Voters say “Yes” to ICJ regarding border issue
GUATEMALA CITY: Guatemalans voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to send a centuries-old border dispute with neighbouring Belize to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for final resolution, according to preliminary referendum results.
A total of 95% of Guatemalans voted “yes”, with votes from over 92% of polling stations accounted for, said Gustavo Castillo of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
The voting happened “without reports of security incidents”, tribunal president Maria Eugenia Mijangos said.
But despite 7.5 million Guatemalans being summoned to the ballot box, the vote was marked by low turnout.
The border disagreement, whose roots go back two centuries, has seen tensions spike from time to time. Two years ago Guatemala mobilized 3,000 troops along the densely forested unmarked border zone after an incident in which a Guatemalan teenager was fatally shot.
A Belize border patrol had opened fire after being shot at, but an investigation by the Organization of American
States found it not responsible for the death.
The two nations agreed in 2008 to send the dispute to The Hague-based ICJ, if the people of both countries approved.
Observers from 25 countries were on hand to monitor the polling.
Belize has not yet fixed a date for its referendum on the issue, although officials say it could take place next year.
The Guatemalan plebiscite asked voters to respond “yes” or “no” as to whether any legal claims by Guatemala against Belize relating to its territories “should be submitted to the International Court of Justice for final settlement” and boundary determination.
Ms Mijangos told reporters that voter apathy was a big risk. Efforts by President Jimmy Morales to boost turnout have foundered on the rocks of his low popularity.
On Sunday, Ms Mijangos said “We are calling on all Guatemalans, especially the youth making up the majority of the electorate, to participate, to go to polling stations to put in their vote on this very important issue which has taken so many years to find a solution to”.
Mr Morales said that the two countries had “very good bilateral relations” and he hoped the dispute could be resolved.
Guatemala has made claims over more than half of Belize’s territory, dating back to when its English-speaking neighbour was a British colony known as British Honduras.
The border issue goes back to 1783 when Spain — the former colonial power over what is now Guatemala — gave Britain the right to occupy a part of its territory.
In 1964 British Honduras won the right to self-government, and in 1973 renamed itself Belize, with independence following in 1981 although a British military presence remained in the country until the mid-1990s.