Earlier this week we told you about the travel advisory that was issued by the US Embassy discouraging tourists from visiting Belize - especially Belize City - due to a spike in crime. The release also states that most crimes remain unresolved and unprosecuted.
The Foreign Minister said he raised it with the US Ambassador because the picture the advisory paints is distorted:
Eamon Courtenay, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"I am confident that it doesn't I had a meeting this morning with the US Ambassador to discuss that and other issues we shared with her the statistics from the Belize police department which shows that crime across Belize, specifically in Belize City has gone down significantly thanks to the efforts of the Belize police department and therefore we said to her that we were very disappointed that they would issue the advisory that they did and we agreed to share information and to go forward in the future in to ensure that the accurate data is taken into account prior to making any assessment. But to your question there is absolutely no correlation between our position on the Israel Gaza war and the travel advisory that was issued by the Americans and I think you should confirm that with the US ambassador."
We also asked the US Ambassador to comment on the advisory. She said that the advisory changes every six months and is not related to Belize's decision to condemn Israel's bombardments of Palestine.
Michelle Kwan, US Ambassador to Belize
"I did say to all of you that we will be back with more information but the travel advisory is no substitute of change to the travel advisory. It updates every six months."
REPORTER-
"It had nothing to do with Belize's position on Israel?"
Michelle Kwan, US Ambassador to Belize
"No it's a separate assessment."
