Guatemala votes to refer conflict with Belize to ICJ News
Guatemala votes to refer conflict with Belize to ICJ

In a referendum Sunday, Guatemalans voted [results, in Spanish] overwhelmingly to request that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website] resolve the country’s centuries-old territorial dispute with Belize.

On Monday the government of Belize [official website] issued a press release [press release, Facebook profile] congratulating the people of Guatemala for taking this necessary step toward settling the ongoing dispute.

This referendum was conducted in accordance with the Special Agreement of 2008 [agreement, PDF] between the two countries.

While 95 percent of voters favored referring the matter to the ICJ, turnout was low—less than 25 percent.

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