UNITED NATIONS – Thirty-seven years after obtaining its independence from Britain, Belize is still lamenting Guatemala’s territorial claim to parts of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member-country.
“The opportunity to have the Guatemalan claim resolved at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) eluded the British government for upward of 80 years,” Belize’s Foreign Affairs Minister Wilfred P. Elrington told the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly Debate on Saturday.
He said Belizeans themselves will soon decide whether the opportunity to bring to a definitive settlement a claim, “which has long sown fear in the hearts of all Belizeans and which has hamstrung our nation’s development potential, will in fact be seized.”
Elrington said the significance of the Guatemalan referendum, which ratified the decision of their government in 2008 to cause their claim to Belize to be adjudicated by the ICJ, should not be lost.
“For in carrying out the referendum, Guatemala gave effect to their obligation under the Special Agreement that both our countries signed in good faith,” he said. “At the same time, there is still a pending issue for us to agree on.”
In continuing that spirit of good faith, Elrington urged Guatemala to agree on a procedure or protocol for “confidence-building measures” on the Sarstoon River, Belize’s southern boundary with Guatemala, “to facilitate the management of incidents of the kind that gave rise to heightened tensions in 2015 and 2016 between our two countries.”
“Belizeans are on the cusp of a truly rare and felicitous moment in our nation’s history,” he said, stating that the voting public, “in the finest democratic fashion, is now seized of a once in a lifetime opportunity, to determine the fate of our country.”
Elrington said the Government of Belize has appointed April 10, 2019 as the date for the national referendum.
He said all registered voters will be entitled to cast their ballots signalling either their consent or rejection to having the Guatemalan claim resolved once and for all by the ICJ.
In preparation for that first historic plebiscite, the Foreign Affairs Minister said the Belize Government has embarked on a nation-wide public awareness campaign to ensure that all Belizeans are fully informed about the nature of the claim and why it should be referred to the ICJ for resolution.
At the same time, Elrington prayed that the ICJ will bring a speedy end to Venezuela’s claim over Guyana territory.
“Belize remains firm, unswerving in its support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Guyana,” he said. “We pray as well that the civil strife in Venezuela will soon be ended.”
Elrington also said Belize joins the call for an end to “the unilateral, economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba and its people, which is in violation of international law and serves no just purpose.
“The blockade has failed to pressure the government into submission,” he said. “Indeed, it has had the opposite effect. Surely, it is high time, after nearly 58 years, to lift the blockade so that Cuba can reach the highest level of its extraordinary potential.”
In a similar spirit of determination, Belize once again reiterates its plea on behalf of the 23 million people of Taiwan for a new approach to the participation of Taiwan in the United Nations system.
Elrington said Taiwan is the 22nd largest economy of the world.
“It is a vibrant democracy that has fully embraced international norms and standards.,” he said. “Yet, despite global recognition of their successes and despite the readiness of UN Member States to conduct business with this fast-growing economy, this institution has cut them off.
“It has gone so far as to refuse to recognize the legitimacy of Taiwanese passports and so literally cutting off even the Taiwanese tourists from entering its premises as visitors,” he added. “It uses General Assembly resolution 2758 of 1971 effectively as a political and humanitarian embargo against Taiwan. No such embargo, indeed, has any place in this United Nations.”
Elrington said Belize is ready to commit to raising its ambition and urge others to join it in 2020 “to set the world on the right path” to achieve the Paris Agreement goals on Climate Change.
With efforts to end the Guatemalan claim and thereby enhance Belize’s national security, Elrington said the Belize Government continues to discharge its “core duty to promote economic development, job creation, education and healthcare to our citizens.
“To that end, we are striving mightily to implement our Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy, which is fully aligned to the (UN) Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.
In this endeavor, he said the UN Development System is partnering with Belize through the Multi-Country Sustainable Development Framework.
Elrington said Belize is also “working assiduously to address the scourge of poverty, which persistently afflicts our citizenry.”
He said current statistics reveal that some 3 percent of Belizeans live below the poverty line with 16 percent experiencing extreme poverty.
Elrington said the interventions to treat with this problem include three new programs, which specifically target indigent families.
In addition to furnishing beneficiaries with financial benefits, he said direct economic, social and psychological support are also provided, as well as job readiness courses, to prepare beneficiaries for gainful employment.
Noting that 2019 will mark 25 years of the United Nations’ support to the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Agenda, Elrington said Belize joins in the call for a renewed commitment to the special case of SIDS and for “systematically targeted support” to respond to the particular needs of SIDS such as those identified by the Caribbean SIDS in the San Pedro Declaration adopted in Belize in August.
The Foreign Affairs Minister said the destructive hurricanes and storms, “which ravage the Caribbean year-on-year, are a constant reminder of the true scale of vulnerability facing SIDS in the Caribbean.”
“It is hoped that, through the implementation of his reform plan, the Secretary General will explore ways in which the UN development system can better accelerate the implementation of the SIDS Agenda,” Elrington said.
He said the Belize Government has made resilience building an integral part of its development planning and is implementing its National Climate Resilience Investment Plan to ensure that climate change-related impacts are integrated into national investment planning across all sectors and ministries.
Elrington said the government has also enacted Mangrove Regulations and instituted an indefinite moratorium on offshore drilling.
“This marks the first time that a developing country has taken such a major step to protect its marine resources from oil exploration and extraction,” he said, adding that Belize is also banning single use plastics and Styrofoam by April 2019.
Elrington said he was “happy to share” that the World Heritage Committee of the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has decided to remove the Belize Barrier Reef – the largest in the Western Hemisphere – from the List of World Heritage in Danger, “after taking into account several measures that our government has implemented to ensure its protection and well-being.”
By dint of geography, the Foreign Affairs Minister said Belize is located along the path frequented by “criminal elements of every ilk as they journey from South to North to traffic their wares.
“This has had tragic consequences for the peace and safety of Belizeans,” he said, disclosing that Belize’s homicide rates have been “dramatically increasing over the last decade, with each year deadlier than the previous.”
He said tackling transnational organized crime in the region “requires a truly cooperative and collaborative approach along with multilateral support.”
Thankfully, he said United Nations agencies such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) “have been important and faithful collaborators with government in implementing programs to address underlying social causes, as well as building capacity of protective and judicial institutions.” (CMC)
