The Government of Belize, in discharge of its duty to ensure the safety and security of all persons in our country, hereby advises all members of the public that any attempt on their part to clear the Western Border can give rise to serious danger to themselves and we therefore strongly advise against participation in any such action.

Proposed efforts as reported in the media may conduce to a disturbance of the peace and to unnecessary tensions between two countries, contrary to the long-standing efforts that successive Belize Governments have been working hard to secure.

The danger inherent in such action can readily be seen from the details of a press conference which was called by then Prime Minister Said Musa on 26th February, 2000. Instructive excerpts of that speech are now reproduced in this release, and we quote:

“We call this press conference today to provide you with the facts as we know them surrounding an incident that occurred on Thursday morning (February 24, 2000) in an area of Belizean territory near our Belizean Defence Force border posts at Treetops, south southwest of Jalacte Village in the Toledo District.

Our information is that joint BDF/Police border team, comprising Second Lieutenant Romaldo Herrera, Lance Corporal Lucio Arana, Private Luciano Tzub and Police Constable Macedonio Sanchez, were on a routine patrol along a route used by our security forces well within Belizean territory when they encountered a group of about 25 uniformed Guatemalan military personnel.

The BDF/Police team established itself to be within Belizeanterritory, but the Guatemalan patrol disputed this. In an effort to prevent an incident, the BDF/Police team agreed to move to the Guatemalan post of Santa Cruz along with the Guatemalan patrol to await the arrival of senior officers from both sides to verify the location of the encounter.

On their arrival at Santa Cruz, the BDF/Police team was transferred to San Luis and placed into the custody of the police where they were informed that they would be charged with illegal entry and possession of prohibited firearms. They were later moved to Santa Elena where there is a district court to await the arrival of a magistrate. They have since been detained in Santa Elena awaiting trial.”…

I rely on the discretion and good will of the Guatemalan Government, and the support of the international community, to resolve this matter peacefully through diplomatic means, so that Lt. Herrera, Lance Corporal Arana, Private Tzib and Constable Sanchez can return home as soon as possible. Our two nations can then continue to build bridges of friendship, understanding and peaceful co-existence, with mutual respect.

I also make an open call on all parties at home to resist the temptation to try and use the Guatemalan issue to divide our people. This is a matter that affects the national interest of Belize and we must all remain firm and united in defence of Belize’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” (End of excerpt)

Under the Confidence Building Measures of September 2005 signed by Belize, Guatemala and the OAS, the parties are committed to avoid conflicts or incidents on the ground conducive to tension between them. The Government of Belize reiterates the call for all Belizeans to refrain from using the Guatemala issue to cause tensions and to divide our people.

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs warns against the cleaning of Belize Western Border

Last week, we told you that “Belize Territorial Volunteers’ has plans of clearing the Border, but today the MFA sent out a press release saying and we quote “The Government of Belize, in discharge of its duty to ensure the safety and security of all persons in our country, hereby advises all members of the public that any attempt on their part to clear the Western Border can give rise to serious danger to themselves and we therefore strongly advise against participation in any such action. Proposed efforts as reported in the media may conduce to a disturbance of the peace and to unnecessary tensions between two countries, contrary to the long-standing efforts that successive Belize Governments have been working hard to secure.” end quote. Plus news spoke with Wil Mahiea who says that despite the warning they will continue as planned.

WIL MAHIEA:I believe that Belize continues to show signs of weakness, because our border continues to get invaded, our country continues to get invaded by Guatemalans. And every time they invade us we show signs of weakness. It is evident that the Guatemalans have no respect for our foreign ministry or for our Government. They continue to push over and it is time for us Belizeans to stand up for our country. For the past thirty years our borders have been neglected, Guatemalans continue to push in and I believe that the Belizeans who care for this country and love this country will stand firm. On Saturday 2nd March, we will be at the Jalacte border and we will carry out our plan. We are a peaceful people; we will do it in a peaceful manner. We don’t want to go there to cause any kind of trouble, but as Belizeans we have to stand firm. We cannot continue to back track. We have had been backtracking for years now.

Today’s release from the Minister went on to cite and incident which took place some years ago saying The danger inherent in such action can readily be seen from the details of a press conference which was called by then Prime Minister Said Musa on 26th February, 2000, where a BDF border patrol team encountered a group of about 25 uniformed Guatemalan military personnel. The BDF/Police team established itself to be within Belizean territory, but the Guatemalan patrol disputed this. In an effort to prevent an incident, the BDF/Police team agreed to move to the Guatemalan post of Santa Cruz along with the Guatemalan patrol to await the arrival of senior officers But the team of Belizeans were later were informed that they would be charged with illegal entry and possession of prohibited firearms. Mahiea maintains that they know Belize’s border and continues as planned.

WIL MAHIEA:My friend, I am a Belizean, I have lived in this area. It is not something I have read out of a book. The people I surround myself with – the Belize Territorial Volunteers, I have been working with these guys – people who are jungle experts for more than ten years now. We at one time cut a trail at San Jose Village all the way the Caracol. We know the territory. We are familiar with the Belizean territory so there is no way that we will be venturing into Guatemala. That incident that they referred to I believe should have been dealt with in a different way, because the Guatemalans actually kidnapped those Belizeans. And if Guatemalans do that to us it will be kidnapping. We cannot be weak as Belizeans. We have continuously showed signs of weakness. We have to begin to stand up for our country. I call on Belizeans to stand up for our country. We need to defend our country. I have spoken with many people, we have consulted with our attorneys and they have all told us that we are not doing anything wrong and we should do what we strongly believe in. We have no intention of going into Guatemala. We will stand on the Belizean side. We will clear the Belizean side. I call on the Belizeans who have committed, more than a hundred Belizeans who have committed to stand firm and let’s go and do what we have to do.

We contacted the relevant Ministry today for comments but were told that the Minister wasn’t available. The release ended by saying The Government of Belize reiterates the call for all Belizeans to refrain from using the Guatemala issue to cause tensions and to divide our people.