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Jules Vasquez reporting
On September 15, 1821, what was known as the Captaincy-General of Guatemala - comprised of modern day Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica - declared independence from Spain. It became the United Provinces of Central America in 1823. Guatemala, with the largest population was the dominant force within the republic.

But, did that include Belize - a territory that Guatemala had never exerted control over?

Jules Vasquez
"Did they in 1821 inherit the rights to the territory of Belize?"

JUDGE STEPHEN SCHWEBEL, FORMER PRESIDENT, ICJ
"That's not a simple question. But, I think the proper answer, or the stronger answer is that Guatemala did not inherit the territory of Belize in 1821 because it was not in effective control of that territory. The territory had been settled in the 18th and 19th. centuries, but there was a substantial colony of English settlers, woodcutters, and others, and others attracted by that settlement, who acted independently, who applied to the British crown for protection."

Guatemala may also fall back on the principle of Uti Posseditis Juris, that principle was largely used to draw borders in colonial Latin America - and it argues that the Central American Federation inherited the territories formerly owned by Spain.

JUDGE STEPHEN SCHWEBEL, FORMER PRESIDENT, ICJ
"That is a doctrine which has strength in Latin American law, and has been recognized by the World Court."

"So there's no doubt that it's a substantial doctrine, but it doesn't do much for Guatemala in my view, in this case, because Guatemala cannot show that it was in occupation and exercised sovereign rights in the territory which is now Belize before Guatemala itself became independent. You cannot revert back to a situation which didn't exist!"

And then, there's that much discussed article 7 in the 1859 treaty - which the British never fulfilled - which was the undertaking to give Guatemala access to the Atlantic Coast by a road or some other means.

Critics - and the Guatemalans - say that failure by the British invalidates the boundary treaty. What does the judge say?:

JUDGE STEPHEN SCHWEBEL, FORMER PRESIDENT, ICJ
"Guatemala has relied heavily on the fact that the 1859 treaty in article 7, I believe it is provides that the parties shall use their best efforts (to construct a cart road)."

"“But, to take a clause which says that the parties shall use their best efforts to build a cart-road as determinative of the line, the boundary line, set out in the treaty, seemed to Judge Hudson, seemed to the four authors of the opinion to which we’ve referred, seems to me, as not a very compelling argument.â€￾

"I’m not sure what the Court will do in the end with Article 7. Because the facts as I say are quite unclear, the obligation itself was one of using only best efforts, no more than that. HMG did not repudiate Article 7 but it did not reach agreement with Guatemala on the division of costs for constructing the road."

"But, even if it were held, if the Court were to hold, or even address the question of whether Great Britain was in breach of the treaty, Article 7 of the treaty, there remains the question of whether any such breach is attributable to the Government of Belize. And since it wasn’t Belize that undertook that obligation, but Great Britain, and since Great Britain no longer controls the territory of Belize, and Belize is an independent state, there is real room to question whether even if the Court found that Great Britain were in breach, it would carry over that finding and assign its burden to Belize. That’s very much open to question."