"Hypocrite" - it's such an ugly word.  We would never use it - and certainly not to describe politicians - nope, that just wouldn't be fair.  Â 

We'd rather call them ACROBATS - because they flip so neatly, so effortlessly, so artfully on issues and across positions, and...contortions, they can bend reasoning to fit any position. Acrobats, for sure.

And when it comes to the ICJ it's been almost like the Cirque Du Soleil in the court of public opinion where everyone has been switching sides and positions.  Jules Vasquez has been following the show with ardent eyes, and here's his commentary:

If looks could kill, but words would do just as well.

May 14, 2008

[Dean Barrow talking, applause follows.]

Rt. Hon. Said Musa
"This is the behaviour of our Prime Minister Mr. Speaker. I understand an application has been made to the Supreme Court..."

Hon. Dean Barrow
[Interrupting Musa] "You are a traitor to this Belizean nation. You will get no quarter from me. Not you."

March 24, 2014

Rt. Hon. Said Musa
"The mighty Hercules Mr. Speaker has become Humpty Dumpty on the wall. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall and all the kings' horses and all the kings' men cannot put Humpty together again."

And, now they are together on a billboard, immortalized in a single frame, together for the ICJ.

The ICJ also made an acrobat out of Eamon Courtenay - here he is back in 2008, enjoying a breakfast with Wilfred Elrington at a snazzy Washington Hotel before the signing of the special agreement:

December 9, 2008

Eamon Courtenay, PUP Representative
"If you want the Belize Guatemala dispute to be resolved, judicial determination is the only option. Negotiations have failed, so the only option is to go court."

And now, he's in court, fighting that same special agreement whose signing he witnessed:

October 5, 2015

Eamon Courtenay
"And so Jules, we say without apology that our position has matured and our position continues to be refined on day to day basis."

And then there's the former foreign minister who once took Courtenay's portfolio over lunch in Panama, Lisa Shoman - in 2017, she went hard against Wilfred, and the PM pushed back:

August 16, 2017

Hon. Wilfred Elrington - Foreign Minister
"Why we have to go to ICJ is because we don't have borders that are internationally recognized and that can put us in trouble."

August 17, 2017

Lisa Shoman, Former Foreign Minister
"For Foreign Minister Elrington to say that we have to go to the ICJ because Belize has no internationally recognized borders is not completely outrageous, it is completely and totally inaccurate. So my open letter is more than a letter of complaint, it is really a demand that it be rejected and that the Prime Minister of Belize say so to the entire world on behalf of the people and government of Belize."

August 18, 2017

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"There is now a complaint made against her in consequence of what she said with respect to the foreign minister and the whole issue of borders and so on. I don't know what the details are. I haven't seen the letter that she sent to me, but I better leave that alone in the event that Ms. Shoman might want to rethink her position."

But now the PM has no complaint at all about her as lead counsel in the biggest case which will cement or sink his political legacy:

March 28, 2019

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow
"Quite frankly, given how much work she is doing and how much master of mistress of the brief, I personally feel we are not paying her enough, but let me not encourage her."

Right now, though, she's in the fight of her life, and needs all the encouragement she can get

Of course, the contortions continue next week - and we'll be keeping you posted form the front rowÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ã‚¬Ã‚¦..