British Minister of State ends visit

The minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office responsible for Britain’s relations with Belize has concluded a three-day visit. During his visit, John Battle met with the Prime Minister and other high level officials. Before departing, he spoke to the press at the British High Commission in Belmopan.

John Battle, British Minister of State

“You might know that we intend to give a defender aircraft to the Belize Defence Force, to replace the one that crashed in 1998. All the clearances have gone through the parliaments in London for it to be purchased, refurbished and handed over. That should happen and strengthen that particular resource. The only thing is that in the dispute, with Guatemala, the Prime Minister told me… I had asked him if the discussions in Washington had gone better, the same or worst then he expected? He said better than he expected, butt he key thing now is that we see tangible, practical evidence of confidence building measures.”

While in Belize Mr. and Mrs. Battle made visits to Xunantunich and the local art scene at the Image Factory. The Battles’ are on route to Guatemala and Honduras, before returning to Britain on August fourth.