Foreign Minister Takes Jab at Leader of the Opposition
Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez
His Excellency Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, the First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party and President of the Republic of Cuba will arrive in Belize on Sunday, February 12th. The President will arrive on Sunday morning for a one-day visit and participate in bilateral meetings, sign agreements with the Belize government, and participate in a special sitting of the National Assembly on Sunday. One member of the National Assembly who will not be attending Sunday’s Special Sitting is Leader of the Opposition Shyne Barrow. On Thursday, Barrow proclaimed that he does not intend to support any of the events planned for the official visit. According to the Opposition leader, he cannot attend and quote give celebration and credibility to such a despotic leader unquote. Today, News Five asked Minister of Foreign Affairs Eamon Courtenay about the Opposition Leader’s stance against the Cuban Government.
Eamon Courtenay
Eamon Courtenay, Minister of Foreign Affairs
“The visit by President Diaz Canel is historic; the relations between Cuba and Belize go back before independence. Cuba was in the vanguard when we were struggling for independence, for recognition, for the right to exercise our right to self-determination and to become an independent country within all our territory. And for that, I think that Belizean people will be eternally grateful. There have been many times in the diplomatic corps – at least what I have been involved in and I am sure with other foreign ministers – where there are issues on which we need support and help and Cuba is one of the first to rally behind Belize’s cause on different issues. We, at the same time, have also provided a lot of diplomatic support for Cuba and we continue to do so. I think Belizeans need to understands and I think they realise and appreciate it, there are dozens if not hundreds of Belizeans who have studied at Cuban universities, many of them on scholarships; there are many of them serving Belize now. I don’t understand how somebody can have a problem with the Cuban government and Cuba itself when we have Cuban members of the brigade in Belize, serving in rural areas, providing health service to Belizeans, Belizeans in need. We are satisfied that that is an essential service and we are very thankful for that. There are hundreds if not thousands of Belizeans currently living in houses provided by Cuba and we are thankful for that. Now let’s bring ourselves to this century, Belizeans will remember when the COVID epidemic started, the Henry Reeve Brigade came here, went on the frontline to help Belizeans, to protect Belizeans when there was absolutely no cure for COVID-19. They risked their lives; they provided humanitarian service to us. We are eternally grateful for that. And so my position is very simple. The Leader of the Opposition is supposedly boycotting and for whatever reason he has given. My belief is that he is afraid that the Americans will take away his visa and so he is acting in his own interest rather than in the public interest. We will warmly welcome the president and his delegation; we stand with Cuba and we will continue to support Cuba.”
