Click here to print
OAS SG and LOO Met
Fri, March 17, 2017
And presumably, that is also the message that Almagro took to the PUP leader when he met with him this morning. He met with John Briceno just before the press briefing. It was a closed door meeting, but at its conclusion, Briceño told us what they spoke about in general terms:

Hon. John Briceno - Leader of the Opposition
"We want to express our appreciation for the work that the OAS has been doing in Belize, and also in the whole process facilitating the negotiations between Belize and Guatemala."

Daniel Ortiz
"Can you share specifics as to - or at least, give us a broad overview of your conversation today with the Secretary General?"

Hon. John Briceno
"Well, without going into too much of the specifics, certainly had to address our concern of the antagonistic behavior of Guatemala, that Guatemala has not been a good neighbor, that Guatemalan citizens continue to plunder our resources, The issue of a Sarstoon protocol. So, we have all of these issues that needs to be addressed, and we need to address it as soon as possible. We find it very difficult for us to move the process forward until Guatemala is prepared to address these issues head-on."

Isani Cayetano - Channel 5
"Were there any assurances given by the Secretary General that the OAS will continue to be an objective partner in facilitating these dialogs?"

Hon. John Briceno
"Yes, they have assurance that they want to continue to play - to be an objective partner. Altough, we did express the concerns that some Belizeans believe sometimes have that the OAS is not as objective as we would expect. We do believe that they try to be as objective as they can, and they have given us that assurance that they want to continue to keep that objectivity, in the discussions and negotiations between Belize and Guatemala."

Close this window