Assad Shoman to Join Education Campaign on I.C.J. Referendum?

Assad Shoman

Government also announced that it is beefing up its campaign effort to educate the nation on the territorial dispute, as well as the I.C.J. alternative.  PM Barrow announced that in the coming weeks three ambassadors, including Lou-Anne Burns, Perla Perdomo and Dylan Vernon, are joining the push toward a national awareness of the matter.  Government is also in discussion with Assad Shoman, an authority on the Belize/Guatemala differendum, to join the campaign, though his role has not been clearly defined.

Dean Barrow

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“So the official education campaign is pressing ahead and we have strengthened the brain trust and the team in charge.  More back-office personnel and field officers have been recruited and Ambassador Lou-Anne Burns, High Commissioner Perla Perdomo, soon to be joined by Ambassador Dylan Vernon will add to Ambassador Alexis Rosado’s stewardship.  Meantime, C.E.O. Wallace will assist particularly with the ad campaign and use the Office of the Prime Minister to help untie bureaucratic knots.  With all this new firepower, we are confident that the five plus months that remain are ample enough for the team to blanket the country with the facts that will help Belizeans make an informed decision on April tenth.  Finally, we are in talks with Assad Shoman to delineate the role that he could play in all this.  With his outstanding academic and practical expertise and his historical centrality to the long and tortuous evolution of this issue, Assad could be an invaluable resource.  We hope soon then, to conclude an agreement with him.”