Porfirio Lobo Sosa—the man who was sworn in as Honduras’s president in January after winning the November 2009 election to replace the ousted Manuel Zelaya—was warmly welcomed in Belize City Monday morning when he arrived for a one-day state visit to the Caribbean shores of his country’s northern neighbor.
Belize has not seen the arrival of a Honduran president since June 2007, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told us. At that time, it was for a meeting of the Central American Integration System (SICA), which Belize then chaired.
Today’s visit to Belize is tactical, as Belize once again holds the SICA protempore presidency; and being Central America’s doorway to CARICOM, Belize opens for Honduras an access point to that sub-region as well—a role that Belize is clearly willing to play for its Central American neighbor.
Lobo said that the most important issue discussed with Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow is the mutual interest to strengthen relations between countries.
While SICA’s relations with Honduras have been restored, there is a still a fracture in relations with the Organization of American States (OAS), the hemispheric organization. If Belize could successfully lobby CARICOM on Honduras’s behalf, it would very likely accelerate Honduras’s acceptance back in the OAS.
On Thursday, July 29, the OAS revealed that the report of the OAS High-Level Commission on the Situation in Honduras had been concluded. Concerns over human rights abuses were cited, and specific recommendations were made in the report for action.
Barrow said today that he recognized the difficulties Honduras has been facing with its suspension of participation in the OAS. Before the conclusion of the state visit, the two state leaders formalized a 7-point communiqué, which, among other things, stated that: “Prime Minister Dean Barrow recognized the advances made by the Government of Honduras [in the] …strengthening of its democratic institutions and offered to bring this to the attention of the other member states of CARICOM, with a view to facilitate the return of Honduras to the Organization of American States (OAS).”
According to Lobo, the occasion signals “a great moment for strengthening relations also with CARICOM.”
In the communiqué, Belize and Honduras also reaffirmed their close relations; reiterated Honduras’s support for Belize’s protempore presidency of SICA; noted Honduras’s support for negotiations to promote SICA’s agenda with CARICOM on trade, climate change and regional security; and reaffirmed their mutual commitment “to contribute constructively to the transformation and modernization of the Central American Integration System.”
Lobo told journalists in Belize that the country has had the full support of the Government of Belize, and he looks forward to Belize’s help to rally its friends in the restoration of Honduras’s international relations.
Additionally, both leaders pledged their mutual assistance in dealing with natural disasters.
Belize has from very early on recognized the election of the president of Honduras, said Barrow. While Belize condemned the ouster of Manuel Zelaya as president in 2009, it also embraced the new government that came with what Barrow described “free fair elections” held in November 2009.
“We will continue to work with the president and his administration…so that the difficulties that are presently being encountered might be successfully resolved, so that the family of nations in this region might be able to welcome Honduras completely back into the regional fold,” Barrow commented.
Lobo’s entourage also included Minister of External Relations Mario Canahuati and Minister of Planning and Cooperation Arturo Corrales. The president’s wife Rosa Elena de Lobo also accompanied him on the state visit to Belize.
After a two-and-a-half hour meeting with Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow and officials of the Belize business community in Belize City on Monday morning, the entourage headed over to Old Belize at Mile 5 on the Western Highway, where they were joined by other Belize government officials and members of the diplomatic corps here in Belize. British Ambassador Pat Ashworth, US Ambassador Vinai Thummalapally and Taiwan Ambassador David Wu were among those present for the luncheon. Other luminaries included Belize Ambassador resident in Guatemala Alfredo Martinez, Foreign Affairs Minister Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Police and Public Safety Douglas Singh, and Minister of National Security Carlos Perdomo.
(According to Barrow, Honduras’s Minister Canahuati has relatives who grew up in Belize.)