Belize/Guatemala Territorial Dispute Heads to the World Court
Author: CMC
Date written: January 27, 2013
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The boundary dispute bet Belize and Guatemala dates back to the 1800's. Guatemala claims that they own 12,700 kilometers of what once was British territory and is now part of the state of Belize. This amount of land concerns Belize. Guatemala and Belize have now signed an accord agreeing to appear in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) established by the United Nations in order to solve the two century old land dispute between the neighboring states.
I am impressed that Guatemala and Belize have finally agreed to face their dispute and take the issue to the ICJ. The debate has been going on for so long, it is slighly suprising that they are dealing with it now, since they have kept it between themselves for so long. I am interested to see how the International Court of Justice will help resolve this issue. I think that Belize should be able to keep the territory since it has been twwo centuries since the conflict began, especially since they have gained their independence from Britain within those past two centuries.
This issue is important to the political aspects of Belize because it affects a large amount of the country's land. If Guatemala ends up with the 12,700 kilometers of land disputed, Belize will have to recontruct much of its political systems. This issue is one of top priority to the Belizian government since it concern a large amount of not only Belize land, but also Belize citizens.
Date written: January 27, 2013
click_here_to_read_this_article
The boundary dispute bet Belize and Guatemala dates back to the 1800's. Guatemala claims that they own 12,700 kilometers of what once was British territory and is now part of the state of Belize. This amount of land concerns Belize. Guatemala and Belize have now signed an accord agreeing to appear in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) established by the United Nations in order to solve the two century old land dispute between the neighboring states.
I am impressed that Guatemala and Belize have finally agreed to face their dispute and take the issue to the ICJ. The debate has been going on for so long, it is slighly suprising that they are dealing with it now, since they have kept it between themselves for so long. I am interested to see how the International Court of Justice will help resolve this issue. I think that Belize should be able to keep the territory since it has been twwo centuries since the conflict began, especially since they have gained their independence from Britain within those past two centuries.
This issue is important to the political aspects of Belize because it affects a large amount of the country's land. If Guatemala ends up with the 12,700 kilometers of land disputed, Belize will have to recontruct much of its political systems. This issue is one of top priority to the Belizian government since it concern a large amount of not only Belize land, but also Belize citizens.