BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC – Belize is hoping to hold a referendum by the first quarter of next year as part of efforts to settle its longstanding border dispute with Guatemala, Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington has said.

 

"We are just now at this point in time trying to settle on exactly what is the question we will be asking of the Belize people and exactly what is the question that we'll be asking of the International Court of Justice (ICJ),” Elrington said, adding "the hope is that they will be able to have the referendum by the first quarter of next year.

 

Elrington said the referendum could only be held after the Belize and Guatemalan parliaments pass the necessary resolution giving approval for it.

 

"Once that is done then we are going to have a referendum for the people again in general, not only for their representatives but for the people in general to say whether or not we should proceed with the process."

 

"Those are two questions that have to be agreed upon first by the negotiators of both parties. It is only when the Belize team and the Guatemalan team together agree on those questions that we will be in a position to take the matter to our national assembly and to our referendum saying ‘these are the questions, do we go to the ICJ?’"

 

Elrington held talks with the Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS) Jose Miguel Insulza who says he supports the efforts by Guatemala and Belize to settle their land dispute through the ICJ in The Hague.

 

Insulza, who ended a two-day visit here on the weekend, also met with government and opposition officials as part of the bi-partisan approach that has been adopted in the negotiations.

 

The OAS is the regional body under which the negotiations have been conducted and it maintains a presence at the border with Guatemala where it is responsible for promoting confidence-building measures.

 

Insulza told reporters that his advice to both countries is to solve the dispute at the ICJ.

 

"The reason for this is that it is the court that is probably most prestigious in the world and probably gives more royalties to all countries that go to it. Both Belize and Guatemala have signed a statute,” he said.

 

"The first thing that had to be done was for the politicians to accept the recommendation and they did. First Belize did and once Belize did they sent me a letter saying that they are willing to abide by these recommendations. And then Guatemala sent me a letter with the same thing, saying that they are also willing to go to court.

 

"So the next thing to do is what they are doing now and that's to meet and decide exactly the terms of our decision to go to court, and write them down in a kind of a treaty or an agreement. That agreement, I understand, has to be approved by the congress or the parliament in both countries and then take it to referendum," Insulza added.

 

Elrington said he believes Belize has a good chance at winning the matter at the ICJ.

 

"Personally, I think we have an excellent chance. I also think, personally, that the decision to go to the ICJ is the correct decision; it's probably the best decision that we can make at this time. That is my personal view," he said, adding that the ruling party has not yet discussed the matter.

 

"It is just my own personal view that, in fact, the court is sufficiently eminent and sound. I have no doubt it is going to deliver a good legal decision and I think that we have an excellent case based on the law as I know it and understand it and also based on the legal opinion which we have been getting from very, very imminent attorneys - people who have not only advised on international law, but some of them have actually sat on the International Court of Justice," he added.

 

CMC/pr/dmb/08