Close relations highlighted in speech to Assembly
President Vicente Fox’s final official act in Belmopan was at the National Assembly as he addressed a joint sitting of the House of Representatives and Senate. Welcoming the President was Prime Minister Said Musa, House Speaker Elizabeth Zabaneh, Senate President Phillip Zuniga, and Leader of the Opposition Dean Barrow.
Prime Minister Said Musa
?Mr. President, your own Benito Juarez proclaimed the immortal phrase, ?El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz.? Both Mexico and Belize reaffirmed at Durban our conviction that everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which all human rights can be fully realised for all, without any discrimination.
We noted, however, that although the process of globalisation constitutes a dynamic force which can be made to benefit all countries, in practice its benefits are very unevenly shared and we expressed our determination to prevent and mitigate the negative effects of globalisation, which lead to poverty, underdevelopment, and social exclusion. And we agreed to strengthen regional and international cooperation to increase equality of opportunities for trade, economic growth, and sustainable development.
It is our conviction that our cooperation agreements with Mexico will respect these principles, recognising the need for special and differential treatment for small economies and adhering to the solidarity that has characterised the relations between our two states.
President Vicente Fox, we are honoured to welcome you to this Special Joint Sitting of the National Assembly of Belize (applause) and to invite you to address the Honourable Members of the House of Representatives and Senators of the Assembly.?
Vicente Fox, President of Mexico
?Mexico deeply appreciates its friendship with Belize and our mutual interest in building a shared destiny of peace and development firmly based on democracy and bilateral cooperation to attain better levels of well-being for our peoples.
The Puebla Panama Plan and Tuxla Mechanism for Dialogue and Coordination demonstrate the political will of the region?s governments to further the region?s development. They also demonstrate the strategic importance that the countries of the region assign to economic development aimed at the well-being of our peoples.
The preservation of democracy in Latin America is one of the fundamental values that Belize and Mexico share. Consolidating democracy is the responsibility of all: of governments, political parties, social organisations, and each citizen. In this effort, I am certain that Belize and Mexico will continue advancing in the bilateral agenda and expanding our ties of friendship and cooperation in a shared effort to boost the regional economy.
Today, before this honourable assembly, I reiterate the will of Mexico to continue boosting economic growth and the strengthening of democracy in our countries and in Latin America. May the relations between our two countries become stronger in the economic sphere, in bilateral cooperation, and in cultural matters.
The Mexican thinker Alfonso Reyes once said that the collision of sensitivity with the same world engenders a common soul, and that without that emotion, our mountains would be like a theatre without light. We shall never forget that Belize and Mexico share a border and a common past. We share a historical emotion.
Through you, distinguished legislators, I greet the people of Belize and I remind all your inhabitants that they have a sister country in Mexico.?
President Fox departed Belmopan at approximately three-thirty this afternoon just as he arrived, via helicopter, bound for a set of evening meetings and an official state dinner at the House of Culture in Belize City.
