Hundreds of millions tuned in worldwide today as Barack Obama was sworn
in as the 44th President of the United States. And we expect that a fair number
of Belizean-American were among the two million who gathered on the Washington
Mall in the U.S. capital. But the Belizean with the best seat in the house was
Ambassador to the United States, Nestor Mendez. We spoke to him an hour after
the inauguration and he discussed the policy implications of President Obama’s
inaugural speech – where the U.S. President told the world that America
is ready to lead again. Mendez also discussed the emotion of the day.
Barack Obama, U.S. President
“I Barack Hussein Obama do solemnly swear that I will execute the
office of President of the United States faithfully and will to the best of
my ability preserve protect and defend the constitution of the United States.
So help me God.”
Nestor Mendez,
“I was behind where the President was being sworn in. There were some
reserved seats for the diplomatic community, we were behind and to the left
of President Obama. They were very very emotional. There was a true sense of
history unfolding before our very eyes.”
Barack Obama,
“To all the other peoples in governments who are watching today, from
the grandest capital to the small village where my father was born: know that
America is a friend of each country and every man woman and child who seeks
a future of peace and dignity and we are ready to lead once more. To the people
of poor nations, we pledge to work aside you to make your farms flourish and
let clean waters flow, to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And
to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer
afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume
the world’s resources without regard to the effect.”
Nestor Mendez,
“There is a very sensitive international perspective at the mentions
made by Barack Obama, President Obama when he talked about America being ready
to lead, America ready to engage its friends. From the diplomatic perspective,
with respect, with humility and certainly America’s responsibility to
take a rightful role as an economic giant who has to help other countries. He
spoke about poor countries and the need to engage these countries and to help
out these countries. Many countries have set expectations of the U.S. and President
Obama said in his speech that the US is ready is lead again. I think if they
will assume a leadership role, they must be in a strong economic position and
that is one of the first things that the President will be doing. For Belize
what this means is that there will be a continuity in the foreign policy of
the United States towards our sub-region. We see a strong economy in the United
States as being beneficial to us Jules. We know that we get many many tourists
from the United States coming to Belize; they are an important part of our tourism
market. If there are good economic times in the US that will eventually translate
into better economic fortunes for Belize.”
Belize’s Prime Minister and current Chairman of CARICOM Dean
Barrow will meet with President Obama when the President travels to Trinidad
and Tobago in April for the Summit of the Americas.
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