Alfonso Gahona, director of international affairs in the Belize Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed to Amandala this morning that, “There is talk but no commitment,” among the countries of Central America to adopt a common currency and passport, despite the signing of the San Pedro Sula Declaration that calls for a study for a common Central American currency.
Belize has been a member of the Central American Integration System (SICA) since 2001, but it has been a part of the CARICOM system since 1974. Belize is already committed to adopting a CARICOM passport, possibly by early 2009, according to Shawn Richards, Trade Economist and Belize’s Focal Point for the CARICOM Single Market & Economy (CSME).
That passport would bear the Belize Coat of Arms, but above that identifying mark would be the CARICOM logo and the words “Caribbean Community,” similar to the passport appearing in the photo accompanying this article. It would also have security features unique to Belize, Richards explained.
An August 2008 statement published by CARICOM Secretariat, titled Hassle Free Travel, noted that Belize and Jamaica were to introduce the passports by the end of 2008, but Government sources inform us that the timeline has been pushed back to 2009, to allow depletion of the current stock of Belize passports. (The original projection for the full implementation of the CARICOM passports was December 2007.)
According to CARICOM, the standardized passport is a symbol of regionalism, and a part of measures to promote hassle-free travel for CARICOM nationals.
Suriname, St. Kitts & Nevis, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago are among the countries that already have the CARICOM passports in place.
Gahona told us that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tries to ensure Belize’s interests in the Central America and in CARICOM don’t clash, and he underscored that Belize is already committed to adopting the CARICOM passport, not a Central American passport.
He told us that whenever Belize participates in SICA meetings, it restrains its involvement in discussions on the economy, trade, and finance, because of current CARICOM commitments.
Belize is not a member of the Central American Economic Integration System (emphasis ours), a sub-unit of SICA; neither is it a member of the Central American Parliament or Court.
As to the San Pedro Sula Declaration, Gahona told Amandala that signing the declaration does not necessarily bind Belize to the entire document, and that any initiative outside regional projects on matters such as education, poverty alleviation and gender issues, have to go through the proper channels.
He told us that even though it is often a touchy matter – trying to balance Belize’s role in two different integration systems – the adoption of any item on the integration agenda is a “political decision,” and in adopting treaties and agreements, for example, Belize’s internal legislative processes still have to be followed.