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Guatemala protests Wilfred Elrington’s statement at UN General Assembly

By on October 3, 2013

There are reports that the government of Guatemala has sent a letter of protest to the Secretary General of the OAS over statements made by Belize’s Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington before UN General Assembly last week.

Elrington told the world body that Guatemala unilaterally pulled out of joint referendum scheduled for October 6 on submitting Guatemala’s claim to Belizean territory to the International court of Justice for final resolution.

According to a report in Prensa Latina, the letter dispatched under signature of Guatemala’s Foreign Minister Fernando Carrera “rejected suggestions about alleged intentions by Guatemala to forcefully assert its rights over the territory administered by Belize.” 

Carrera, in his letter to Jose Miguel Insulza complained that Elrington did not tell the UN General Assembly that Belize’s referendum law requires 60% participation to make it successful.

The Guatemalan Foreign Minister said that if the referendum were to proceed it would be on “unequal conditions” which Guatemala does not find acceptable. 

The Prensa Latina report notes that the Guatemalan government made known its regret at what it called “the unfortunate statements of the Belizean Foreign Minister, because they do not contribute to a strengthening of trust between the two countries and are not in accordance with the incidents that have happened in the bordering zones or their vicinity.”

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