On Monday, we broke the news that Ambassador Alexis Rosado continues to act as Co-agent for Belize on the ICJ Case. He is participating in that capacity at a strategy session for the Belize ICJ effort in the UK this week.
They are attempting to finalize Belize's Counter-Memorial before the International Court of Justice. That Counter-Memorial will respond to Guatemala's 500-page Memorial, which details what Guatemala is claiming in terms of Belize's territorial lands, islands, and sea spaces, and on what legal grounds.
The fact that Ambassador Rosado is still acting in his official capacity as Belize's Co-Agent has raised eyebrows.
That's because, in the press release sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, on the day of Rosado's arraignment in the Belmopan Magistrate Court, they said, quote, "At the direction of the Ministry… Ambassador Rosado has relinquished his diplomatic postings overseas." End quote.
Our newsroom now knows that the relinquishing of Rosado's diplomatic posting did not include his post as Co-Agent.
A few days ago, Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Courtenay confirmed via text quote, "Ambassador Rosado remains a co-agent for Belize for the ICJ Case and is in London working on finalizing Belize's counter-memorial." End Quote.
It's a controversial decision in the context that other public officers are routinely placed on interdiction whenever they are criminally charged.
Today, when we caught up with Prime Minister John Briceño at an event in Belize City, we asked him about Ambassador Rosado:
Daniel Ortiz
"What is happening? And why is it that it appears that Mr. Rosado isn't feeling the consequences of the allegations against him when other public officers would have already been placed on interdiction?"
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"This is a no-win situation on this matter because the time, you know, and when I answer that question with Alexis Rosado, you know, they jumped at me because of the young lady that has made the charges. We certainly feel for her. Every family in this country - I believe I'm -99% of the families in this country have had some cases of abuse within the family, and in most instances, it's a family friend or a family member. And so that kind of abuse is heinous, and we need to do everything possible to go after the perpetrator, and Alexis Rosado is no exception. But before we get to that point, that has to be determined whether he's innocent or whether he is guilty. Our system says that you are innocent until you are determined guilty. Now, what did we do? We immediately removed him from Brussels. He's representing us as our ambassador in Brussels. But right now, we have something that is an existential threat to our country, which is the case between Belize and Guatemala. And he has been working as one of our co-agents along with the Assad human. I would probably say that probably he's one of the most knowledgeable persons when it comes to Belize/Guatemala. I am certain that the foreign minister has a reason why he kept him there, and it simply is that we are right to the point where we are preparing our Counter-Memorial to present to the ICJ. Now, God forbid that we do not use his expertise because we did not use his expertise. We go to court, and there is some mix-up, and then we pay the consequences by losing a portion of Belize. What would be your reaction? You are going to be the first that comes on top of us, like a ton of bricks saying, 'Well, you have the responsibility to protect us.' And that is what we do. We want to make sure that we have the best possible case at this time. Alexis has dedicated his life to public service and to this issue of Belize/Guatemala. The foreign minister believes at this time - and I support him with that, his recommendation, that we need to use him because we are right there are going to court. It's not like it happened a year ago when we have time to be able to regroup and try to see what we can do. This is going to court in June. And right now, our foreign minister should have been in London, where we're finalizing the document, the comb through before it goes to court."
The PM also insisted that Ambassador Rosado's appointment as a public officer is under a different set of rules, which does not automatically mean interdiction.
We contacted Dickie Bradley, Rosado's lead defense attorney, who told us via text quote, "Rosado, who came home to answer the charges, is in no way a flight risk." End quote.
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