They lie 40 miles due east of Punta Gorda town and The Sapodilla Caye Range is well recognized as part of Belize's territory.
But, both Honduras and Guatemala claim that range is islands and the question of who should truly exercise sovereignty over it is now before the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
Public hearings on Guatemala's Application for permission to intervene in the case between Belize and Honduras were heard at about 3:00 am Belize time today.
In the first round of oral arguments here's how Guatemala's agent framed the case for sovereignty over what they call los Cayos Zapotillos:
H.E. Ana Christina Rodriguez Pineda, Agent of Guatemala
"Like Guatemala, Honduras considers that Spain had sovereignty over the cayes until 1821 when Central America became independent. That Great Britain recognized Spanish title on many occasions. That the British settlers' activities could not and did not displace Spanish title before 1821, nor that of the newly independent state that inherited it."
"And finally, that the convention between the Republic of Guatemala and Her Britannic Majesty relative to the boundary of British Honduras of 30 April 1859 did not apply to islands. Belize's actions impair equality between the parties in the Guatemala-Belize case and seek to introduce new arguments and evidence relating to that case through the back door of another case involving a third state, Honduras."
"At best, Belize's strategy in pursuing at this point in time a case against Honduras could only have been aimed towards prejudging its existing dispute with Guatemala. At worst, it is an attempt by Belize to prompt the court to dispose of an important aspect of Guatemala's insular claim without Guatemala's involvement."
In November of 2022, Belize instituted proceedings against Honduras to settle the sovereignty over the Sapodilla Cayes.
Belize and Honduras will make their oral arguments starting tomorrow.
You can find a link to the hearings on our web pages. THE HAGUE - The International Court of Justice (ICJ) holds public hearings in the case Belize v. Honduras | UN Web TV https://share.google/4FwjVKgdKYazkTzmb
