PUP’s Julius Espat says NO to the ICJ
On the Phone: Julius Espat
P.U.P.’s Cayo South Area Representative, Julius Espat, has taken a firm ‘NO’ to the I.C.J. Espat announced his position on the matter on Saturday via his Facebook page. Having considered both sides, Espat wrote, “I have looked at the two sides of the issue when it pertains to Belize and the I.C.J., and I am convinced that the risk of losing any part of our territory is too much to take. We have already gone through the difficult process of obtaining our Independence with our territory defined. This was unanimously agreed to by the vast majority of nations of the world. We cannot ignore this great achievement by our forefathers.” Espat’s ‘NO’ comes days after the P.U.P.’s southern caucus met and also decided to take a ‘No to the ICJ’ stance. Both announcements are in stark contrast to what the P.U.P. Leader John Briceño personally feels on the matter. Briceño is pro-I.C.J. and on Friday, he told the press that internal consultations have been undertaken in order for the P.U.P. to take a definitive and unified position on the matter. Political observers see the announcements by Espat and the Southern Caucus as a challenge to Briceño to speak against going to the I.C.J. Espat told News Five, that is not the case.
Julius Espat, Area Representative, Cayo South
“I believe that we should not voluntarily go to litigation. That is a no, no. I think our forefathers in getting us to independence and our present leaders are doing a horrible job in representing Belize in the international forum and that makes me uncomfortable. There are many other reason why I Belize we should not go to the ICJ at this present moment. It is a difficult situation for all Belizeans to understand but at the end of the day you are dealing with a situation an international level where we are not playing our part properly. We are not representing Belize in the best possible way we can. Going into independence, we were the beacon of democracy within Central America and Guatemalan was totally the opposite. You come now in 2018 and that is not the same scenario. You are going to human beings who are the judges and they will make a decision that many people say is based on law, fine. It is a human being at the end of the day that will make those decisions and those human beings are susceptible to dominant world powers that will be able to persuade them otherwise. I am uncomfortable when it comes to the present scenario in which we are.”
Hipolito Novelo
“Sir your party leader, John Briceno, although his personal, has basically said yes to the ICJ. We know that the Southern Caucus h as said no after which you have publicly said no now. Can this be interpreted as Mr. Espat being rebellious against the Party Leader, as some may say, as we have seen in the past?”
Julius Espat
“No, absolutely not. John Briceno is out leader.”
Espat says that at the moment, the focus should not be on Guatemala’s unfounded claim but on getting rid of institutionalized corruption in Government.
