Belizean-Guatemalan Territorial Dispute - 20th and 21st Century Negotiations

20th and 21st Century Negotiations

See also: Heads of Agreement (document) and Heads of Agreement Crisis

Negotiations proceeded for many years, including one period in the 1960s in which the United States Government sought unsuccessfully to mediate, but these talks did not include the actual residents of Belize. During 1975–1979, Mexico, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Panama changed from supporting Guatemala to supporting Belize. A 1981 trilateral (Belize, Guatemala, and the United Kingdom) "Heads of Agreement" was encouraged by the United Nations, which had already recognized Belize's independence, and although the Heads of Agreement would have given only partial control and access to assets in each other's nations, it collapsed when Guatemala renewed its claims to Belize soil and Belizeans rioted against the British and their own government, claiming the Belizean negotiators were making too many concessions to Guatemala. Thus, Belize became independent on September 21, 1981, with the territorial dispute unresolved. Significant negotiations between Belize and Guatemala, with the United Kingdom as an observer, resumed in 1988. Guatemala recognized Belize's independence in 1991 and diplomatic relations were established.

On October 19, 1999, Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize at the time, was made aware that Guatemala wanted to renew its claim. As a new line of reasoning for their claim (instead of basing it on the 1859 treaty), Guatemala asserted that they have inherited Spain's 1494 and 18th century claims on Belize and are owed more than half of Belize's land mass, from the Sibun River south. This claim amounts to 12,272 km2 of territory. The majority of Belizeans, now quite multi-racial including 60% who are mixed or full Amerindians, continue to rail against becoming part of Guatemala and accuse Guatemala of colonialism.

The Guatemalan military placed personnel at the edge of the internationally-recognized border. Belizean patrols incorporating both Belize Defence Force members and police forces took up positions on their side of the border.

In February 2000, a Belizean patrol shot and killed a Guatemalan in the area of Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve. On February 24, 2000, personnel from both nations encountered each other in Toledo District. The two countries held further talks on March 14, 2000, at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C., in the presence of the OAS Secretary General. Eventually they agreed to establish an "adjacency zone" extending one kilometer on either side of the 1859 treaty line, now designated the "adjacency line," and to continue negotiations aimed at resolving their dispute.

In June 2008, Belizean Prime Minister Dean Barrow said resolving the dispute is his biggest goal. He proposed referenda for the citizens of Belize and Guatemala, asking whether they support referring the issue to the International Court of Justice. An official special agreement on submitting the issue to the ICJ was signed on 8 December 2008, with a referendum to be held on the issue simultaneously in Belize and Guatemala on 6 October 2013. Now in 2013 they plan to claim Belize again.

Both Guatemala and Belize are participating in confidence-building measures approved by the OAS, including the Guatemala-Belize Language Exchange Project.