Email

Print

Belize’s Ambassador to Cuba, His Excellency Said Badi Guerra, today sent out one of the oddest releases we’ve ever seen. We gather it is in response to our newscast of February 10, 2010 in which we reported on 21 persons of mixed nationality who had been sent back to Cuba on a flight. We reported, just as we’d been told by the Director of Immigration Gareth Murillo, that nine Chinese got legitimate visas but the procedure to approve those visas by the Belizean Embassy in Cuba was not properly adhered to – so they were also sent back. Murillo could not say why Embassy staffers had departed from procedure.

Well that apparently did not go down well with His Excellency who, “expressed his disapproval of the statements,” in that February 10th newscast. Of course, we care not at all for the Ambassador’s approval or disapproval; we reported what we were told by the competent authority and if there is any disapproval – we would imagine it should be harbored by the Chinese who again – according to the Director of Immigration – had legitimate visas but were still sent back to Cuba because of a shortcoming on that end.

But the Ambassador’s release says he met with the Minister of National Security and the Director of Immigration and, “presented all the evidence and file documents which served as an unquestionable proof of the fact that...staff...in Havana have followed the established procedures...and that the....Chinese Nationals didn’t carry any official document issued by the Belizean Embassy in Havana. “

That, we note again, differs from the description given by the Director Of Immigration to us. And if they did not have legitimate visas, the rule is that they should not have been allowed on the flight. Matters of fact, but the Ambssador ended his release with a spiritual invocation, warning, “However, we stand still, the devil is prowling like a roaring lion, looking for somebody to devour.” Mercifully, the release did not carry any official letterhead.

Latin America & Caribbean Unite Against US & Canada

32 Latin American and Caribbean leaders met in Cancun for a bi-regional Unite Summit from Sunday to Tuesday and most notably, agreed to launch a new regional group excluding the United States and Canada. According to international news reports, the new bloc, seen as an alternative to the U.S.-weighted Organization of American States (OAS), is intended to weaken U.S. influence in the region. The next meeting of the organization will be in Venezuela next year. It is unclear whether any of the 32 nations at the Unity Summit will break away from the OAS.