Earlier this week, we took you to the Hague, where the public hearings on Guatemala's application for permission to intervene in the case concerning Sovereignty over the Sapodilla Cayes were held. The Foreign Minister told us that he did see it and believes Belize got its point across clearly.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"I couldn't watch them live, but I watched them afterwards. Yeah. I think, of course, very, very important. We have to pay very, very close attention to what is happening. And I think Belize achieved its objectives in our interventions, in our submissions, both by our agent and by our lawyers. What's critically important for Belize is ensuring that there's a coordinated approach by the courts. So that's one point we wanted, substantive point we wanted to make to the court. And I think we made that very strongly and effectively that there should be a coordinated approach, that these two cases, they're separate cases, but obviously there should be a coordinated approach by the court to dealing with them. We hope that they will deal with the Belize, Guatemala case first and then thereafter very shortly deal with the Honduras, Belize, Honduras Sapodilla Cayes issue. And then the second substantive point was that, listen, these things have been languishing for a number of years. We really would want the court to deliver a timely, you know, conclusion, timely resolution to these two cases so that we can move forward. So I think Belize was able to make those two points very strongly and effectively."
Reporter:
"Reasonable by what do you expect the decision from the ICJ?"
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"Based on the based on the advice that I've received from our legal team. They believe that perhaps this year the application by Guatemala to intervene, that there will be a determination of that in early 2026. So it'll take a few months. Take a few months."
The court has now retired for deliberations.
