Education Continues, But No National Position on I.C.J. for B.N.T.U.

Elena Smith

The Belize National Teachers Union says it will not influence the decision of its membership on whether the unfounded territorial claim Guatemala has over Belize should be taken to the ICJ for resolution.  In light of an increased public awareness campaign to be undertaken by government in the days ahead, B.N.T.U. says it will embark upon a similar exercise to educate teachers on the benefits and potential drawbacks of such a decision prior to the April tenth, 2019 referendum. 

Elena Smith, National President, B.N.T.U.

“If you recall, we started our Stand Up for Belize campaign with one such forum in Benque and so we had several sessions where our teachers were able to go and listen to different presenters presenting on the pros and cons of whether we should go or not go.  And so we have taken the position that we would not influence our teachers’ decision.  So B.N.T.U. would not get out there and say that B.N.T.U. is saying yes or B.N.T.U. is saying no.  What we would do is do our best to educate our members, so that they can then make their individual decisions because at the end of the day that is what it must boil down to; what you know, how much you know and how much you love this country.  And so, for you to make a decision you have to have information.  And so, we have not changed that position, I cannot say whether it will change but I know for sure that we will continue with the educating of our members.  So we have to look at what would be the next steps since we know that now there is a date set, how quickly are we going to begin with our campaign again and how much we are going to be campaigning.  When I say campaigning, I don’t mean campaign for a party but campaign to educate.  So we have to do our part as a union to educate our members, so we’ll be doing that.”