BTV’s Belize flags returned; one will be preserved

On September 18, three days before Independence Day, there was an incursion by Guatemalans into Belizean territory. Both the Belize Defence Force and the Belize Coast Guard encountered five vessels from the Guatemalan Armed Forces (GAF) on the north side of Sarstoon Island. It was in that confrontation involving the Belize Territorial Volunteers that the GAF took two Belize flags that were on Sarstoon Island, which is in Belizean territory. BTV Leader Wil Maheia confirmed that the flags that were taken from Belizean territory have been returned. He explains what next happens to the flags.

Wil Maheia, Leader, Belize Territorial Volunteers: “The flags are in New York right now getting put into a nice frame and then we will definitely donate one either to the archives or to the museum and then one will be kept at the Territorial Volunteers Office. So yeah I want to say again thank you to the government for getting us those flags back because it’s not just about the flags it’s about the fact that it was illegally taken from Belizean soil and the government did their part to get it back to us so we have to give credit where it’s due.”