Caribbean & Central America - February 2019

On 10 April, Belize will vote in a national referendum on whether to agree to the territorial dispute between Guatemala and Belize being submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for adjudication. A ‘Yes’ vote is being urged by the United Democratic Party (UDP) government led by Prime Minister Dean Barrow. The opposition People’s United Party (PUP), led by John Briceño, declared on 23 January that, following a ‘listening tour’, it would campaign for a ‘No’ vote.

In his 23 January declaration, Briceño supported the holding of a referendum, saying the PUP “respects the sacred rights of the Belizean people to decide whether or not we should submit the unfounded claim by Guatemala to Belizean territory to the International Court of Justice for final adjudication”. However, he added that “having duly considered all aspects of the education campaign, the state of un-readiness for the ICJ Referendum scheduled for the tenth of April 2019, and the majority ‘no’ position of party supporters” the party would campaign for a ‘No’ vote.

The announcement that the PUP would campaign for a ‘No’ vote came just 24 hours after Prime Minister Barrow issued a statement saying that the Cabinet would support a ‘Yes’ vote, contrary to his earlier suggestions that the Cabinet would be allowed to vote with their consciences.

The opposition’s main reason for opposing the submission of the issue to the ICJ is that the voters are unprepared for such a momentous decision. He said that the vote should only come after a “balanced, fully resourced, and comprehensive education campaign”, whereas – in his view – “the current campaign being conducted by the Government of Belize is disorganised, under-financed, and not sufficiently balanced”. The PUP’s contention is that the education campaign should be “redesigned, managed, and implemented by a well-resourced, independent Referendum Commission”.

The question on which voters will vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ is: “Do you agree that any legal claim of Guatemala against Belize relating to land and insular territories and to any maritime areas pertaining to these territories should be submitted to the International Court of Justice for final settlement and that it determines finally the boundaries of the respective territories and areas of the parties?”