April 30, 1859 is the day when Britain and Guatemala signed the border treaty that established the boundary between Belize and Guatemala.
And so, every year on that day for the past 15 years, the Belize Territorial Volunteers go to the Gracias A Dios marker in the south to commemorate tat signing.
And many years - they run into the Guatemaln Armed Forces, who are often hostile and try to block them. This year, they took it a step further when they tried to capsize the volunteers vessel! Will Maheia told us more via Zoom today:
We asked Maheia about the role or non-role of the BDF and the total disengagement of the police directorate:
No one was hurt, and the Volunteers did make it to the monument. There are unconfirmed reports that the BDF also had an unfriendly encounter with the GAF on Monday.
