Early colonial era (1600s–1821) In 1494, Spain and
Portugal agreed to the
Treaty of Tordesillas, dividing the newly discovered
American lands along a
meridian, with Spain claiming the territories to its west. However, England, like many other powers of the late 15th century, did not recognize the treaty. After
Mayan tribes had massacred Spanish conquistadors and missionaries in
Tipu and surrounding areas, shipwrecked English seamen, then English and Scottish
Baymen,
settled by 1638, with a short military alliance with native residents of the
Mosquito Coast south of Belize, and often welcoming former British
privateers. In the
Godolphin Treaty of 1670, Spain confirmed England was to hold all territories in the Western Hemisphere that it had already settled. However, the treaty did not specify which areas were considered settled. English settlers were already in the territory when the treaty was signed, but was not exclusively under British control either, which gave room for Spain to claim sovereignty over the region. The 1786
Anglo-Spanish Convention was signed to extend the logging border down to the
Sibun river and the ability to settle in the nearby
St. George's Caye as long as no forts were built and no troops were on the island. Regular censuses of the settlement were conducted in 1816.
Late colonial era (1821–1930s) By the 1820s, the Spanish Empire was quickly losing its grip in Central America and New Spain. New Spain (now Mexico)
declared independence in 1821. Guatemala, with other Central American states, declared independence without resistance and, after
a brief two-year stint in the
First Mexican Empire, the new states formed the
Federal Republic of Central America. The new nations claimed they had inherited Spain's sovereign rights in the area. Guatemala's claims were one of two. They either claimed all of the Bay of Honduras, like the Spanish did previously, or they shared claims with Mexico, splitting the land into two along the Sibun River, with Mexico getting the northern half. The latter claim was formed in theory in the early 1800s, but there is speculation that Mexico never wanted to act on claims to the settlement until the 1840s and 50s during the
Caste War. Also in the 1820s, the Baymen had expanded as far south as the Sarstoon River, and much farther west, violating the boundaries of the treaties Britain had agreed to. In 1834, Belizean magistrates defined the boundaries of the settlement as the Hondo on the north, the Sarstoon on the south, and in the west, a line from Garbutt's Falls to the Hondo in the north and to the Sarstoon in the south. In 1850, Britain signed the
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, which stated that neither Britain nor the U.S. could extend their influence by occupation, by exchanging land, colonization, or building fortifications in
Central America. This presented a problem for Britain since the last time the settlement's boundaries were negotiated was in 1786, and the local government had unilaterally declared new expansive boundaries by then. In the
Wyke–Aycinena Treaty of 1859, Guatemala agreed to recognize Britain's sovereignty over the area. The treaty derived its boundary from the Belizean magistrates of 20 years prior, stating the boundary line in Article I as follows:The treaty also specified that these borders had been established before 1850, satisfying the 1850 treaty by merely declaring accepted boundaries for the territory, not extending Britain's influence. Article VII of the treaty also talked about a road being built from "Guatemala to the Atlantic Coast, near the settlement of Belize", though it makes no mention of who pays, who builds nor where it is actually placed in between Belize City and Guatemala's capital. Guatemala never officially declared the treaty void at this time, however. Mexico's claim on British Honduras was dropped in a treaty with Britain in 1893 to end the Caste War. The Rio Hondo was picked as the boundary line between British Honduras and Mexico, solidifying the "Mexican frontier" portion of the 1859 border and providing some legitimacy to the colony.
1930s–1975 In August 1931, an exchange of notes between the UK and Guatemala reaffirmed the borders from the 1859 treaty. These notes show that Guatemala and the UK wanted to finish the demarcation process of the border in 1929. It is confirmed that both governments' commissioners met and constructed the concrete monument markers for the border. One was constructed on Garbutt's Falls, and another was constructed on Gracias á Dios Falls. The Guatemalan Ministry For Foreign Affairs accepted that these markers were built and defined "part of the boundary line". In February 1948, Guatemala threatened to invade and forcibly annex the territory, and the British responded by deploying two companies from 2nd Battalion
Gloucestershire Regiment. One company deployed to the border and found no signs of any Guatemalan incursion, but the British decided to permanently station a company in
Belize City. In 1954, a US-backed
military coup successfully
overthrew Guatemala's government, and for the next 40 years, Guatemala would be ruled by authoritarian military regimes. Guatemala also periodically massed troops on the border of British Honduras in a threatening posture. In 1957, responding to a Guatemalan threat to invade, a company of the Worcestershire Regiment was deployed, staying briefly and carrying out jungle training before leaving. On 21 January 1958, a force of pro-Guatemalan fighters from the Belize Liberation Army, who had likely been aided and encouraged by Guatemala, crossed the border and raised the Guatemalan flag. A British platoon was then deployed and exchanged fire with them, before arresting some 20 fighters. Negotiations between the United Kingdom and Guatemala began again in 1961, but the elected representatives of British Honduras had no voice in these talks.
