Posted on 06/23/2006 9:59:17 AM PDT by Ebenezer
(English-language translation)
[Guatemalan] Foreign Minister Jorge Briz expressed surprise yesterday over the attitude Belize adopted when it asked member nations of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) not to support Guatemala in its efforts towards [obtaining a] seat in the United Nations Security Council.
"The Belize Ambassador [Assad Shoman] made the commitment to us that he would not lobby against Guatemala or promote Venezuela's membership before the members of Caricom," Briz told the Associated Press upon hearing the news about the Belizean government's lobbying with Caribbean leaders during the meeting held in Guyana this week.
Belize and Guatemala are involved in a territorial dispute [since the mid 19th century] in which the Guatemalan government claims over 12,000 square kilometers of Belizean territory.
Guatemala and Venezuela are competing for a rotating seat that is assigned to the Americas in the U.N. Security Council.
The document argues that obtaining a seat in the Security Council would put Guatemala in an uncomfortable situation if, at any time, the dispute became part of the agenda of the U.N., or of the Security Council for that matter.
"Belize cannot support a candidate such as Guatemala for this non-permanent position while there is not a just and honorable solution to the territorial dispute," reads the note Belize sent Caribbean leaders and [a copy of] which the AP received.
In any event, the U.N. and, most notably, its Security Council are a joke.
Belize? What Belize? You won't find it on a Guatamalan map of the region.
12,000 square kilometers
That's a big chunk of a small country.
That IS the country.
You know? Why would Guatemala, which has enough social, political, and economic problems of its own, want to add to the existing burden by annexing Belize?
Belize has a viable tourism factor. And of course it's a matter of principle. The treaty that formed British Honduras promised a road to be built by the Brits that was never built (or at least built to the satisfaction of the Guatamalans). So they consider Belize to be part of Guatamala.
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