The elected president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo de Leónmade a “courtesy” visit to the Belizean Prime Minister, Juan Antonio Briceño, this Friday to discuss issues of interest to both countries.
The Belize Foreign Ministry detailed in its official channels that Arévalo de León and Briceño spoke in the neighboring country about the possibility of “strengthen and identify new areas of cooperation” between the two nations.
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Today we met with the Prime Minister of Belize, Johnny Briceño, with whom we talked about the steps to follow in bilateral collaboration and strengthening the relationship between our peoples.
🇬🇹🤝🏼🇧🇿 pic.twitter.com/DC2UdJawpH
— Bernardo Arévalo (@BArevalodeLeon) December 15, 2023
Arévalo de León arrived in Belize after visiting Costa Rica, where he held meetings with the president of that country, Rodrigo Chaves, and with the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Óscar Arias Sánchez.
Diplomatic relations between Guatemala and Belize are cordial, although both countries currently have a territorial dispute at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands.
The dispute between Guatemalans and Belizeans was disputed in the International Court of Justice after Guatemala endorsed in a popular consultation in 2018 to take the case to The Hague in 2019.
Guatemala recognized Belize’s independence in 1991, but never accepted the borders and continues to claim some 11,000 square kilometers, almost half of Belize’s territory.
The Guatemalan president-elect must take office on January 14, replacing the current president, Alejandro Giammattei.
In addition to Belize and Costa Rica, Arévalo de León has also visited the United States since he was elected president last August with the political party Movimiento Semilla.
