Blz: Guatemalan xateros acting like Mexican soldiers

This week both Belize and Guatemala’s Foreign Affairs Ministers called on the OAS to investigate an incident where Guatemalan xateros and Belize Defense Force soldiers exchanged fire.

Guatemalan officials were first to cry foul and denounce the acts claiming that the incident occurred within the adjacency zone and that a Guatemalan peasant was injured. After an investigation Belizean officials refuted the claims after a discovery that none of the armed xateros who were cutting xate leaves some 17 kilometers into Belizean territory were injured, and were the ones to aggravate the incident.

According to a reliable source, on Wednesday April 7th after midday Belizean authorities were informed about Guatemalan xateros in Belizean territory cutting xate leaves, a short distance away from the Las Cuevas Station.

Three BDF soldiers and a dragon unit officer were dispatched to the area to investigate and end the illegal acts. According to our source, the soldiers and officers discovered the xateros in San Pastor Camp, approximately 17 kilometers east of the Belize/Guatemala border within the Chiquibul Forest Reserve of the Cayo District, and were about to approach the xateros when they pulled out arms and began firing at the Belize soldiers.