7 News Belize

Elrington Chairs Meeting Of SICA Foreign Ministers
posted (December 13, 2018)

And while all these presidents will meet tomorrow, today it was the SICA Ministers of Foreign Affairs who met at the Biltmore.  The meeting was chaired by Wilfred Elrington and he told us what is at the top of the agenda:..

Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
"I think first of all the climate change, climate change is an existential issue, secondly the migration issue and then of course the question of security, that's a matter that transcends borders. Climate change transcend borders, migration transcends borders, security transcends borders and I like to think Jules - you know the United States sis having tremendous fire all over, what happens if we start having tremendous fires in the Chiquibul area? Given the very limited capacities we have to fight fires we would be in trouble unless we get help from outside. If a serious disease were to take place in this region, we will have to work together. There are so many ways in which we have to work together you know."

Jules Vasquez
"Have you spoken to the Guatemalans for example about the phenomena of drug plans landing. We know that we saw one land on their side of the Sarstoon a week ago."

Hon. Wilfred Elrington
"I am not sure if we discussed that with them, we might have in passing but this is an issue that really came up. What happens when you have a drug plane lands in Guatemala or Mexico and the people who are flying the plane flee to Belize either from Mexico or Guatemala? In the absence of any kind of understanding and agreement as to how to deal with those people, well they come cross to Belize they only thing you can hold them on is illegal entry, which would happened last Friday. Would you not have wanted us to have a more substantial agreement whereby in fact their officials can come across and take them and carry them back or some such kind of arrangements - both with Belize and Guatemala. I think it will be helpful for us to have some kind of mechanism again to resolve issues of those natures."

We also asked Elrington if there is any background tension in the meeting because of the territorial dispute between Belize and Guatemala.  He said that's not at the forefront:..

Hon. Wilfred Elrington
"We understand that we have a claim and that has its place. So you see I have claim, you have a claim but we have to continue to live. We have got to sell our grains, we have got to sell our cattle, we have got to sell our resources because the people who live in Western districts and other parts of the country have go to earn their keep. On the ground people live very harmoniously and also at the diplomatic level and I think in all levels, it's not my knowledge that Belizeans live in any kind of state of tension with other Guatemalans."

And stay tuned for more from Elrington later on in the news - you'll hear him explain why if you vote "no" to the ICJ - you could be inviting the possibility of a Guatemalan invasion!

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