William and Marleni on the Ground in Placencia

William Neal & Marleni Cuellar

While presentations were made earlier today concerning issues affecting all SICA member countries, there are ongoing developments in Placencia where rounds of discussions on various matters continue.  On Wednesday morning, we will have special coverage of the SICA General Assembly during Open Your Eyes.  But for the latest from Belize Ocean Club, we go to William and Marleni.

Marleni Cuellar

“And good night of course. This is our second night of coverage from the Placencia Peninsula. We are here once again at the Belize Ocean Club, join now by William Neal.”

William Neal

“It’s exciting to be here to actually be a witness to another in the chapter of relations between Belize and Guatemala as facilitated by O.A.S.  Of course this is a SICA meeting, but what would you call it, a collaborative kind of effort between SICA and the O.A.S.”

Marleni Cuellar

“Of course and tomorrow is actually the big day. There have been several other sideline meetings and events that have been put together. Yesterday we saw the wrapping up of the mixed commission for the ROC and today there was actually the meeting of the Counsel of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of SICA and tomorrow is actually the fifty-third Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of Central America and member countries of SICA. So it really is the big day. In fact one of the things that they are really preparing for is to be able to bring the Heads of State into country. There is the Vice president of Costa Rica already here; the others are coming in tomorrow including President Otto Perez Molina, who is the president of Guatemala.”

William Neal

“And of course what happens today is really the heavy lifting to make sure that all the agreements are ready for the signatories tomorrow. So today is really a working session; it’s rather extensive and it runs really late and it is all about business, business, to ensure that they are ready for tomorrow.”

Marleni Cuellar

“…which makes the facilitation of the meeting tomorrow a lot smoother as well. That’s one of the things that we always have to take into consideration…all the details of these agreements that will be signed tomorrow, the technical persons, the Foreign Ministers, have all been able to go through them so that when the Heads of State come, they can be able to go through the opening ceremonies, revision and they will be able to sign the agreement tomorrow. And of course as an addition there, we want you to know that we will be broadcasting the opening ceremonies and the signing of the agreements live on Channel Five.”

William Neal

“And we will also come to you very early, at six a.m., so tune in and we will have some great guests tomorrow. But before we go, one of the things that is happening tonight is that there will be the conferral of the Order of Distinction on the General Secretary for the O.A.S.”

Marleni Cuellar

“…His Excellency, Jose Miguel Insulsa; that is actually happening probably within the next hour. He has arrived in the country and been on the peninsula since this evening and Honorable Wilfred Elrington will be making this presentation within the hour.”

William Neal

“At that happens at a very special ceremony that will take place tonight at the Placencia Hotel and it will start off with just a welcome from the minister himself and then the conferral will happen shortly thereafter. And this is one of four levels of merit award that Belize has. It is actually…I think you have the Hero of Belize, the Order of Belize, the Order of Distinction and then the Meritorious Service Award. So usually, you’ve had other non-Belizeans rarely receive this award. You’ve had Edwin Carrington, who worked with CARICOM for twenty-two years, receiving the award as well. You’ve had outstanding Belizeans as well. So it is definitely quite an honor and we will be there sharing some of those shots with you so that you get an idea of exactly what happens a little bit later.”

Marleni Cuellar

“And of course, tomorrow morning in our continued coverage, we will be joined by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, his Excellency Jose Miguel Insulza. Of course we are getting the cue at this moment that we have to wrap up. We just wanted to give you an update as to how things have been going on this end. And remember to tune in for extended coverage tomorrow. We are actually having a special edition of Open Your Eyes…we start at six a.m. instead of six-thirty a.m. because we will be joined by the Foreign Ministers of both Belize and Guatemala…it’s a very important conversation taking place there. This is followed by our other guests which will include…”

William Neal

“The O.A.S. General Secretary, the excellency Insulza.”

Marleni Cuellar

“And we will also have the Foreign Minister of Costa Rica as well as their vice president as well. It is going to be a very extended show, we hope you tune in. it is going to be followed as well by the opening ceremony of the summit and also a bit later by the signing of the agreement. Thank you again for tuning in to this broadcast and signing off of course, Marleni Cuellar.”

William Neal

“And William Neal…”

Marleni Cuellar

“…For News Five.”