Belize’s delegation to the signing of the Special Agreement in Washington returned to Belize this morning. It was headed by Foreign Affairs Minister Wilfred Sedi Elrington and this evening he along with the Chief Negotiator Fred Martinez and other members on the team – held a press conference at the Radisson. Minister Elrington explained all 9 articles of the agreement in great detail and Ambassador Fred Martinez gave a timeline of events that led to the Special Agreement. Minister Elrington said this evening was the beginning of a public education campaign in which he says the choice will be simple: we either go to court or the battlefield.
Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs
“The options facing us now is that we resolve it peacefully or we decide to take on military uniform and guns and go and defend ourselves. In countries that are threatened, like we are, fortunately most of them have vast resources and so they have elaborate armies, up to date armies. While they are proceeding diplomatically, they have very very large military forces to back up in fact what they are doing diplomatically. Regretfully we have no military might; miniscule, just a token military might. But that is what we should do if we don’t want to go to the ICJ.
I can only think of two things: the ICJ or trying to take up arms and defend the border. That is the option I see I am faced with. That is what I will be saying to my Belizean people and I will challenge those who have different views and a better view to step forward and articulate it. But I am going to go on a crusade to tell my people this is what I see. But if you prefer military conflict to a peaceful resolution, that is your choice. I will go with you because I believe in democracy but I have seen that my people have risen to the occasion so I have no illusions and I have no second thought about a plan B or an option B. I don’t want to contemplate military force, I am too old now for that kind of thing.”
The team stressed that we are a long ways off from the referendum since it has to be tabled in the House and also in the Guatemalan Congress which probably won’t happen until the new year and then it has to be passed. In the Guatemalan Congress that is usually a lengthy process.
