What was a Guatemalan military aircraft doing over Belizean territory for more than an hour? Belizean officials say the plane entered without authorization, circled near Caye Caulker and Lighthouse Reef, and then left without explanation. Even more troubling, the aircraft reportedly disappeared from standard radar tracking during the flight. Guatemala insists its military follows the law, but has not explained the purpose of the operation. Tonight, Belize is preparing a strong diplomatic protest and demanding answers. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Belize is demanding answers after a Guatemalan military aircraft allegedly entered national airspace Thursday night. Radar tracking placed the Pilatus PC-12 NG over Caye Caulker and Lighthouse Reef at seven-twenty-nine before its signal abruptly disappeared. Belize’s Ministry of Defense immediately began investigating. Guatemala maintains that all its military operations follow national and international law, but Belizean officials are not backing down. They say the flight violated Belizean airspace and had no authorization to be there.
Oscar Arnold
Oscar Arnold, CEO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
“We can categorically state now that there was an unauthorized entry by a military aircraft in our airspace, and the Government of Belize emphasizes that we had not given any authorization for this to take place.”
Officials say the flight entered Belizean airspace from the east and circled overhead for more than an hour.
Francis Usher
Francis Usher, CEO, Ministry of National Defense
“And they began circling as if though they were looking for something. At approximately 8:07 Belize time the aircraft fell off of the radar system, the secondary radar system which should indicate to us that it turned off its transponder. But even if you fall off the secondary radar, we can still track you using the primary radar. So we were able to pick them up on the primary radar and we continued to follow them. They were still in Belizean airspace and at approximately eight forty, one hour and ten minutes after they entered Belize’s airspace, they departed Belize airspace to the south.”
For the Guatemalan Airforce to turn off its transponder in Belize’s airspace is no small matter. It is a violation of international and domestic regulations.
Oscar Arnold
“There are a number of conventions that countries sign on to, airlift and aircraft conventions where it makes it illegal for a transponder to be dislodged or taken off, because then you put at risk civilian aircraft that may be operating in the area. If we can’t find an aircraft on the radar and we direct civilian aircraft to that area, we could potentially have a catastrophic disaster. So that is equally troubling.”
So why was this Guatemalan military aircraft in Belize’s airspace in the first place? Was it linked to organized crime or meant to intimidate Belize? Defense CEO Francis Usher say they do not know.
Francis Usher
“It is dialogue that is ongoing. We have not gotten to that point as yet.”
Oscar Arnold
“The type of aircraft, and we have been advised, this type of aircraft is used for reconnaissance or surveillance purposes. It does not have any attack features. But again, that is the information we are receiving.”
If it was a transnational crime operation, there are protocols in place to share intelligence between countries.
Francis Usher
“In terms of this particular case there was no joint mission, including Belize, that would have allowed anything like this to occur or our military force to be a part of it. So, there was no coordination, no mission that we know of.”
Guatemala’s Ministry of Defense offered no explanation. The statement refers to the incident as an alleged flyover and says its military acts with professionalism and in accordance with the law. CEO Arnold says he is not placing much trust in that release.
Oscar Arnold
“It was a little bit uncanny and rushed that the military arm, the military apparatus would respond to social media posts that were being circulated out there. we would have hoped that the Guatemalan government and ministry would have only address information coming out of official sources, our Ministry of Defense or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Both officials expressed deep concern about the incident and explained that talks are ongoing between both countries. So, how will Belize respond? The government says it will formally protest the alleged airspace violation through a diplomatic note.
Oscar Arnold
“What happens now is that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through official channels, will deliver a very strong protest note to the Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, giving them the official account of what took place. All the official information we have.”
CEO Arnold says Belize is now demanding a thorough explanation from the Government of Guatemala on exactly what occurred. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.
Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.
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