Tonight, we have an extended newscast covering all the significant events that happened over the weekend and today, including the official roll-out of Belize's new passport system, a weekend murder, and all the latest in the UDP infighting and effort to recall "Shyne" Barrow as the Leader of the Opposition.
We start, though, with news coming out of the Senate that could re-shape Belize's territorial waters and impact our neighborly relations with Honduras. This morning, the Briceno Administration took a motion to the Senate which would see Belize taking Honduras to the International Court of Justice.
The dispute is over the Sapodilla Caye Range, the southernmost island range in Belizean territory. This portion of the maritime domain is part of Guatemala's long-standing claim over the southern half of Belize.
Well, since 1982, Honduras has maintained a similar territorial claim to the Sapodilla Caye Range in its constitution.
Based on advice from its international lawyers, Belize has asked Honduras to recognize its exclusive sovereignty over the Sapodillas. But, that dialog has not yielded any concession from the Honduran Government. So, the Briceno Administration went to the Senate with an unannounced motion to allow the Government to accede to "The Bogota Pact" to take Honduras to the ICJ. The Belize government will ask the court to determine sovereignty over the Sapodillas once and for all. This has become necessary as Belize tries to clear the way for the ICJ to delimit the maritime areas around the Sapodillas fully.
During the heated debate on the motion, the UDP's Michael Peyrefitte strongly resisted it. He asked the Leader of Government Business to pull it back and allow Belizean voters to make this critical decision.
Here's how the Leader of Government business explained it to his colleagues in the Senate today:
Eamon Courtenay - Leader of Government Business
"Madam President, on the 8th May 2019, the Belizean people voted by a majority of 55% to 44% to submit the claim by Guatemala to any land, insular territories of Belize, and the maritime areas pertaining thereto to the International Court of Justice for final, binding determination. This legal process is well underway between Belize and Guatemala. It has, as its main objective, the final resolution of the Guatemalan claim. Since 1982, Honduras has included a claim to the Sapodilla Cayes in its constitution. We do not believe that the Honduran claim is credible. Because both Belize and Guatemala claim the Sapodillas in the ICJ case, which said cayes are claimed by Honduras in its constitution, it is our understanding that Honduras will feel obliged to intervene in the Belize/Guatemala case, now before the ICJ to assert its claim to the Sapodillas. Madam President, Belize and Honduras have excellent relations. After taking legal advice, we have engaged the Honduran Government with a view to negotiating a resolution of their claim to the Sapodilla on the basis of Honduras acknowledging Belize's exclusive sovereignty over the Sapodillas. Regrettably, this has not been successful. If, as we believe is likely, Honduras applies to intervene in the case now before the court, it is likely to affect the Belize/Guatemala case. Once the ICJ becomes aware of the claim by Honduras to the Sapodillas, there is a significant risk that the court would not delimit the maritime areas that pertain to the Sapodillas, thereby leaving unresolved a large part of our maritime entitlement. Indeed, the ICJ may decide not to pronounce sovereignty over the Sapodillas as well, even between Belize and Guatemala. This would mean that sovereignty over a very important part of our sovereign domain, the Sapodillas and the maritime areas pertaining to it, will remain unresolved. In light of all the circumstances, and based on legal advice, from our international lawyers, Madam President Belize seeks to accede to the Pact of Bogota, a treaty to which Honduras is a party. We are advised that as a state party to the Pact, we can take Honduras to the International Court of Justice for the ICJ to resolve Honduras' territorial claim to a part of Belize. This is what we are preparing to do. In this way, all countries that claim the Sapodillas would be before the International Court of Justice. For Belize to achieve its strategic objective of obtaining a conclusive determination of its territorial sovereignty over all its continental, insular and maritime territory, including the Sapodilla Cayes, it must submit the Honduran claim to the Sapodilla Cayes to the ICJ under the Pact of Bogota. We ask for the support of the Senate for accession to the Pact of Bogota."
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