P.M. discusses details of bilateral agreements with Guatemala

The SICA Heads of State Summit was held in Belize last week, and while that’s big news, the nation’s attention has been focused on thirteen agreements signed at that summit. Those agreements, between Belize and Guatemala, cover a wide range of areas…from prisoner and education exchanges to visa waivers for students. The agreements haven’t been condemned in essence, per se, but rather for the fact that there appears to have been little widespread consultation before the signing. Additionally, the country in question is Guatemala, and that in itself is cause for some increased scrutiny. Today the PM defended the agreements in their essence, and also said that there was consultation, even with the Opposition.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

Dean Barrow

“These people were in fact consulted, signed off on it, and this is a huge cross-section, but man we have bilateral agreements with various countries all the time. You don’t go to the public for those.”

Reporter

“This is not a normal country…”

Dean Barrow

“Well indeed, I will not quarrel with that and that is why to me this is such a signalled advance. But no, those agreements were in fact agreements that were being worked on by our team. At some point, they had the oversight of the Referendum Commission; the Opposition was there at all times. In fact I still haven’t heard them say that they disagreed with what’s being signed. How could they when they helped to negotiate what’s been signed. Their argument is merely that well it ought to have been circulated for consultation before the signing—I don’t agree—and if they maintain that position then we will forever be at odds. We will take it to the senate so that again there can be a chance for more people to weigh in. But lord man; let us not snatch a defeat from the jaws of victory. I am really satisfied that this represents a huge advance. There is nothing there, as I indicated, that’s reflective of a sort of Heads of Agreement type scenario; these are innocuous understandings that can help both sides in terms of cooperation in the various areas. And certainly, it represents a chance for working together and getting to know each other better and that is the way ultimately that we can achieve the falling-away of the claim if we don’t go to the ICJ before that.”