And in making his appeal to voters, the PM referred to the fact that all three living Prime Ministers of Belize, himself, Said Musa and Manuel Esquivel support a yes vote. But what about that paragon of patriotism George Price? What would he have done? Well, the PM turned to a document that historian Assad Shoman dug out of the British archives to illustrate Price's feelings on the ICJ:..
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"National Hero and Father of the Nation George Price was just as certain before he died. Assad Shoman handed me a piece of evidence that he copied from the National Archives in England. It is the British note of a conversation in 1983 between then Minister Said Musa and the UK's High Commissioner in Belmopan. Acting on the instructions of then Prime Minister Price, Said told the British of the Belize Government's view that it was perhaps time to recognize that negotiations were useless and that we needed to consider going to the ICJ. And Right Honorable Musa himself confirms that later when the PUP first initiated the actual process of possible submission of the matter to the ICJ, Leader Emeritus Price concurred. 14:58 And so Mr Price thereafter fully endorsed the 2007 decision of Belize to accept the recommendation of the OAS Secretary-General to put, if the people agreed in a Referendum, the dispute to the ICJ for full and final resolution."
"It is now my fervent hope that we will actualize this position taken by all our Prime Ministers, and vote Yes on April 10."
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