Belize Prepares for Oral Submissions on Land Dispute at I.C.J

Belize and Guatemala have provided all their written submissions to the International Court of Justice in the first round of presentations to settle the age-old territorial dispute. Today, when we sat down with Foreign Minister, Francis Fonseca, he gave us a sequence of the events to follow. And even while this is happening, he said, we are still engaged in protecting our borders on the ground, particularly in the remote areas where incursions are known to happen.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs

“Where we are is that we are awaiting a date to be set by the court for oral hearings, the actual oral hearings of the case. We expect that date will be set sometime later this year. That date is likely – it could be late this year or it could be sometime early next year, the early part of 2025, we’re not sure as yet. That’s where we are with that. Again, Belize maintains its very strong confidence that we have a firm, strong case. We believe that this case will vindicate Belize’s position that, in terms of our territorial integrity over our territory or islands or marine spaces, but Belize remains committed to a peaceful resolution of this matter before the I.C.J. So we’re going to see that process work its way out. And at the end of the day, we will respect the decision of the court. We’re very glad to hear that or neighbors in Guatemala have also said the same thing: that they will respect the outcome of the court’s decision. At the same time, we of course continue to have challenges on the ground, at the border. In terms of incursions, farming on Belizean territory. We are tracking these things very carefully – the deforestation that’s taking place, particularly in the Chiquibul area. So these are issues that we are very concerned about, and even though we’re working through the I.C.J process, that doesn’t mean that we’re not working with Guatemala on these issues. We’re engaged with them on these issues with the help and support of the O.A.S. The O.A.S plays a very critical role in terms of that Adjacency Zone. So we’re all committed, I believe Guatemala, Belize, the O.A.S to ensuring that area, this region remains a zone of peace.”