Yearbook 2019
Belize. A referendum scheduled for April 10 on whether
the border dispute with neighboring Guatemala should be
mediated through the International Court of Justice in The
Hague (ICJ) was suspended just a week before a decision by a
Belizean judge.
Under a 2008 agreement, the referendum on the issue was
to be held in both countries, and the April 2018 Guatemalan
referendum approved mediation through the ICJ. Belize's
government with Prime Minister Dean Barrow supported the
proposal, while the opposition party People's United Party
(PUP) first opposed the proposal and then opposed legal
aspects of the vote. However, it was postponed for only a
month and on May 8, 55% of the voters finally also agreed to
the proposal.
According to
CountryAAH, the border conflict is more than 200 years old and covers
11,000 square kilometers, or about half of Belize's
territory.
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