This afternoon, news went out in the Guatemalan press that a Guatemalan soldier had reportedly been shot in the head while in the Adjacency Zone. It's a very alarming report, which, if it is accurate, could be interpreted as an act of aggression by Belize.
Now, we stress that this is unconfirmed, and there is the possibility that it is inaccurate, but the report came by way of this twitter post from the Guatemalan radio station, Radio Sonora. It claims that a Guatemalan soldier was shot in the head while in the Adjacency Zone between the two countries. It was made close to midday today, and since then, other Guatemalan media houses have picked up the report.
Here's one such report which we've subtitled:
Anchor
"We have last minute information for you. As you see here in this tweet from Radio Sonora, 96.9 FM, where they inform us that a Guatemalan soldier was shot in the head in the Adjacency Zone with Belize. This information is being treated as urgent, because as you see, a Guatemalan soldier has ended up with a bullet in the head in an area located in the Adjacency Zone with Belize. We know that there is conflict in that zone area."
This evening, we reached BDF Commander Brigadier General David Jones and he told us that for right now, it is only a rumour. He said that he has not received any word from his soldiers in the field. None of the BDF patrols have reported on any such incident, and he says that no communication has come from the Guatemalan military or Guatemalan officials to indicate that any such thing happened.
But 15 minutes ago, the government put out this statement, quote: "This morning the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was informed of the death of a Guatemalan in the Chiquibul National Park.. The identity and cause of death have not been ascertained; and the deceased is still at the location. Belize and Guatemalan authorities will collaborate with a view to retrieving the body tomorrow morning, at which time a post mortem will be conducted." End quote. We'll keep following this story every closely.
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