Belize has set a date in April next year for a referendum on whether to send a long-running border dispute with neighboring Guatemala to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Organization of the vote on April 10, 2019, announced by Belize's foreign ministry in a statement late Monday, follows a similar referendum held in Guatemala on April 15.
An overwhelming 96 percent of ballots in Guatemala favored The Hague-based ICJ taking up the matter -- although a mere 26 percent of voters turned out for the referendum.
The border disagreement between the two countries has roots going back two centuries, to when Britain ruled over Belize, which was then called British Honduras.
Belize became independent in 1981, but Guatemala refused to recognize it as a new country for a decade. Even after acknowledging Belize as a neighbor, Guatemala has made claims over more than half of Belize's territory as well as many islands.
Tensions have surged from time to time along the land border, which runs through remote, densely forested territory.
Two years ago Guatemala mobilized 3,000 troops after an incident in which a Guatemalan teen was fatally shot along the border area. An investigation by the Organization of American States later found a Belize border patrol who had come under fire at the time was not responsible for the boy's death.
The two nations agreed in 2008 to send the dispute to the ICJ, if voters in both countries approved.
Guatemala's president, Jimmy Morales, hailed Belize's decision to move ahead with its referendum.
"Together we can find a peaceful solution to the territorial, island and maritime dispute," he said.
Belize has set a date in April next year for a referendum on whether to send a long-running border dispute with neighboring Guatemala to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Organization of the vote on April 10, 2019, announced by Belize’s foreign ministry in a statement late Monday, follows a similar referendum held in Guatemala on April 15.
An overwhelming 96 percent of ballots in Guatemala favored The Hague-based ICJ taking up the matter — although a mere 26 percent of voters turned out for the referendum.
The border disagreement between the two countries has roots going back two centuries, to when Britain ruled over Belize, which was then called British Honduras.
Belize became independent in 1981, but Guatemala refused to recognize it as a new country for a decade. Even after acknowledging Belize as a neighbor, Guatemala has made claims over more than half of Belize’s territory as well as many islands.
Tensions have surged from time to time along the land border, which runs through remote, densely forested territory.
Two years ago Guatemala mobilized 3,000 troops after an incident in which a Guatemalan teen was fatally shot along the border area. An investigation by the Organization of American States later found a Belize border patrol who had come under fire at the time was not responsible for the boy’s death.
The two nations agreed in 2008 to send the dispute to the ICJ, if voters in both countries approved.
Guatemala’s president, Jimmy Morales, hailed Belize’s decision to move ahead with its referendum.
“Together we can find a peaceful solution to the territorial, island and maritime dispute,” he said.
