In May, the tiny Central American nation of Belize held a referendum. It was a poll that made the Brexit vote look low stakes. Belizeans were asked to make a decision that could ultimately lead to half their country being carved off and swallowed up by their belligerent big brother, Guatemala.
The choice before them was simple, and yet agonising. Did Belizeans wish to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to settle this long-running territorial dispute? Or would it be allowed to linger on and possibly one day spill over into all out war, a war Belize would lose almost instantly?
Guatemala had already voted, by an overwhelming majority, to accept the court’s authority on this matter in 2018. Belize’s ballot was due to take place in April this year, but in an extraordinary twist just days before the vote, the opposition party filed a lawsuit and managed to delay the referendum. Eventually, polling booths opened on 8 May.
