7 News Belize

OAS Challenges Wil Maheia Release
posted (March 6, 2015)
On Tuesday's newscast, we told you about the press release from the Government of Belize after the Northern Territorial Volunteers were taken into custody on the Sarstoon River and escorted to Livingston, Guatemala. The Government relayed the report from the representatives of the Organization of American States that the Belize Territorial Volunteers violated the border and made an incursion when they planted palms in Guatemalan territory. Well, the territorial volunteers categorically rejected that report. And now the OAS has weighed in.

The release says, quote, "The Organization of American States (OAS) strongly rejects the recent statements made by...the Belize Territorial Volunteers regarding the impartiality of the OAS...through its Office in the Belize-Guatemala Adjacency Zone.

It continues,
On March 1, 2014...the OAS/AZ Office carried out a verification in the area of Santa Cruz/Jalacte and concluded that indeed some of the coconut trees planted by members of the Belizean NGO Belize Territorial Volunteers were inside Guatemalan territory." End quote.

Addressing other tough criticisms from the BTV, the OAS statement adds, "In regards to the Belize Territorial Volunteers' reference to the construction of military posts in the Adjacency Zone, the OAS has never provided financial or in kind support for the construction of any posts in Guatemala. By contrast the OAS has provided financial support for the construction of environmental observation posts in Belize."

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7 News Belize