For the past 2 weeks, we've been closely following the plight of the Belizean Jorge Emiliano Espat. He's the landowner who inherited several parcels of land from his father and grandfather, located at the Western edge of Benque Viejo Town, in the area known as the Barrio El Juda.
Espat says that he has a recurrent problem that whenever there are elections in Melchor de Mencos, the Guatemalan politicians try to use land leverage the support of the Guatemalan voters. These politicians, he says, encourage the Campesinos in need of land to seek parcels of it near the border. He has clearly outlined that these Guatemalans inch more and more into Belizean territory until the authorities of both nations have to step in.
With the help of the OAS, the Belizean government has been successful in getting those encroachers uprooted in the past. But, according to Espat, the most recent encroachment is the most aggressive one he has encountered, and he has been trying to get the Belize Government to rectify the situation, by pressing his case through diplomatic channels to the Guatemalan Government.
He is frustrated that months have gone by, and there seems to be no real progress in reversing this encroachment. The Foreign Affairs Minister has made the point that this situation is delicate and that it cannot be rushed.
So, what does the Commander of the Belize Defense Force think about this developing problem? We met Brigadier General Steven Ortega today at another event, and we asked him to comment on the Barrio El Juda dispute:
Reporter
"Is it indeed accurate to say that they are building on Belizean territory?"
Brig. Gen. Steven Ortega - Commander, BDF
"Yes, there are buildings that are located in Belize, about 5 to 10 meters in Belizean territory."
Reporter
"Tell us about the process that was done to confirm this particular situation."
Brig. Gen. Steven Ortega
"What happened is that we discovered the structures in Belize, and we passed it up through our chain of command, meaning the patrol on the ground discovered it, passed it up Force headquarters. We passed it up to our Ministry. They forwarded it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It goes to the OAS office, and they have a verification team that goes out and cites it. Because this area was so close to the border, their GPS reading, they had to send it further to a geospatial unit in Mexico City. And when it came back, it verified that they were in Belize, just about 10 to 15 feet, or 5 meters thereabout. There are two structures, and we believe 2 families."
Reporter
"Have they shown any resistance to relocating?"
Brig. Gen. Steven Ortega
"No, they haven't. We have done a combined patrol there with the Guatemalan military. And I'm sure that the diplomats from both sides have visited as well. I can only speak from the military portion. We did a patrol there with the Guatemalan army, and they have explained to them that they are in Belize, and the people understand that they are in Belize and that they have to relocate back into Guatemala."
"The Confidence Building Measures states - it doesn't say you cannot build. It says you can build with permission, so I believe they got permission their government to build. So, it's the same with us, if we want to build on our side within the 1 kilometer, we just need to get that permission, and we can build."
Reporter
"Is there any timeline for relocating these 2 families, of course with the Guatemalan Government's assistance?"
Brig. Gen. Steven Ortega
"Well, they are the ones who's gonna go through the process of relocating them presently. It is a diplomatic process that is laid out in the Confidence Building Measures, that because the structures were occupied, these persons will have to go through a process that is laid out in the Confidence Building Measures to have them relocated back into Guatemala."
Of course, Espat's assertion is that the encroachment on his family's land and Belizean territory has the very real possibility of becoming a bigger problem. We asked the BDF commander about that concern, and he said that as long as they are on what is deemed to be Guatemalan territory, there is nothing that Belizeans can do about it:
Reporter
"There are some Belizeans who's criticized the BDF saying that you guys should have arrested this particular situation earlier than this. Do you have a comment or a response?"
Brig. Gen. Steven Ortega
"Well, as you noticed, even the OAS office had to send the verification all the way to Mexico City to a special geospatial unit. So, that just tells you the proximity that it is to the border. So, it's difficult for them, just imagine for us."
"We will continue to patrol that area to ensure that all the encroachments on our side are identified, verified, and if they're in Belize's side, the persons are removed and go back into Guatemala."
Reporter
"So, let's for example that they respect Belize's boundary, and don't actually infringe, what's your opinion on the proximity, and the issue could arise that they do in the future?"
Brig. Gen. Steven Ortega
"Well, if they don't infringe, we have no jurisdiction over them. So, they're Guatemalan citizens in Guatemalan territory, we can't do them anything."
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