Prime Minister Said Musa is expected to go to Venezuela sometime this week for an official meeting with Hugo Chavez. That's what credible but unconfirmed reports are telling us this evening. Government's Chief Information Officer Nuri Mohammed told us that he could not comment, but reliable reports from government insiders tell us that the visit is planned for this weekend. The Prime Minister is expected to be accompanied by Home Affairs Minister and unofficial Venezuela liaison Ralph Fonseca. It is expected that the Prime Minister would broach the matter of a significant assistance package with Chavez.
As has been reported, a grant of US$10 million for housing has been discussed with Fonseca but not yet delivered. The PM and Fonseca we are told would be hoping to cement this but also to discuss much larger loan, grant and assistance projects. Our understanding is that the Musa administration and the PUP party are both making parallel but somewhat independent approaches to the cash rich and influence hungry Venezuelan government.
Last week, PUP Deputy Party Leader and Tourism Minister Godfrey Smith wrote about Chavez in his weekly column in the Belize Times, concluding that he should be invited here to receive the Order of Belize.
