Border dispute pits an army against volunteers

Wil Maheia, an organizer of the Belizean Territorial Volunteers, boards a boat in Punta Gorda, Belize, on Feb 4, 2023, to patrol the Sarstoon River, between Belize and Guatemala. Some Guatemalans call Belize their 23rd state. The territorial claim is creating jitters in one of Central America’s most lawless corners. (Alejandro Cegarra/The New York Times)

THE boat edged its way past the mangrove swamps, a tangled maze of thorn-covered branches sheltering jaguars and shrieking howler monkeys. It was in Belize, the GPS signals showed, the English-speaking Central American country where British pirates put down stakes centuries ago.

But then members of Guatemala’s military, clad in camouflage and berets, spotted them. Pulling up in their own boat, they grasped rifles, index fingers close to the triggers.