British Navals Spread Ont Along Honduras Frontier

Grey River Argus, 1 March 1948, Page 5

British Navals Spread Ont Along Honduras Frontier

(Roc. 9.5). BELIZE, February 29. Men from the cruiser Sheffield travelled through crowded streets to take up key positions along the Guatemala frontier. Marines and sailors from the Sheffield established Bren gun entrenchments around the Belize airfield and harbour. The colony’s home guard has been alerted. The Governor. Sir Edward Hawksworth, said everything was calm and under control. He said: "The whole native population is behind us”. Sir William Tennant, commanding the British forces, sent a detachment of marines to the Guatemala border to’ “show the flag”. The cruiser Devonshire will arrive at Belize to-morrow. ANOTHER WARSHIP SENT The Guatemalan Government said the British had despatched a third cruiser, the Sparrow, to waters of the British Honduras. “Jane’s” lists the H.M.S. Sparrow as a sloop, and not as a cruiser. U.S.A. Not Expecting Any Invasion LONDON, February 27. The United States Department of State has received a dispatch from its embassy in Guatemala Citv discounting suggestions that any Guatemalan invasion or move against British Honduras is expected. The embassy described any suggestions along such lines as “just rumours”, and it could find no information to support them. This view supports the opinion held in authoritative Latin American diplomatic quarters in Washington that any outbreak of violence in the current Central American dispute between Britain and Guatemala appears unlikely. The fact that the State Department sent cables of inquiry to its embassy in Guatemala to ascertain the position, however, supports the belief that the department is concerned about it, both from the political and strategic viewpoints. Opinion in Washington is that the dramatic aspects of the Guatemalan episode have unduly emphasised a dispute which has been in progress for a great many years. The territorial disputes between Great Britain on the one hand and the Argentine, Chile, and Guatemala on the other, will almost certainly be discussed at the Inter-American Conference beginning on March 30 at Gogota, Colombia. GUATEMALA’S PROTEST Guatemala protested to-dav to the United Nations, the Fan American Union, and every American country individually against Britain’s sending a fleet to British Honduras. Guatemala Appeals To U.N.O. Against Britain (Rec. 8.40). NEW YORK, Feb. 28. The Government of Guatemala lias formally protested to-day to’ the United Nations Organisation against the presence of the British cruisers in Guatemalan territory. The Guatemalan Foreign Minister telegraphed to the U.N.O. SecretaryGeneral, Mr Trvgve Lie: “I submit to the United Nations a formal denunciation, by my Government, of the armed provocation by Great Britain, who has sent to the Guatemalan territory of Belize the cruisers Sheffield, Devonshire, and Sparrow under the pretext of ‘protecting interests threatened by irresponsible crowds incited by Guatemala’ . The Guatemalan Government is maintaining a serene objection in the juridical field; it emphatically denies the offensive charge of the incitement; and it forcefully protests at the presence ot these warships. Guatemala awaits the action of the United Nations in defence of justice”. . A Guatemalan Foreign .Office spokesman charged that Britain s

action was designed “to intimidate" Guatemala. A separate protest is being prepared for delivery to Britain later. A statement by the Guatemalan Foreign Minister was: "The latest Guatemalan diplomatic Notes, protests, and reservations have crashed against the disrespective silence of the British Government. Not satis-. lied with that discourteous and offensive attitude against the dignity of a free people, the British Govern-. ment now resorts' to insults of another nature and which are, in, themselves, an armed provocation. "The presence of British cruisers in Guatemalan waters and, above all, the. reason adduced for dispatching them, are unjustified provoca; lion and an insult to our national dignity”. Guatemalan students and, labour unions are planning anti-British mass demonstrations and the local newspapers are publishing fiery articles denouncing the British "provocation.” The newspaper Nuestro Diario declared to-day that Britain was threatening Guatemala "as a face-saver for the adverse situation it is encountering in connection with the Antarctic”. MONROE DOCTRINE INVOKED (Rec. 8.0). NEV/ YORK, Feb. 28. The President of Guatemala. Senor Juan Jose Arevalo, to-day called on the United States to defend the interests of the Latin American nations in their territorial disputes with Britain. Guatemala Cancels Meat Shipment ? (Rec, 9.30) NEW YORK, Feb. 28 The Mayor of Guatemala City, Senor Mendez, announced that the Guatemalan meat shipment to Brit- ■ ain has been cancelled as a protest against the despatch .of British warships to British Honduras. The Guatemalan Cc-igress chairman, Senor Castillo, said that he has received petitions from individuals and organisations demanding that. Guatemala break off diplomatic, re- ; lations with Britain. . LONDON, Feb. 28 A Food Ministry spokesman said the Minister had received no confirmation of the report that Guatemala had stopped meat shipments to Britain. The total shipments were small. INTERNATIONAL COURT MAY BE . INVOKED BELIZE, Feb. 28 The Guatemalan Consul at Belize, told the United Press correspondent: “I believe that the same will nappen here as with Chile and Argentina. He was referring to overt acts by those countries to assert their rights to Antarctic territories claimed’ by Britain. The Consul said, later, however, that the sending of the British warships was ridiculous Guatemala was ready to submit its . claim to the International Court oi Justice. - It is reported that a noticeable , change has come over the tone , of ■ Guatemalan claims since the cruiser Sheffield’s arrival. A Guatemalan spokesman is energetically protesting ‘ that there was never any serious threat to try to invade the colony. The Guatemalan Consul at Belize said that the whole affair was an "unnecessary scare.”