WikiLeaks Cable tell all about Telemedia nationalization

In another cable, the US Embassy was briefed on the nationalization of B.T.L. The meeting was held on December fifteenth, between Financial Secretary Joseph Waight, B.T.L. board member Allan Slusher and the current US Ambassador Vinai Thummalapally as well as the Deputy Chief of Mission J.A. Diffily. According to the Wikileaks cable, Waight and Slusher confirmed that foreign direct investment was at a standstill, not only as a result of the global recession, but also because of investor’s concerns regarding the nationalization of B.T.L. The information is telling because Slusher reportedly told the US that it is the intent of the government to re-privatize the company at the earliest opportunity, giving a one year timeline. But Slusher admitted that it would take longer because of expected litigation which would also make the chances of selling B.T.L. slim. If what Slusher told the US is accurate, then that would expose the lie to the nationalization of B.T.L. since then it shows that government did not intend to keep the company in Belizean hands at all. In concluding, the US ambassador commented that Waight confided that his office is struggling to come up with the cash to give all GOB employees the final check of the year one week early and that if GOB barely had the ability to pay its own employees, it certainly does not have the money to honor any rulings which require a payout.