And while they argue at the Hague on the ground, it's a daily battle against encroachments by Guatemalan and Hondurans fishermen into Belize's territorial waters.
The Belize Territorial Volunteers report that this morning they embarked on a trip to the Sapodilla Cayes. While en route, they noticed a suspicious-looking bottle partially submerged in the water. Upon closer inspection, they discovered what appeared to be a Guatemalan gillnet illegally set in Belizean waters. The net, measuring nearly 400 feet in length, was retrieved and destroyed by BTV. Here's part of the retrieval:
Wil Maheia, Belize Territorial Volunteers
"Watch ya, see this ya from our reef. That's why the Belizean fisherman can't get this in Guatemala, they are destroying everything, man. Enforcement agency. all what we are saying for you to step it over because we, territorial volunteers we are not on your payroll.
"But at the end of the day, this is our country. Look, see the Sapodilla cayes is right there, right there. How they * they can come here and set these things here. Man, that's crazy."
Honduras, for its part, rejects Guatemala's application to join.
It continues tomorrow with a second round of oral arguments from all parties. You can find a link to the full presentations on our web pages.
