For the government - taking Honduras to the ICJ is more of a practical maneuver - kind of like territorial housekeeping. Of course, anything with sovereign territory can never be as minor as housekeeping - but outside the senate today, Foreign Minister Courtenay said they are seeking a definitive solution to forever fix Belize's land and maritime boundaries:
Eamon Courtenay, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"The advice we have received is that Honduras applies to intervene, which is likely the court will say. Well Honduras is not. Party to the special agreement and therefore it's not properly before the court and we cannot give a decision as to whether Honduras is sovereign, Belize is sovereign, or Guatemala is sovereign, if that happens it then means that there is a significant area of our maritime space as well as the Sapodilla Cayes that would remain, the sovereignty of those islands and maritime space would not be determined. That in our view would be a step backwards for. Belize because we at the moment exercise sovereignty. In order to avoid that we were advised that if we joined the pact of Bogota and commence. A claim against Honduras and bring that to the ICJ then we can say to the ICJ, Guatemala against. Belize and Belize against Honduras cases are related because of this overlap of the claim of sovereignty so let's absolve it once and for all."
"If we don't bring Honduras into the court our advice is that it's likely we will. Have to commence yet another case suing Guatemala and Honduras to resolve sovereignty over the Sapodilla. So this is the most efficient way based on the advice that we have received."
We note that this motion from the Briceno Government did receive the approval of the Senate, which means that Belize will eventually take Honduras to court over the Sapodilla Ranges.
The Sapodillas include Seal Caye, Nicholas Caye and Hunting Caye.
Courtney also mentioned that introduction of the Sapodilla Cayes element would slow down the ICJ timeline for the Belize Guatemala case.
