And in a release this morning, Government acknowledged the incursion calling it a "flag incident". They say that it immediately prompted, quote, "High-level discussions between senior officials from Belize and Guatemalaâ š¬¦.wherein Belize expressed its strong objection to the recent illegal placement of a Guatemalan flag on Sarstoon Island, which lies well within Belize's sovereign borders. Belize also expressed concern about the presence and conduct of Guatemalan Armed Forces (GAF) personnel who supported this illegal action. Guatemalan officials subsequently confirmed that the Guatemalan flag was removed." end quote.
And while the government says "both countries committed to ensuring that actions that could lead to escalation or confrontation in the Sarstoon area are avoided"- Will Maheia of the BelizeTerritorial Volunteers sees indifferently. The Punta Gorda resident probably has the more trips to that island than any other civilian - and as he gets ready to lead another this weekend, he says the Guatemalans are bullying Belize because he's never seen anything like this:
Wil Maheia, Belize Territorial Volunteers
"Never before, never before have they actually gone on the island, they have circled the island, they have stopped us from going on the island, but they have never physically stepped foot on the island. Now they have done that. It's very disappointing and I hope that our government do something to protest this at the highest level. The Guatemalans, they have been bullying us for years and years and we tried to sweep it under the rug. Just a few weeks ago they were in front of Hunting Caye They came in, they flexed their muscle. Just now as I was coming in, as you can see, I'm still by my boat, and the Guatemalan navies right in front of Barranco, right in Belize waters, you can see the serials from it, they're there, they're just flexing their muscles. Like they have no regard for Belize's sovereignty. Well we the Belize territorial volunteers before now, before this incident we had already had our plans to go to the Starstoon this Saturday. The government clearly states that the Starstoon island belongs to us, so we will be going there on Saturday and we will see what will happen. But we are not being deterred by the Guatemalan armed forces Invasion."
Jules Vasquez:
"Or does this have the appearance of being a pre-escalation to pre-empt your event, which we know is kind of an annoyance to them?"
Wil Maheia, Belize Territorial Volunteers
"And as long as we are within the confines of Belize, there's no way that we are antagonizing anyone. If anybody is antagonizing, it's the Guatemalans antagonizing us by violating our sovereignty and coming into our country with their guns and boats."
The government says quote,"Belize will be lodging a formal protest at the highest level against this violation of its territorial sovereignty and the aggressive actions that accompanied it."
