And while the Foreign Minister hopes for a protocol - hope is not a strategy out on the Sarstoon where aggression can be an everyday occurrence.
Today the press asked the BDF Commander Brigadier Gen. Azariel Loria about his soldiers who have to patrol the river daily. He says regardless of the aggression, they have to keep on patrolling.
Brigadier Gen. Azariel Loria, Commander, BDF
"Well, you have seen what happened on the Sarstoon from the 10th and up to the whole of last week. It was a bit tense. But we have been mandated to do what we need to do. We're following the 1859 treaty which says that we are to patrol the Sarstoon River, the deepest channel, and that is what we are doing. It so happens that the Sarstoon island is recognized as part of Belize, And that is what we're doing. We keep on patrolling. That is what the Ministry of National Defense and the government of Belize they are requesting from us to to continue to conduct that kind of, operations and to be respectful over to the the Guatemalans on their side in the Acosadero Naval with the Guatemalan armed forces and we keep on patrolling and also from yesterday I think that there were some Guatemalans patrolling. They keep on patrolling and we keep on patrolling on our side too as well."
