Belize-Relations with Guatemala

Guatemala's long-standing territorial claim against Belize delayed normalization of relations between the two countries until September 1991. Guatemala claimed it inherited Spanish sovereignty over the British settlement following Guatemala's independence from Spain, and Spanish sovereignty over the territory had been recognized by Britain in the Convention of London signed in 1786. Britain rejected Guatemala's claim, however, because Guatemala had never effectively occupied present-day Belize's territory. Britain's own occupation of the area and its 1859 treaty with Guatemala, which set boundaries for what soon became British Honduras, paved the way for a British assertion of full sovereignty over the colony in 1862.

The 1859 treaty, however, included a provision for Britain to assist in the construction of a road from Guatemala City to the Caribbean coast. Guatemala has consistently claimed that this provision was a condition for ceding the territory to Britain. Guatemala claims the treaty was never fulfilled because the road was never built, so the country nullified the cession of territory. Britain, which had offered financial contributions toward the road construction at various times, rejected Guatemala's interpretation of the treaty. Britain believed that Guatemala was not in a position to cede the territory because it never possessed sovereignty over British Honduras. Between 1945 and 1985, Guatemalan constitutions claimed British Honduras as part of its national territory. A provision in the charter of the Organization of American States (OAS) reflected Latin American support for Guatemala's claim. The provision effectively barred membership to an independent Belize without a resolution of Guatemala's claim. Latin American support was also reflected in a provision in the treaty that established the Central American Common Market calling for the integration of Belize into Guatemala.

Subsequent negotiations, including United States mediation in 1965, produced recommendations viewed as highly favorable to Guatemala but failed to produce a settlement acceptable to all parties. At various points in the 1960s and 1970s, Guatemala threatened to invade if British Honduras became independent without resolution of its claim. The British military presence in British Honduras forestalled any invasion. To win Guatemalan acceptance of Belizean independence, however, Britain opposed in the 1970s any postindependence security guarantees to Belize and apparently favored ceding a small strip of territory between the Moho and Sarstoon rivers in southern Belize. Territorial concessions were highly unpopular among Belizeans.

With full independence blocked by inability to reach agreement with Guatemala and by the unwillingness of Britain to make security guarantees, Belize launched a foreign relations campaign in the mid-1970s to win the support of the world community. Building on support within the Nonaligned Movement, Belize gradually won broad support in the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN). The Latin American community began to shift its support from Guatemala to Belize. Cuba consistently supportly Belize's right to selfdetermination , Panama and Mexico voiced support for Belize in 1976 and 1977, respectively, and they were joined by Nicaragua in 1979. The United States, however, abstained from voting on Belizean independence resolutions introduced annually in the General Assembly. Then in 1980, with Guatemala refusing to vote and seven countries abstaining, 139 countries, including the United States, voted for a UN resolution calling for Belizean independence with territorial integrity by the end of 1981. The OAS subsequently endorsed this resolution.

Given the international support for this timetable, Belize, Britain, and Guatemala again sought a negotiated settlement. On March 11, 1981, the three parties signed an agreement known as the Heads of Agreements. The agreement laid out sixteen subjects, or heads, that were to be agreed to in a formal treaty at a later date. Popular reaction to the Heads of Agreement was overwhelmingly negative in Belize, and rioting ensued to protest what were perceived to be "unwarranted and dangerous" concessions to Guatemala. Furthermore, Guatemala rejected details of the settlement process and withdrew from the negotiations. The British decision to make security guarantees to Belize, however, enabled Belizean independence to go forward.

Subsequent negotiations with Guatemala in the early 1980s were unsuccessful. In 1985, however, Guatemala promulgated a new constitution that did not include the earlier claims to Belize. Rather, the new constitution treats the Belize question in its transitory provisions, giving the executive the power to take measures to resolve the territorial dispute in accordance with the national interests, but requiring any definitive agreement to be submitted to a popular referendum. The article in the provisions also calls for the government of Guatemala to "promote social, economic, and cultural relations with the population of Belize." After on-and-off negotiations in the late 1980s, including the appointment of a permanent joint commission in 1988, substantial progress was made in 1990, following a meeting between Prime Minister George Price and President Vinicio Cerezo Guatemala. In October 1990, Belize's minister of foreign affairs, Said Musa, stated that the preliminary talks on the drafting of a treaty (that would be submitted to popular referenda in both countries) had moved beyond territorial claims to questions of economic cooperation.

On August 14, 1991, Guatemalan President Jorge Serrano Elías acknowledged that Belize was recognized internationally, recognized the right of the Belizean people to self-determination, and stated his willingness to settle the dispute, all without dropping Guatemala's territorial claim. On August 16, 1991, Said Musa introduced a bill to extend Belize's maritime territorial limits to twelve nautical miles, in accord with current international law. The bill stipulated, however, that an exception would be made in the south allowing Guatemala access to international waters from its Caribbean coast in the same way that Mexico has access from its port of Chetumal. Minister Musa has said that the concession to Guatemala was made as a sign of good faith to promote settlement of Guatemala's territorial claim. In a further sign of improving affairs, Guatemala and Belize established full diplomatic relations in September 1991.

