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Daniel Ortiz reporting
For about an over 5 hours, over a hundred teachers gathered at the Radisson to hear Ambassador Alexis Rosado, and Major Lloyd Jones, the retired soldier-turn-politician, have a frank discussion about the pros and con of going to the ICJ.

It was organized by the Belize District Education Center, who hoped that the initiative that they took would be greatly appreciated by the educators who took the time out to attend.

Darlene Lozano - Education Officer, BDEC
"This event is the first in a series that we plan to do. Our office is responsible for monitoring, support and supervision. And we see this as support for our teachers. I'm of the opinion that it was a successful event. I feel that the information was informative. They got a critical perspective, as well as an evidence based perspective."

Major Jones, who has made it no secret that he doesn't support going to the ICJ to litigate Guatemala's claim over Belizean territory, presented first:

Major Lloyd Jones - Presenter
"I was invited to give what they call a critical analysis on the ICJ issue, and I think it was an attempt to bring some balance to the debate. As you know, there is an official campaign place. In some quarters, people believe that it is not a balanced view, and to ensure that there was a balanced view, I think I was invited to do that. What I did was really to discuss the concept of sovereignty, and why that is important leading up to the referendum. And then, I looked a little on the state of our own defence, where we are in terms of our ability to defend ourselves. And then finally, I looked at another route to deal with this issue, which is the advisory opinion, and I don't think it has been given sufficient exposure to the Belizean people."

Ambassador Alexis Rosado, one of the most knowledgeable Belizean officials currently handling Belize Guatemala relations, was invited to present an objective perspective on the history of the claim, so that the teachers can easily digest unsuccessful attempts, spanning an entire century, to negotiate a settlement of Guatemala's claim.

H.E. Alexis Rosado - Belize Ambassador to Guatemala
"What I did was to go over the history of how we have been trying to resolve the dispute arising from the claim with Guatemala. Over the years, we have tried so many different things, until today, when we have arrived at the option of going to the ICJ or no. So, the entire presentation was aimed at giving some of that background, and aiding in the understanding of why it is that Belizeans will be asked to consider whether or not we should go to the ICJ."

Plus, the Government is already dealing with critics who say that they are lagging behind in this education campaign, and that the voters would be able to make an informed decision in the referendum.

Daniel Ortiz, reporter
"What do you make of the critics who say that the education campaign should have been more robust, and it should have started earlier?"

H.E. Alexis Rosado
"Well I agree entirely that this thing should not even have been necessary. Why". Because these things should have been taught in our schools. If they were included in the curriculum we wouldn't have had to have a public awareness campaign the way we are organizing it right now. But we can't cry over spilt milk. It is necessary to conduct a public awareness campaign to inform the people and in order for them to have access to all the facts that will inform them, people will have different views about what we are doing. The fact is that a referendum office was established from 2012 and we had a big launching ceremony here in 2012/2013 when we were supposed to have a referendum in 2013. The credendum did not take place then, but the public awareness continued and had really never stopped. So if you don't hear it on the media, if you don't hear it on an ad on the radio or TV, it doesn't means that things are not happening out there."