling the protected forest areas along the border. These are conservationists and forestry officials. Soldiers from the Belize Defence Force are sent to protect those individuals. Guatemala is saying that by having soldiers at the border, Belize is disregarding confidence building measures. However, Belize maintains that the presence of the soldiers is necessary for the protection of the conservationists. According to H.E. Martinez, another issue that came up is the interception of Belizean vessels by the Guatemalan Naval forces situated near the mouth of the Sarstoon River. The Sarstoon River is a passage used by both countries. There are no Belizeans living on our side of the river and about thirteen (13) fishing families living on the Guatemalan side of the river. These are poor families that go fishing in their dories and live on what they catch. According to Guatemalan officials, when Belizean vessels travel in the river they cause the dories to turn over because of the wave they create. Ambassador Martinez said that it is a simple issue that does not need to be stirred up at the moment. He said it could be handled by just putting up signs informing the vessel captains to slow down. Ambassador Martinez said that the meeting was very constructive and the group plans to meet once a month in its initial stage.

PM Barrow Visits/ Guatemala President Signs Partial Scope Agreement 

On Friday, March 5, the Prime Minister of Belize was in Guatemala for a Meeting of SICA Heads of State with the United State’s Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The main issues discussed were the present status of the situation in Honduras and the recent political scandals that have been developing in Guatemala. However, the issue more immediate to Belize was the signing of the Partial Scope Agreement by the President of Guatemala. The Belize/Guatemala Partial Scope Agreement was signed on June 26, 2006. On November 22, 2004, the Minister of Foreign Trade of Belize and the Minister of Economy of Guatemala launched negotiations for a Partial Scope Trade Agreement (PSA) with the objective of enhancing trade and commercial linkages to the benefit of both countries. This was the first bilateral trade agreement negotiated by Belize. It was signed in 2006 and Belize obtained approval from CARICOM that same year to make sure it does not interfere with its obligations under the CSME. As a small country, Belize is constrained when it comes to achieving economies of scale. Therefore, with the protection of investment guaranteed, Belizean investors can do their processing and value-added in Guatemala and qualify for preferential treatment into Central America. The Partial Scope Agreement was approved by the Guatemalan Congress in late 2009 and had since been waiting on the signature of the President to be effective. Upon Prime Minister Barrow’s visit to Guatemala on Friday, the agreement was signed and the treaty ratified. Ambassador Martinez said that the agreement can come into effect 30 days after the President has signed. Therefore, as of April 4th, Belizean producers will be able to access Guatemala’s market at almost duty free prices.

Referendum on taking dispute to ICJ 

On the issue of the referendum to take the Belize/Guatemala dispute to the International Court of Justice, Ambassador Martinez said that it is not likely to move forward anytime now. He continued by saying there are so many issues facing the Guatemalan government at this time that a national referendum would be extremely difficult, add to that the fact that a Presidential Election is coming up, a referendum in the near future is almost impossible.