Belize and Guatemala Plan for Post-ICJ Relations and Peaceful Transition

As Belize and Guatemala await the International Court of Justice’s ruling, both countries have begun discussing how they will navigate their relationship once the judgment is delivered. Recent high-level meetings at the OAS Adjacency Zone Office brought together Foreign Minister Francis Fonseca, Guatemala’s Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martínez, OAS Secretary-General Albert Ramdin and ambassadors from the Group of Friends. Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oscar Arnold, says the discussions covered the diplomatic, technical and security arrangements that may be required to implement the ruling peacefully and preserve stability between both countries.

Oscar Arnold, CEO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “It’s a meeting that gave us the opportunity, one to show the work of the OAS, but two for both countries, Guatemala and Belize to speak to the group of friends to signal to them that we’re nearing the completion, we’re nearing the end of this entire process which has taken a little bit more than 20 years, I think around 22 years from the beginning to where we are now. It’s very good to have an organization that’s well respected like the OAS to be there and have an objective view and objective interaction with both countries. Not serving as a mediator but as an outside entity that has the ability and the capacity to carry out these types of observations. Currently, we saw yesterday how they use drone technology to do some of their reconnaissance an incident verification. Post-ICJ obviously, there will have to be some demarcation of the border and so that type of skill and ability will be needed. It will be an expensive endeavor to ensure that the coordinates will be clearly delineated. And so the OAS may take on a different type of persona when that time comes, but obviously, that will have to be something that both countries will have to agree on, both Belize and Guatemala. So the financing of the OAS was one of those things that was spoken about. We spoke about the Tamai Center as well, which is the centers in the different communities where you have music classes, you have the bakeries for example, you have artisans that come together that can produce arts and crafts that provide some level of economic activity for individuals who live on both sides of the border. The importance of the OAS and the adjacency zone, again, was of critical importance. And then we also looked at…..discussed briefly what role the OAS may take on post ICJ ruling.”

Reporter: But there was nothing definitive derived in that meeting in terms of that role, at least not yet. Is this a discussion that has to continue?

Oscar Arnold, CEO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “It is a discussion and we are being preemptive because like I said we don’t know what the ICJ ruling will look like. We don’t know the nuts and bolts of that but we can signal at least at this time that both countries will still want the OAS to play a role and to play a very important role in the implementation of the ICJ decision. Both countries got to lay out their appeal. We got to show what the current status of bilateral relations are between Belize and Guatemala, both foreign ministers spoke of respecting the decision and also what it has been like over the last 20 years in this process. I believe this is a very, this is a first. This is one of the only process that we know worldwide not only in the region where two countries have been engaged in over 20 years peacefully to try to get a border dispute settled at the ICJ. One of the pleas that came out at that meeting was also to an appeal to nations within this region to take ownership of this entire process because this is not only a good example for countries of our region but for the entire world.”

The OAS Adjacency Zone Office has played a central role in verifying incidents, promoting confidence-building measures and maintaining communication between Belize and Guatemala. Its operations, however, rely heavily on financial contributions from the Group of Friends. Arnold says the European Union has indicated that it can continue financing the office only until next year, creating uncertainty over the resources that will be available during the crucial post-judgment period.

Oscar Arnold, CEO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “Part of this exchange also looked at current status of the OAS, the funding status of the OAS, the European Union has already signaled that by the end of 2027 that they may be withdrawing from being one of the major funders for the OAS and the work that they’re doing in the adjacency zone. They’re open to look at certain aspects that they can maybe engage in. There are, for example a bakery there are different types of businesses, small businesses that are set up in the adjacency zone and they could look at maybe funding for those. So it was a good chance for us to speak to other members of the group of friends to find out and and to signal to them that there will be some economic challenges past 2027 which would be when we’re implementing or when we’re expecting to implement whatever judgment is passed down by the ICJ. We understand that the world we live in now is far different than what we lived in 10 years ago. And there’s conflicts all around that are drawing up resources, that are drawing up economic and financial resources. And so for us it was pertinent. It was important for us to say, listen, the group of friends you’ve been with us along the entire journey, we appreciate it. We have done our parts as countries and responsible governments  but we’re nearing the end. And this is a key moment. This is a pivotal moment where we need to see this thing through.” 

Arnold says the delivery of the ICJ judgment will not bring the process to an immediate end. Both countries will still require international, technical and financial assistance to implement the decision and manage the next phase of their bilateral relationship. During this week’s visit, officials also visited the Tamai Peace Promotion and Training Centre, where a youth mural celebrating peaceful cooperation between Belize and Guatemala was unveiled