And there’s no time to recover from the march for Prime Minister Dean Barrow. He is heading to Guatemala City this weekend. He will go to attend a Central American solidarity summit along with other regional leaders on Sunday. But unlike the other SICA leaders who can just hop on their presidential jets and pop in for the meeting, Belize’s Prime Minister has to fly commercial. So Barrow leaves on Saturday and returns on Monday – which is also Guatemala’s Independence Day.

And while the SICA meeting is one thing, Prime Minister Barrow is expected to hold bi lateral talks with Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom where Belize Guatemala relations are sure to come up. That’s because the language of what’s called the compromis has just about been finalized. That’s the instrument which states the terms of reference for the referendum on whether the territorial difference should be settled at the International Court of Justice. As we understand it, negotiators for both countries have reach an understanding on those terms of reference – and the next step is to sign off on it – which will probably be finished in late October or early November.

But there are obstacles which have to be overcome once that is done. Primary among those is the fact that the compromis will have to be taken through the Guatemalan Congress which President Colom does not control. In Belize, the Prime Minister says he does not believe it has to be taken to parliament but it will have to go to cabinet and the leadership of both political parties.