Dear Editor,
The People’s National Party (PNP) condemns the statements made by our Foreign Minister while at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington DC last week.
We consider our Belizean border a very sacred reality, a very special place and a line that delineates our independent aspirations as a nation.
As was evidenced by our trip to the border in September, we went there to make a point, to show Belizeans that our border exists and to remind Belizeans that we must take care of our borders.
Hence, we were appalled to learn via the press that our Minister had indicated to the OAS that our border was artificial. We believe that our foreign minister spoke out of context, and because he represents and speaks for all Belizeans, we demand that he publicly apologize for endangering our right to self-determination.
In addition, we are calling on Belizeans to be more vigilant and to demand that our government take more meaningful actions to address the illegal incursions on our borders. We do not buy the argument that we do not have the resources to man our border.
We are calling on the government to immediately initiate a process that seeks to identify an appropriate mechanism that ensures proper vigilance on our borders.
In addition to this we are also asking that the Minister of Defense deploy more soldiers along our border so that we can rest assured that every square centimeter of Belize remains in the hands of Belizeans.
We are very skeptical of the role the OAS is now playing because while they are acting as mediators, the illegal incursions by Guatemalans have continued unabated.
Lastly, we are also calling on the socially conscious group, Citizens Organized for Liberty through Action (COLA), to take a stand and call for strong actions.
Wil Maheia