At the top of the news you heard Government's position on the Sarstoon Showdown between Belizean civilians and the Guatemalan Navy. So, what about the
Sarstoon River, and the Sarstoon Island? As we've shown you, the Territorial Volunteers went to the Sarstoon Island to send a statement to Guatemala
and the world that the island is for Belize. More importantly, they were of the opinion that the Belize Government was slowly ceding territory through
diffident diplomacy.
So, what is the Prime Minister's position on these areas considered to Belizean territory? He explained it to the press today:
Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister
"Guatemala claims the River Sarstoon not in the same way as it claims other portions of our
country. Their position is that what we know to be Belize never included the Sarstoon
River, and that our border in that area stopped at the bank of the river on the Belize side.
So the entire Sarstoon was always, they argue, part of Guatemalan territory and
recognized as belonging to them."
"We consider that to be completely wrong, and against both history and geography. We
therefore unequivocally maintain that the boundary between the two countries is the mid channel of the River, so acknowledged from time immemorial and
stated in the 1859
Treaty. And we accordingly continue to declare that we are sovereign over our half of the
Sarstoon River. We say this; we mean this; we will never change this. And as it is with the
Sarstoon, so it is with all of Belize: this territory is ours, the entire 8,867 square miles of it.
And our sovereignty over our country, which not only our military but ultimately all of us are
prepared to defend to the death, is unalterable, unshakable, immovable."
"But with respect to the Sarstoon River we don't just lay claim to our sovereignty, we act
upon it. Every Tuesday the Belize Defence Force takes a replacement contingent of
soldiers up our side of the Sarstoon River to our military outpost at Cadenas, and brings
back down the River the troops being rotated out from Cadenas. In doing this, and
consistent with our assertion of sovereignty, we ask neither leave nor license from the
Guatemalans."
So, how does the State demonstrate its sovereignty over that area? Well, According to the Prime Minister the military regularly traverses the Sarstoon
while keeping a presence at the Cadenas Observation Post:
Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister
"Our BDF are routinely challenged by the Guatemalans and, as happened just last Tuesday, frequently told to turn back. Our soldiers never retreat and
are never deterred by these standoffs. They always complete their mission even when, as also happened last Tuesday, they are threatened by the
Guatemalan Navy with the ramming of their boat and/or a firefight. In the circumstances, for anyone to claim that there is a sovereignty vacuum
regarding our half of the Sarstoon; or that our troops are anything less than resolute and courageous in maintaining our sovereignty, does an
intolerable disservice to the brave men and women of the Belize Defence Force and the Belize Coast Guard."
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