O.A.S. Secretary General Luis Almagro Visits Belize

Secretary General Luis Almagro, of the Organization of American States, called on Prime Minister John Briceño during a visit to Belize today. The head of the O.A.S. last visited Belize in April 2016. This morning at the Leigh Richardson Building, the seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sec Gen Almagro met with the prime minister and various government officials.  They sat down with the media immediately following the high-level discussion.

John Briceño

Prime Minister John Briceño

“He has not had an opportunity to come to visit personally, our new government.  We have met before in other forums, in other meetings. The last one was at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles and we spend a lot of time talking.  And certainly, the foreign minister has been working with him, but it is important for us that as the Secretary General of the O.A.S. that he comes to Belize and be able to speak to us face-to-face and also to be able to even go to the office at the border and to have a firsthand look at the work that they continue to do at the Adjacency Zone, between Belize and Guatemala.”

Luis Almagro

Luis Almagro, Secretary General, O.A.S.

“It is very important for the O.A.S. and for the Secretary General to come to Belize because of what I said before.  Belize is a reference in the region, in the hemisphere and the sub region of democracy, human rights, proper management of the economy, because the participation in the international and regional arena is extremely relevant.  Belize has the Secretary General of CARICOM and the Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States.  Belize is playing a relevant role in the region and it’s bringing together parties that maybe wouldn’t be talking or trying to bring solutions to some cases that we may be facing or that we have been facing in the region.”