Rumours fly on eve of Bz-Guat proposals

Tonight the foreign ministers of Guatemala and Belize, along with the top brass of the Organisation of American States, are gathered in Washington to hear the two facilitators present their final proposals to end once and for all, the Guatemalan claim to Belize. But judging from the number of bootleg copies circulating between Belize City and Belmopan, you’d think the document had already been published on the internet. Having waited more than two years and with barely twenty hours to go before the official public release of the proposals in Belize City, it would serve no practical purpose for us to initiate any premature debate. After all, there will be seventy-five days to turn the text inside out before we enter the voting booth. So tomorrow it is, 3:00 p.m. at the Radisson. All the players will be there, including Foreign Minister Assad Shoman, our facilitator, Sir Shridath Ramphal and OAS Deputy Secretary General Luigi Enaudi. In case you were wondering, the big event will be broadcast live right here on Channel 5.