BTV Letter of Complaint is Without Merit Says Foreign Minister Elrington

Wilfred Elrington

The Belize Territorial Volunteers, led by Wil Maheia, has written a letter of complaint to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.  Through that statement, the BTV is registering its concern with the expenditure of monies set aside for the referendum campaign.  This has to do with a half million dollar fund that has been provided by the United States government for a public education exercise ahead of the 2019 vote to decide whether the unfounded Guatemalan claim goes before the world court.  We got a reaction from Foreign Minister Elrington this afternoon, who told News Five that the content of the BTV letter is grossly inaccurate and baseless.

Wilfred Elrington, Foreign Minister

“You know there’s an expression that says, “As a man thinketh, so is he.” And the release or the letter seems to be suggesting that funds given to us by the Americans are being misapplied, wrongly applied.  The truth is that we have received no funds at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the Americans, so that the whole premise of the letter is unfounded.  It’s baseless.  But it is not surprising that that is the case, given the entity from which the letter emanates.  They are always misinforming the public of Belize.  What I find sad and tragic is that the news media pass on that kind of information as if it is gospel truth.  None of what is contained in the letter is correct.”

Patrick Andrews, C.E.O., Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Patrick Andrews

“I have heard about the statement being made regarding those funds that were made by the U.S. government and I can clarify that the funds that came from the U.S. have been channeled through the UNDP, and the UNDP will be basically sharing it around.  Some will go to the public awareness campaign, some will go to the voters re-registration process and they have the funds already earmarked as such.”