Move to resolve long-standing border dispute between Belize and Guatemala
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| Published on Thursday, August 14, 2008 |
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By Oscar Ramjeet
Caribbean Net News Special Correspondent
Email: oscar@caribbeannetnews.com
BELMOPAN, Belize: The Dean Barrow administration in Belize is taking steps to resolve the long-standing border dispute with neighbouring Guatemala.
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Belize Prime Minister,
Dean Barrow |
The Belize government will seek approval from its citizens on whether to press ahead with a legal battle with its neighbour. A referendum will be held in this regard by March next year.
A CMC report quoted Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington as stating, "We are just now at this point in time trying to settle on exactly what is the question we will be asking of the Belizean people and exactly what is the question that we'll be asking of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).”
Belize’s decision for a referendum came days after the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) Jose Miguel Insulza visited both Belize and Guatemala to settle their land dispute, which has been hanging for decades, though the International Court of Justice in the Hague,.
The OAS is the regional body through 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.
Barrow is one of the four new prime ministers in CARICOM states. The others are Bruce Golding of Jamaica, David Thompson of Barbados, and Tillman Thomas in Grenada. | | | | Reads : 452 | | | |
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