Abroad

Belize Newborn in Danger

This new Caribbean state, born out of the old British Honduras, is only a few days old, but already it is threatened by a left-wing guerrilla movement puffed on by Fidel Castro and animated by insurgents from Guatemala. Reports from the frontier between the two countries say that British troops have already been engaged in skirmishes with the guerrillas at a number of points. There are almost two thousand British troops mandated to stay in the country indefinitely, meaning until the embryonic Belize armed forces, now totaling seven hundred, become strong enough to resist both the pressure of the Guatemalan government, which has territorial claims against Belize, and infiltration by guerrillas. Belize forms the southern support of the Yucatan Peninsula, but it has only 145,000 inhabitants in its coastal lowlands, where the principal export crop is sugar. Its prime minister, George Price, is faced with the need for rapid development to satisfy expectations at home. Abroad, he has decided not to open diplomatic relations with Cuba, which, according to observers here, is an incitement rather than not to the Cuban dictator to attempt to establish his influence in what is an important strategic territory in the Caribbean. The Guatemalan insurgents are a first step in this enterprise.

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Belize Newborn in Danger

This new Caribbean state, born out of the old British Honduras, is only a few days old, but already it is threatened by a left-wing guerrilla movement puffed on by Fidel Castro and animated by insurgents from Guatemala. Reports from the frontier between the two countries say that British troops have already been engaged in skirmishes with the guerrillas at a number of points. There are almost two thousand British troops mandated to stay in the country indefinitely, meaning until the embryonic Belize armed forces, now totaling seven hundred, become strong enough to resist both the pressure of the Guatemalan government, which has territorial claims against Belize, and infiltration by guerrillas. Belize forms the southern support of the Yucatan Peninsula, but it has only 145,000 inhabitants in its coastal lowlands, where the principal export crop is sugar. Its prime minister, George Price, is faced with the need for rapid development to satisfy expectations at home. Abroad, he has decided not to open diplomatic relations with Cuba, which, according to observers here, is an incitement rather than not to the Cuban dictator to attempt to establish his influence in what is an important strategic territory in the Caribbean. The Guatemalan insurgents are a first step in this enterprise.