Last night, we showed you the press conference that the Belize Territorial Volunteers and its allied organizations held to condemn, in the strongest terms, the treatment they received at the mouth of the Sarstoon from the Guatemalan Armed Forces. It happened on Saturday at the BTV's Sarstoon Eco-Challenge where the GAF tried to block the kayak race.
PGTV news was out on the waters with the kayakers when the Guatemalan military aggressed them, and they clearly crossed over into Belizean territory to try and drive the Belizeans back. Both, the Government and the BTV, who rarely agree on anything related to the Sarstoon, say that the behavior by the Guatemalan soldiers was uncalled for, and a violation of international law and neighborly relations.
But, Foreign Affairs Minister Wilfred Elrington was equally as harsh on the Territorial Volunteers for organizing this trip in the first place. The press encountered him at another event today, and he said that for the BTV to continue taking civilians to the Sarstoon River, given the Guatemalan military's stance, is "perverse". Here are his full remarks about the latest confrontation:
Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"Personally I think the activities are perverse. I cannot conceived how you know that if you take innocent females and children on the river, you are likely to collide with the Guatemalan. The Guatemalans have had a terrible history of killing their own people. During the 70s and 80s they killed over 300,000 of their own people in a terrible civil war. So they are battle-hardened. To my mind it is reckless, it is irresponsible for anybody to be carrying children and people in an area where you know you likely to come in contact with them and then we are a protocol you know. We've establish a protocol to secure them. When you are going you notify the military that you are to be going up the river, so that they could give you the little measure of support that we can offer. They don't do that. They seem to sneak by them as if it's a game they are playing. But it's a deadly game. It's a child playing with matches in a dry forest. Fire goes off, easy to start and you can't end it and it burns up everybody in the process. That is what we are so concern about. That is what concerns people like me. I can't sleep in the night, because I am worried. What happens if in fact they start a conflict down there between the BDF and the Guatemalans? In a few moments the Guatemalans can have a thousand military people there - two thousand. How many can we muster?"
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