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Belize-Guatemala bilateral talks to take place in Turkey

By on May 16, 2016
Belize-Guatemala talks

Belize-Guatemala talks

Belmopan, CAYO. Monday, May 16, 2016. Bilateral talks on a protocol for the Sarstoon will commence on Saturday, May 21st.

The talks will take place in Istanbul, Turkey.

Foreign Affairs minister Wilfred Elrington will lead Belize’s delegation to the talks, which will include ambassador Alexis Rosado and a representative of the Opposition People’s United Party.

According to a government press release, Minister Elrington will travel to Istanbul on Saturday following his attendance of the inauguration of the new president of Taiwan.

He is expected to be joined at the Istanbul talks by his Guatemalan counterpart Carlos Raul Morales.

The aim of the Istanbul talks is to come up with a Protocol that will “eliminate the military tension at the Sarstoon created by the maintenance of the respective positions of Belize and Guatemala regarding rights over the river.”

Belize is holding to the 1859 boundary treaty which states that the median of the deepest navigable channel of the Sarstoon is our southern boundary; but Guatemala is trying to assert ownership of the entire Sarstoon River.

The GOB release says that Secretary General of the Organization of American States Luis Almagro has acknowledged the positions taken by both Belize and Guatemala and is of the opinion that “a mechanism must be found to guarantee peaceful use, stability and navigational security at the Sarstoon River.”

The official release ends by saying that if no final agreement is reached at the Istanbul Talks, then the OAS will host follow up meetings in Washington, D.C.

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