Tag: Guatemala

Good Morning! Thank you all for joining us here today. We the Belize People’s Front called this conference with the Belize Media in order to address the grave situation along our border to the west with Guatemala. For years Guatemalans have enjoyed unrestricted, illegal access to our territory in search of natural resources belonging to Belize for exploitation.  This exploitation mainly of our timber and Xate leaves but also includes the panning of gold and other activities such as farming of illegal crop such as marijuana, has gone on for years and Belize has and continues to lose millions of dollars-worth of natural resources annually. It is said the Xate leaves alone contributes over a million dollars a year to the Guatemalan Economy, where 30 million fronds are harvested along the border for Palm Sunday alone.

The Belize People’s Front is outraged not only by the killing of Safety Officer Danny Conorquie on Belizean soil by alleged Guatemalan illegal encroachers, but is equally outraged that since that brutal execution Guatemalans continue to accost Belizeans in their own land.  The Government of Belize which is charged with protecting our sovereignty, integrity and our borders from illegal incursions have failed and are impotent to do anything to safeguard Belizeans from such illegal activity by Guatemalan citizens.