Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute

The Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute is an unresolved territorial dispute between the states of Belize (formerly known as British Honduras) and Guatemala, neighbours in Central America. During the late 1600s and throughout the 1700s, Britain and Spain signed several treaties regarding territories in the Americas. Both nations agreed that the territory of modern-day Belize was under Spanish sovereignty though British settlers could use the land, in specific areas and for specific purposes. The area was never fully under British or Spanish rule at this time and the British settlers continually expanded far past the boundaries set by the treaties. When the Spanish Empire fell, Guatemala said that it inherited Spain's sovereign rights over the territory. Since independence Guatemala has claimed, in whole or in part, the territory of Belize.

Guatemala and Britain negotiated the Wyke-Aycinena Treaty in 1859 regarding the disputed area. The treaty stated that Guatemala would recognise British sovereignty over the region and formed the modern-day boundary lines of Belize. The treaty also had an article about building a mutually beneficial road though it was never built. Shortly after this treaty the territory became a crown colony under British rule as British Honduras.

Throughout the 20th century, tensions flared up intermittently between Guatemala and British Honduras. A series of notes in 1931 were exchanged between Guatemala and the UK, confirming concrete markers implementing part of the 1859 border lines, showing that the treaty was being upheld by both parties at this point. Less than 10 years later, Guatemala renewed its claims on the area, using the broken promise of the road as justification for the 1859 treaty to be void. Britain stationed troops in British Honduras to secure the region against Guatemalan invasion and many negotiations attempting to resolve the dispute took place over the following decades. Belize and the British pursued a path to independence, eventually culminating in the United Nations passing a resolution to guarantee Belizean independence. In an attempt to settle the dispute before Belize's official independence in 1981, Guatemala, the UK, and Belize negotiated the Heads of Agreement treaty. The treaty was vehemently rejected by the Belizean people, to the point of causing a state of emergency.

The border dispute has been quieter since Belize's independence. Guatemala eventually recognised the independence of Belize in the early 1990s. In 1999, however, Guatemala shifted its stance back to inheriting claims from the Spanish Empire and the Federal Republic of Central America. Guatemala and Belize both stationed troops at the border, with a one-kilometre "adjacency zone" drawn on either side of the 1859 treaty borders. In 2008, Guatemala and Belize made a pact to have simultaneous referendums for their voters to send the issue to the International Court of Justice. The referendums passed in both countries by May 2019. As of June 2022, both countries are now settling the dispute at the International Court of Justice, with both countries confirmed to have submitted their initial briefs to the organisation. The court is not expected to rule until 2025 at the earliest.