Wil Maheia and the Belize Territorial Volunteers had yet another confrontation with the Guatemalan Armed Forces today over Sarstoon Island, at the mouth of the Sarstoon River.
As we've reported, the BTV continues to maintain a sort of citizen patrol of the island, and they go out there regularly, to sort of keep an eye on things.
They went out there this morning to prepare for tomorrow's kayak race eco-challenge, and Maheia insisted that he would once again plant Belize's flag on the island. The Guatemala military, which keeps closely tracks all boat traffic in and out of the Sarstoon, spotted them in the distance, and they immediately moved in to intercept the BTV.
Maheia insisted to mount the Belize flag on the island, and that sparked a back and forth with the lead Guatemalan officer, who was trying to prevent them from doing so. Here's that back and forth:
Maheia says that even though the Guatemalans insisted that they leave, they still planted the Belize flag before doing so. The Kayaking Eco-challenge start tomorrow at 9, where competitors will race from Barranco Village to the Sarstoon Island. They will take a lap around it, and the race ends where it started in front of Barranco.
The 1859 treaty says that Belize's territory includes the island and extends to the deepest channel south of it.
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