Data as of January 1992

• Belize-Social Dynamics
  
• Belize-Climate
  
• Belize-ANCIENT MAYAN CIVILIZATION
  
• Belize-Transport and Telecommunications OTHER SERVICES
  
• Belize-Defense Spending
  
• Belize-Crime
  
• Belize-Acknowledgments
  
• Belize-Electoral Process since Independence
  
• Belize-Consciousness-Raising Organizations
  
• Belize-Growth during 1980-85
  
• Belize-Cultural Pluralism and Ethnic Diversity
  
• Belize-GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
  
• Belize-Relations with Britain
  
• Belize-Constitutional and Political Structures Prior to Independence CONSTITUTIONAL BACKGROUND
  
• Belize-Chapter 7 - Belize: The Society and Its Environment
  
• Belize-The Genesis of Modern Politics, 1931-54
  
• Belize-External Debt
  
• Belize-Executive
  
• Belize-BELIZE
  
• Belize-Beginnings of Self-Government and the Plantocracy
  
• Belize-The 1960 Constitution
  
• Belize-Legislature
  
• Belize-The Small Economy
  
• Belize-PUBLIC ORDER AND INTERNAL SECURITY
  
• Belize-Growth after 1985
  
• Belize-Organization and Equipment
  
• Belize-The Middle Sector
  
• Belize-ECONOMY
  
• Belize-Food and Diet
  
• Belize-The Colonial Economy GROWTH AND STRUCTURE OF THE ECONOMY
  
• Belize-Investments
  
• Belize-Business Community
  
• Belize-Relations with Other Latin American and Caribbean Countries
  
• Belize-Structure of the Constitution of 1981
  
• Belize-Local Government
  
• Belize-STANDARD OF LIVING
  
• Belize-NATIONAL SECURITY
  
• Belize-Electoral Procedures POLITICAL DYNAMICS
  
• Belize-The Upper Sector
  
• Belize-Natural Resources
  
• Belize-Fiscal Performance
  
• Belize-Mining and Energy INDUSTRY
  
• Belize-Patterns of Access and Performance
  
• Belize-BELIZE'S MILITARY HISTORY AND STRATEGIC SETTING
  
• Belize-Boundaries, Area, and Relative Size GEOGRAPHY
  
• Belize-Language
  
• Belize-Religion
  
• Belize-Formal Establishment of the Colony, 1862-71
  
• Belize-Mayan Emigration and Conflict
  
• Belize-Ethnicity THE CULTURAL DIVERSITY OF BELIZEAN SOCIETY
  
• Belize-The Criminal Justice System
  
• Belize-Relations with Guatemala
  
• Belize-The Return to Elected Government, 1936-53
  
• Belize-School System
  
• Belize-Bananas
  
• Belize-Introduction
  
• Belize-FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS
  
• Belize-Constitution of 1981
  
• Belize-Construction
  
• Belize-TOURISM
  
• Belize-Preface
  
• Belize-Chapter 8 - Belize: The Economy
  
• Belize-EDUCATION
  
• Belize
  
• Belize-Other Crops
  
• Belize-Foreword
  
• Belize-The Colonial Order, 1871-1931 COLONIAL STAGNATION AND CRISIS
  
• Belize
  
• Belize-TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
  
• Belize-Economic History
  
• Belize-Colonial Rivalry Between Spain and Britain THE EMERGENCE OF THE BRITISH SETTLEMENT
  
• Belize-LABOR
  
• Belize
  
• Belize-Peripheral Factors
  
• Belize-Physical Features
  
• Belize-Chapter 6 - Belize: Historical Setting
  
• Belize-SOCIETY
  
• Belize-Geology
  
• Belize-Crown Colony, 1871-1935
  
• Belize-GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS
  
• Belize-Slavery in the Settlement, 1794-1838
  
• Belize-Constitution of 1954 and Extension of Suffrage, 1954-60
  
• Belize -Belize: Country Profile
  
• Belize-Public Service
  
• Belize-Chapter 9 - Belize: Government and Politics
  
• Belize-Other Parties
  
• Belize
  
• Belize-Balance of Payments
  
• Belize-Health and Welfare
  
• Belize-Sugar AGRICULTURE
  
• Belize-Personnel and Training
  
• Belize-Judiciary
  
• Belize-Political Parties
  
• Belize
  
• Belize-GEOGRAPHY
  
• Belize
  
• Belize-Relations with Other Countries
  
• Belize-The Public Meeting and the Superintendent, pre-1854
  
• Belize-Manufacturing
  
• Belize-Interest Groups
  
• Belize-ECONOMIC PROSPECTS
  
• Belize-The Belize National Police
  
• Belize-Chapter 10 - Belize: National Security
  
• Belize
  
• Belize-Mass Communications
  
• Belize-THE BELIZE DEFENCE FORCE
  
• Belize-Internal Self-Rule, 1964-81
  
• Belize-Banking and Finance
  
• Belize-Churches and Religious Institutions
  
• Belize-The Lower Sector
  
• Belize-Relations with the United States FOREIGN RELATIONS
  
• Belize-Procedure for Amending the Constitution
  
• Belize-Foreign Military Relations
  
• Belize-Citrus
  
• Belize-Economic Diversification GOVERNMENT POLICY
  
• Belize-FISHING AND FORESTRY
  
• Belize-Elected Legislative Assembly, 1854-70