Last Thursday, we told you how Prime Minister John Briceno left the country on official business shortly after the Official Independence Day celebrations in Belmopan. He headed off to New York to attend the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Well, the PM and his delegation have a much busier schedule than just that, and tonight, we'll tell you about a few of the activities he has participated in so far.
We start first with his visit to the office of the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken today. The PM and his delegation met Secretary Blinken at the State Department in Washington DC for a follow-up discussion to a previous meeting that he and other CARICOM leaders held with US officials back in April.
Just before the PM and Secretary Blinken went into their meeting, they gave a few comments to the Press:
Anthony J. Blinken - US Secretary of State
"We are following up together on a very important meeting that President Biden and Vice President Harris had with CARICOM and the leaders of the CARICOM at the Summit of the Americas, working on a strong agenda together on climate, energy, food security, on finance. And I look forward to sharing some of the progress that we've made with the Prime Minister."
"We also appreciate so much Belize's strong voice on global issues, including, for example, the Russian Aggression against Ukraine, as well as its strong ties to Taiwan. So, Prime Minister, welcome, and very good to have you here."
John Briceno - Prime Minister
"Well, thank you very much, Secretary of State Blinken, thank you very much for inviting us over here to your office. As we all know, the United States and Belize have had very close, strong, and warm relations over the last 41 years. We just celebrated our 41st anniversary, our independence, last week Wednesday. And you are right that there are so many issues that both countries need to address. The issue of climate change, whilst it's almost like an existential threat for small countries like Belize that have a low-lying coastline, also affects big countries like yourself, developed countries, where in areas you have droughts, and in other areas, you have excessive rains. It is something that has to be addressed by all of us, not by individuals. Belize continues to have a stellar record when it comes to the protection of its environment. We have just signed an agreement with the Nature Conservancy, and we are going to project 30% of our ocean space by 2026, four years ahead of schedule. And certainly, the other issues of migration, of the war in Ukraine - where we strongly condemn the actions of Russia - issues of migration, and also strengthening democracy in our region."
