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While he's no longer a member of Government, he still had a leading role in the public education campaign. We asked the Morales to discuss the outcome of the referendum, and, not surprisingly, he was very pleased that Guatemalans want to take their claim to the ICJ. Here's what he had to say:

Carlos Raul Morales- Former Guatemalan Foreign Minister
"It is a clear message of the Guatemalan people that we want peace. This is for me the most important message. Guatemalan people are people that love peace. And a lot of the Guatemalan people are not aware of the issue with Belize. They only know about Belize when someone dies in the adjacency zone and there are sentiments, very special feelings when someone dies. Our message to Belize is that we are going to be neighbors forever, we have a problem, we have an issue, we need to solve that issue. But the message that the 96% of people said 'yes' is to give a solution to a problem we have in the International Court of Justice in a peaceful way; there is no other way. The message we want to send to Belize is that we need to go to the ICJ to establish a border. I know for Belize there is a border but it is not marked in the land, it is not marked in the area, in the field and it is important to determine. It is important to chop the nature of this line and to build some monuments that show where exactly the border is between Guatemala and Belize. Sadly we have this issue. It was not my decision to have this issue. It was not your decision to have this issue. We are hurting for the decision of our grandfathers, from our fathers and now our generation has the opportunity to give a solution to this issue. For me, this message of the Guatemalan people is very clear; we want to live in peace with Belize. Please, Belizean people, don't take the result of this referendum to mean that we want to take Belize. I think there is a misunderstanding and people don't understand what is the meaning of the claim. Guatemala and Belize have rights; well, let's go to the ICJ, let's define those rights. The worst thing that could happen is that the treaty of 1859 will be valid."

As you saw in our story, there were Guatemalans who voted in the Referendum without a having a clue as to what a "yes" vote actually meant. Our colleagues from other Belizean news in Guatemala reported encountering Guatemalans who were similarly confused about the meaning of the referendum.

So, we challenged the Former Guatemalan Foreign Minister on that and here's what he had to say:

Daniel Ortiz - Reporter
"We've walked around Guatemala City as best as we can, it is a huge city, and we've encountered quite a bit of people who believe that a yes vote is to go reclaim Belize. It is an unfortunate situation. Did the Guatemalan government, for which you were once a part of, fail to properly educate all its citizens?"

Carlos Raul Morales
"I got involved in the education process and, you can review my interviews, I never said we are going to take Belize back. What I said is that we believe we have rights, which is different, it is very different. And the only institution that can solve those rights is the ICJ. I am not part of the government anymore, this is clear, but if you review my education process- because I took some leadership in this process- I said very clearly: we need to solve this claim with Belize for the peace. I am not part of the government anymore, I cannot give an explanation as to what the president said but what I can assure you is that most of the people I know, and most of the Guatemalan people, what they want is to solve this situation with Belize. Definitely, there are some sectors that believe that Belize is part of Guatemala but I cannot do anything about that. And most of those people vote 'no' because the people that vote 'no' believe that Belize is part of Guatemala and they don't want a solution with the ICJ."

Marisol Amaya - Reporter
"There were some people who said they would have voted 'yes' but there understanding of the question was that it is simply to deepen or strengthen trade between Belize and Guatemala, so a lot of people were misinformed. Do you think that that makes the process flawed that the education campaign did not reach a large sector of the population?"

Carlos Raul Morales
"No, it is not a large section of the population. There are misunderstandings but I can assure you that most of the people, most of the 96% are people that want peace. I can assure you that. There are some people definitely yes that believe differently, particularly people that voted no. But I can assure you that most of the 90% of the people want peace with Belize, I can assure you that."

As you heard, Morales claims that the outcome of the referendum sends a strong message that "Guatemalans want peace". So, is the converse true as well? If Belize votes no, will it be interpreted that we don't peace? The dispute can only go to the ICJ for settlement IF both countries vote "YES".

If Belizeans vote yes, then it all goes according to plan and the territorial claim will be heard by the ICJ.

But, if Belizeans vote no, then the ICJ push ends abruptly, and then it's back to the drawing board. But in the process, Belize may be maligned as rejecting a peaceful resolution to the claim.

We asked Morales about the possibility that Belize may vote "no":

Carlos Raul Morales- Former Guatemalan Foreign Minister
"It is coming from 1821, from almost 200 years ago. And my law doesn't allow me to recognize Belize's borders. If I do that I will go to jail in Guatemala. It is a matter of law. It is the same in Belize. You cannot give us back Toledo for example. Then, if your law doesn't allow us to give a solution to this problem and my law doesn't allow us to give a solution, what we need to do is to build a solution at the ICJ."

Marisol Amaya- Reporter
"A referendum is a democratic process. What happens if Belizeans vote no?"

Carlos Raul Morales
"Well, if Belize votes no, you need to look for the legal mechanisms to go to the ICJ. The problem now is that, and I am asking you, is the solution to live with the problem forever? I ask you."