This Guatemalan container erected defiantly on Belizean soil near Jalacte in November will be gone soon. That’s the word out of Belize’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs today. Chief Executive Officer Alexis Rosado confirmed that plans are already well underway and it will be removed this week or at the latest early next week.
He confirmed that the OAS and a representative of the Guatemalan authorities will be there. However he could not say when it will happen or if that Guatemalan representative will be from the Guatemalan Armed Forces. It was considered critical to have that army’s involvement because the situation in the adjacent Guatemalan Village of Santa Cruz where villagers have made it clear they intend to put up armed resistance if the container is removed. It was put there by a powerful local Santa Cruz businessman, Leonel Arellanos who sells corn and cattle – the two things that are make up most of the informal trade along that western border.
Rosado maintains that while it is hostile, Belize is acting within its rights and within its territory and stressed that the BDF has maintained uninterrupted control of the hill since December and that quote, “no Guatemalan can step there.” He could not say how the bodega will be moved; whether it will be towed away or removed by other incendiary means. We’ll keep following it up and let you know as soon as something happens.
