Guatemalan Naval Ship Intrudes Belize Waters; Formal Protest Expected

A Guatemalan navy ship illegally entered the country’s waters today in what is yet another incursion by the Guatemalan military. This morning, around 8:30 a.m., a Belize Coast Guard patrol spotted a Guatemalan naval vessel within Belizean waters. The patrol quickly moved to the area and discovered a Guatemalan navy ship, approximately 65 feet in length. However, contrary to reports made on social media, the vessel was not grounded and there was no confrontation between the BCG and members of the Guatemalan Armed Forces. Commandant of the BCG Rear Admiral Elton Bennett spoke to our newsroom about the situation and what will be done by the government to lodge a formal complaint. 

RADM Elton Bennett, Belize Coast Guard Commandant: “The Belize Coast Guard Patrol deployed from Hunting Caye in order to verify that sighting and to communicate with that vessel to determine what was their intent. We deployed. We discovered the vessel and we had an exchange of information where we informed there that they were inside Belizean waters. We had a back and forth for about twenty minutes. We informed them that they were inside Belizean waters. The Guatemalan Navy denied being inside Belizean waters according to them that is Guatemala so we had an exchange, eventually the departed. The Belize Coast Guard vessel escorted them as they departed from that location. So once there’s an incursion of this nature the Ministry of Defense would then inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who would manage the situation because of the diplomatic effort that we leveraged in terms of managing these situations. So the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will now take lead in terms of communicating that to the Guatemalans informing them that there was a military incursion in our sea spaces. That in the form of a protest note but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs then that’s the lead from there. The Belize Coast Guard and Guatemalan Navy will continue to have these encounters, these engagements until there is a definitive ruling from the ICJ to determine exactly where the maritime border lies. So this is our duty. We are asked to ensure that we maintain the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our sea spaces and that is exactly what we are doing.”

The last reported incursion by Guatemalan navy ships was in September.