As we showed you last night, in the western border village of Arenal, Guatemalans and Belizeans co-exist, and the question of the borderline is as simple as the midfield marker on a football pitch. But in the Southern village of Jalacte, it's not quiet that straightforward. Down there, the borderline is a matter of cold satellite precision. As standard procedure, BDF soldiers who patrol the area have to use global positioning systems to identify the borderline and then single out and extract Guatemalan encroachments unto Belizean territory.
It's the frontline of Belize's battle to maintain the integrity of its border and Alfonso Noble has a unique perspective on it. In the past two days he's gone from Arenal at the western border to Jalacte at the south, and as he found out, it's two different environments and one involves a lot more walking and some ticklish border politics. Here's his story.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
Armed with m-16 rifles, crowbars and this chain saw the BDF patrol gathered at Jalacte Village in the Belizean side of the border where the officer in charge Captain Daniel Mendez gave his men final instructions on the mission. He'll be working in the adjacency zone bringing down fences that have been illegally erected on the Belize side. After a final chat with me where he orients me to the border's position, we head off. On this day the BDF patrol is accompanied by two OAS representatives including the office's director Miguel Angel Trinidad.
From the onset it becomes evident that it's not going to be easy going as the road is indented by the relentless traffic of horses and humans who make their way from Guatemala into Belize and back into Guatemala. Before long we arrive at the site of the first fence. In October of last year angry villagers had gathered here as a BDF patrol was dismantling the fence. As we trod on, we don't expect that kind of confrontation on this day. What we do expect is the same kind of terrain complete with river crossings and up and downhill battles through farmlands, mostly cultivated by Guatemalans. Soon enough we have another fence, stretching almost interminably into Belizean territory.
This barbed wire and bush stick fence seems simple enough. But in reality,
this is anything but simple. This fence and many others in this area are the reason why the BDF presence is heightened in this area at all times.
Capt. Daniel Mendez, O.C. Deployment
"We patrol this route everyday. We check on the state of the fences and any new development. Anything new that is found is immediately reported to HQ and the verification process begins with them, the reporting to the different authorities in Guatemala and Belize. Then if are tasked to dismantle or destroy then we do it."
The tasking today is to take down this fence.
Capt. Daniel Mendez,
"We are exactly 361meters inside Belizean territory and we are presently on one of the fence lines that we have been tasked to dismantle today. We have been out here, we have confirmed that part of the fence has been taken down which is the wire. We are now in the process of dismantling it and the OAS has verified that this fence is inside the Belizean territory so this is our mission today, take down this part of the fence."
But the directive to take down the fence has to come with an OAS sanction. This means joint BDF and OAS verification with OAS personnel taking copious notes and constant GPS readings. Soon it's clear the fence is in Belizean territory and the chainsaw is called in. It's work made easy with the help of the chain saw but for every one of these that is cut down, the OAS must have full knowledge to avoid incident.
Miguel Angel Trinidad, OAS
"Its part of our mandate in the agreement between Belize and Guatemala government to verify anywhere in different situations along the border in the adjacency zone; Guatemalan side or Belize side. In this case the Belize government asked us to do it in this place and we have the presence of our friends from Guatemala."
Capt. Daniel Mendez,
"There are lots and lots of fences in the area which of course need to be verified and eventually dismantled. The problem comes in when there are no ownership papers and people come in and claim pieces of land, they fence off parts of it, and there is no actual documentation for them to say yes its legal or not. Of course the fences themselves violate the confidence building measures which state that there should be no
construction inside Belize or Guatemala without the consent of both Belize and Guatemala, specifically construction inside the adjacency zone, which is where we are at the moment."
Miguel Angel Trinidad,
"Its normal in special areas like this, aside from the territorial differendum, and this is normal. The key, the focal point is what is the solution."
The solution to this fence in particular was not that difficult in fact the farmer who put it up cooperated with the authorities to begin the dismantling process.
Miguel Angel Trinidad,
"Our activities include promoting dialogue, communication, and the relationship with people in the communities and we met with the owner and we explained to him about the situation, that this place is an adjacency zone administered by the Belize government. That is why he understood about the situation and in good will took off part of the fence. Now we are here to verify the situation with the BDF. This is the normal activity of the OAS along the border. The problem is normally obviously in the south of the country because the majority of the community has a presence here."
Capt. Daniel Mendez,
"Its generally Guatemalans who come in to put up the fences themselves. Whenever we come out, they seem to disappear whoever we do encounter them sometimes on the fence, constructing the fences, and we do pass on the message that what they're doing is not legal and that they should refrain from doing it. We try to avoid violence at all times so whenever we encounter incidents of that nature we tend to withdraw and then we report to HQ who then sends out the OAS to do the confirmation. We want to work here and ensure that the adjacency zone remains peaceful so in order to avoid violence we confirm first and then we try to find non-violent ways to resolve whatever problems we encounter.
This has been going on for about more than two years I believe however it is just now becoming a problem because we've started to see more fences and longer fences being constructed. Fences have always been around but now its on the increase and it is a concern for us because of the fact that people claiming land which eventually causes conflict with other people around the area."
Gauging from the volume of traffic in the area and the constant presence of Guatemalans who are just a stone's throw away, and in fact constantly back and forth between Belize and Guatemala, the situation is always ripe for conflict. Now with a sustained BDF and OAS presence in the area, the hope is that in these far flung border hotspots, we'll see consent and cooperation, not conflict and confrontation.
