On Friday we told you about the visit of the Special Envoy of Uruguay, Ambassador Gonzalo Koncke Pizzorno. He was here to pledge his support for Belize's Representative to the OAS, Nestor Mendez in his candidacy for the Assistant Secretary General of the OAS. In turn, Belize will support Uruguay's candidate for Secretary General. On Saturday Ambassador Mendez told us that his candidacy needs a simple majority of the 34 member states of the OAS and he is relaying on Belize's bi-regional identity to get that:..
H.E. Nestor Mendez, Belize Permanent Rep. to the OAS
"In the case of Belize we represent both Central America and the Caribbean, so we play a very important balance to the leadership of the OAS if a South American were to get elected as secretary general. When you elect somebody for a senior elected position such as this it counts as much who you put forward and also what country the person puts forward. So being elected into this position could be very good for Belize. It would re-affirm that everybody recognizes that after 33 years of independence we have an important contribution to make."
Jules Vasquez
"How is your candidacy going overall in terms of soliciting and securing the support of other member nations?"
H.E. Nestor Mendez, Belize Permanent Rep. to the OAS
"The response that we have gotten is extremely encouraging. I can tell you without calling the names of the countries that within the Caribbean - we have an overwhelming majority of Caricom supporting Belize. The Central American region includes Acana in the Dominican Republic when Prime Minister Barrow met with his colleague heads of government there was a clear indication of regional support for the candidature of Belize. So we have Central America, we have the majority of Caricom, in South America we have several votes already as we do in North America, so without getting into specific numbers we are cautiously confident that we are there already."
Ambassador Mendez also discussed the strategic importance of Belize's alliance with Uruguay. As we noted at the top of our story, they also have a candidate for Secretary General which Belize is supporting.
In that matter, it hardly has a choice, since the other candidate for Secretary General is a Guatemalan. That's a delicate matter since the OAS Secretary General is overseeing the Confidence Building Process between Belize and Guatemala - and if a Guatemalan were elected to that post…well, Belizeans would definitely lose confidence in the process. Mendez discussed the balancing act between neighborliness and national self interest:..
H.E. Nestor Mendez, Belize Permanent Rep. to the OAS
"There is a reason why we are supporting Uruguay and not our neighbor in this case Guatemala. It is precisely now the organization needs to have balance in the leadership. But as Belize it is not secret where our interest lies; Belize-Guatemala process when it started, it started with OAS involvement with the use of the good offices from the secretary general of the OAS. That should not change except if for instance the Guatemalan were to be elected to be secretary general - that would totally change the scenario."
No date has been set for the election, but it will likely be held sometime next year.
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