Is Hunting Caye F.O.B. Still a Joint Belize/U.S. Effort?

Wilfred Elrington

On Tuesday, News Five had an opportunity to speak with Minister of foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington on a variety of issues, including the murder of the Panamanian diplomat. We also asked for, and got, an update on the Coast Guard Forward Operating Base on Hunting Caye. Last we heard, at a press conference hosted by Prime Minister Dean Barrow, the US had basically washed their hands of the project, and G.O.B. was taking it on. So have they? We asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and he thought they had, but says the door isn’t quite closed on US collaboration just yet.

Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs

“I think that the government has in fact decided that we would take on the responsibilities to pay for it given the circumstances under which it was being built. I don’t know whether that is the final situation in terms of whether other efforts will not be made to see whether this matter can be resolved. It is a matter again, the way it is reported and the way it is viewed by certain members of the public suggests that the whole thing was done in poor taste and the like and there are people who have strong feelings as to what was being done especially given the fact that it involved Guatemalan workers. And I don’t know to what extent one wants to be critical of the position taken by the government, but I don’t know whether that is the end of the matter. I think that the Americans, who are clearly our allies and friends and certainly who did not intend to offend or harm our country, would want to see how they can resolve this situation in a win-win situation. So they still may still be making overthrows to the government in trying to see how it can be salvaged.”

Elrington told News Five that the matter has not affected the relations between the US and Belize.