Yesterday we told you that the Ya'axche Conservation Trust reported that approximately 450 acres of Belizean territory have been cleared for illegal agriculture by Guatemalans who have crossed the border. They also said that the destruction of this key biodiversity area demands a swift and accountable response from the government.
Well, today they got one from the PM - but it might not be what they expected. Basically, he chastised them for "not doing their jobs." Here's what he told us.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Ya'axche, if they had been out there looking at the area they're responsible for, that would have never happened so we need to start with that. We continue to monitor the entire area, the problem is that we have to be cautious, how we deal with this because remember there is the 1km from both sides where we need, if any activity happens within that area, we need to have the OAS to come and verify that whether it is Belize territory or Guatemalan territory. What we have decided in the national security council that any Guatemalan trying to set up any kind of agriculture activity past that 1km territory that's been established by the OAS, we're not going to wait for the OAS, we're going to remove them, and that's what we continue to do. And it's an ongoing process. We need to also try to appreciate and I need to be very careful how I say this, that there are a lot of landless people in Guatemala. The elites, the military, they have taken up all of the land in that area so these poor people have nowhere to go and they're being told, see that land over there? It belongs to us. And then they try to come in but we're going to stop them, we're going to ensure that they know that land belongs to us and we're constantly reminding them and the OAS that they're in our territory and that they need to be removed."
"They have been clearing land in areas we don't want that to happen, they have been going to pan illegally for gold and they have been poisoning the water and that water goes into Guatemala and then comes back into Belize so we know that, it's not like they're being Columbus, we know that and we have been constantly reminding these people that we have to protect this area."
