Guatemala, Belize Agree on Joint Troop Training to Mitigate Tensions

Guatemala said Tuesday it will start training troops with neighboring Belize and improve cooperation to alleviate a blistering border dispute that saw a fatal shooting incident last month.

The accord was reached between the Central American countries' respective foreign ministers meeting on the sidelines of a humanitarian summit in Turkey, Guatemala's foreign ministry said in a statement.

They agreed to try to "avoid incidents" along the disputed border, boost economic development in the zone and seek international funding for an Organization of American States office located there.

They also backed the longstanding position that the International Court of Justice should rule on the border issue.

Belize issued its own statement that spoke only of an agreement being reached regarding the Sarstoon River that serves as a border border with Guatemala.

It said a mechanism would be worked on "that will respect Belize's and Guatemala's respective use and navigation of the Sarstoon."

In the meantime, "the two sides have informally accepted a situation" allowing Belize's military and civilians to travel along the river, the statement said.

The two Central American countries have a 150-year-old dispute centered on where the border should lie.

The tension turned explosive on April 20, when a Belizean patrol shot and killed a 13-year-old Guatemalan boy and wounded his brother and father.

Each country said the incident happened on its side of the border.