George Price refused an invitation from Guatemalan President
Ydígoras Fuentes to make British Honduras an "associated state" of Guatemala. Price reiterated his goal of leading the colony to independence. In 1963, Guatemala broke off talks and ended
diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom. In 1964, the United Kingdom granted British Honduras self-government under a new constitution. In 1965, the United Kingdom and Guatemala agreed to have an American lawyer by the name of Bethual M. Webster, appointed by United States President
Lyndon Johnson, to mediate the dispute. 3 years later, the Webster Proposals, a draft treaty to resolve the dispute, was publicly published. It did not accomplish its goal. The most controversial section is Article 9 of the draft, which details a shared governmental body, where Guatemala and Belize each put forth 3 ministers, and then a 7th person of "international prominence" is appointed as Chairman by the members. If no Chairman was picked within 45 days, the US government would pick. The US generally supported Guatemala over the UK and its overseas territories, but was also non-committal on the issue. This shared body ruled over Belize's external affairs, internal security, and defence, effectively handing control from the UK to Guatemala, despite becoming "independent" from the UK in the Proposals. It also has no clause revoking Guatemala's claim directly. The United States supported the proposals. In British Honduras, the public were in civil unrest after hearing the proposals, which led the United Kingdom to reject the draft. A series of meetings, begun in 1969, ended abruptly in 1972 when the United Kingdom, in response to intelligence suggesting an imminent Guatemalan invasion, announced it was sending the
aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and her air wing (
Phantom FG.1s and
Blackburn Buccaneers) alongside 8,000 troops to Belize to conduct amphibious exercises. Guatemala responded by deploying its own troops along the border. Talks resumed in 1973, but broke off in 1975 when tensions flared once again. Guatemala again began massing troops on the border, and the United Kingdom responded by deploying troops, along with a battery of 105mm field guns, surface-to-air missiles, six fighter jets, and a frigate. Following this deployment, tensions were defused, largely as a result of many Guatemalan soldiers deserting. In 1975/6, Guatemala made further moves against Belize, but was deterred from invading, especially since British fighter jets had by then been permanently stationed there. In 1976, after the
5th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, where Belize was invited as a special guest to plead its case for independence, General
Omar Torrijos of
Panama began to campaign for Belize's cause. Panama subsequently became the first Central American country to vote for Belize's independence in the UN. From 1977 onward, the border was constantly patrolled and observation posts monitored key points. The UN called on Britain to continue defending the new nation of Belize. It also called on all member countries to offer their assistance.
Post-independence Britain continued to maintain
British Forces Belize to protect the country from Guatemala, consisting of an army battalion and
No. 1417 Flight RAF of Harrier fighter jets. The British also trained and strengthened the newly formed
Belize Defence Force. There was a serious fear of a Guatemalan invasion in April 1982, when it was thought that Guatemala might take advantage of the
Falklands War to invade, but these fears never materialised. Around this time, Belize claimed that it was not bound by the 1859 treaty since there were no Belizean signatories. Significant negotiations between Belize and Guatemala, with the United Kingdom as an observer, resumed in 1988. Guatemala recognised Belize's independence in 1991 and
diplomatic relations were established. In 1994, British Forces Belize was disbanded and most British troops left Belize, but the British maintained a training presence via the British Army Training and Support Unit Belize and
25 Flight AAC until 2011, when the last British forces, except for seconded advisers, left Belize. On 18 October 1999, Guatemala's Foreign Minister sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Belize,
Said Musa, reasserting Guatemala's claim. As a new line of reasoning for their claim (instead of basing it on the 1859 treaty), Guatemala asserted that it had inherited Spain's 1494 and 18th century claims on Belize and was owed more than half of Belize's land mass, from the
Sibun River south: This claim amounts to of territory, or roughly 53% of Belizean territory. The claim includes significant portions of the current Belizean
Cayo and
Belize Districts, as well as all of the
Stann Creek and
Toledo Districts, well to the north of the internationally accepted border along the
Sarstoon River. The majority of Belizeans are strongly opposed to becoming part of Guatemala. The
Guatemalan military placed personnel at the edge of the internationally recognised border. Belizean patrols incorporating
Belize Defence Force members and police forces took up positions on their side of the border. In February 2000, a Belizean patrol shot and killed a Guatemalan in the area of
Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve in Belize. On 24 February 2000, personnel from the two nations encountered each other in
Toledo District.
Developments since 2005 In September 2005, Belize, Guatemala and the OAS signed the Confidence Building Measures document, committing the parties to avoid conflicts or incidents on the ground conducive to tension between them. In June 2008, Belizean Prime Minister
Dean Barrow said resolving the dispute was his main political goal. He proposed referendums for the citizens of Belize and Guatemala, asking whether they support referring the issue to the
International Court of Justice (ICJ). A "Special Agreement" on submitting the issue to the ICJ was signed on 8 December 2008. In the Special Agreement, a referendum was to be held on the issue simultaneously in Belize and Guatemala on 6 October 2013, but Guatemala did not go through with the process. In May 2015, Belize allowed Guatemala to proceed with a referendum asking the ICJ to definitively rule on the dispute although Belize by its own admission is not ready for such a vote. Guatemala was initially expected to hold its referendum on the issue during its
second round of presidential elections in October 2015, but such a vote was not on the ballot. Former Guatemalan president
Jimmy Morales made statements strongly in support of Guatemala's longstanding territorial claim to Belize, saying, "Something is happening right now, we are about to lose Belize. We have not lost it yet. We still have the possibility of going to the International Court of Justice where we can fight that territory or part of that territory." On 13 January 2017, Belizean law changed from requiring any referendums vote to have 60% voter turnout to a simple majority vote. The
Guatemalan referendum was finally held on 15 April 2018. 95.88% of voters supported sending the claim to the ICJ. Voter turnout was 25%. The
Belize referendum was scheduled for 10 April 2019; however, challenges to the legality of the referendum caused it to be delayed. On 15 April 2019, during the crisis over the delay of the Belizean referendum, three Guatemalan gunboats prevented the Belizean coast guard from patrolling the
Sarstoon River on the border between the two countries. On 8 May 2019, the referendum in Belize was finally held, and 55.4% of voters agreed to allow the International Court of Justice to resolve the dispute. == International Court of Justice ==