Juan Daniel
Alemán, Secretary-General of the
Central American Integration System (Spanish
acronym SICA) met in Belize with Minister of
Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington on Friday,
March 30, 2012, to discuss plans and projects
to further the integration of the 7 countries
of Central America, as well as the Caribbean
island of the Dominican Republic.
Alemán’s team included Emil Waight, a
former Ministry of Foreign Affairs official
who now works with the SICA Secretariat in El
Salvador, and Erick Vilchez, SICA’s Director
of Security.
It is extremely important that the Belizean
public knows more about the integration
movement, similar to what is going on with
CARICOM, Elrington told the press Friday
afternoon.
He said they will make every effort to ensure
Belize’s activities with SICA are as public as
possible, so that more Belizeans can know what
is going on.
Secretary-General Alemán said that they
had a very constructive and productive meeting
with Elrington, and that the working visit is
intended to explore Belize’s interests, in
order to see where the national interest is
compatible with the regional interest of SICA.
Minister Elrington said that he and
Alemán discussed 7 topics: (1) Belize’s
continued support and commitment to SICA in
the areas of democratic security, regional
cooperation and regional political issues; (2)
strengthening local governments across SICA;
(3) setting up two sub-regional offices here
in Belize, to strengthen the work of SICA as
it relates to CARICOM; (4) the establishment
of a SICA-CARICOM unit at the Secretariat in
Salvador; (5) the 1st ever SICA-CARICOM
fisheries ministerial meeting; (6) the
conferring of the Order of SICA to former
CARICOM Secretary-General, Sir Edwin
Carrington; and (7) a request from SICA that
officials of SICA and organs of SICA be
accorded the same diplomatic status and tax
privileges as current diplomats, so they can
bring in items duty-free.
Elrington said this request would be taken to
Cabinet, and that he is sure Cabinet will
agree with the proposal.
According to Minister Elrington, Belize’s
access to the Central American Bank for
Economic Integration (CABEI), which is funding
a bridge in Corozal apart from other
initiatives, demonstrates that Belize has been
having good, beneficial arrangements with
SICA.
One of the chief topics of discussion
continues to be regional security. Elrington
told the press that the region has recently
formulated a very comprehensive security
strategy, which is in the process of being
funded to provide security for the entire
region. One of the reasons for Alemán’s
visit to Belize, the minister said, is to
ensure that Belize is still committed to the
process.
“We are happy to assure them that Belize’s
support for this strategy is really
unwavering. We are desperately in need of a
safe region to develop our trading...,”
Elrington commented.
Alemán told the press that SICA has
been working really hard on this strategy, for
which there is great consensus. They kicked
off 8 projects last month in Washington, he
added.
As for the recent meeting held in Antigua,
Guatemala, at which Guatemala President Otto
Perez Molina proposed the decriminalization of
the use and transshipment of drugs,
Alemán said it was a good opportunity
to speak about the initiative of the president
and he hopes the talks would continue.
He told us that decriminalization is just one
of the alternatives proposed, but when we
asked him to elaborate, he said that’s a
matter for the leadership of Central America,
so he wouldn’t comment.
Elaborating on the regional security strategy,
Alemán said they have charted 22
regional projects on the local, national and
regional fronts, to prioritize the interests
of each country. They have prioritized 8
regional projects on democratic security, and
they plan to implement at least 4 of them by
May.
As for the regional strategy, Alemán
said this is the first time the region has
reached such a great consensus in
consolidating its efforts and adding value to
the strategy, which they hope the
international community will continue
supporting.
He said that the region hopes to make a
presentation on this matter at the upcoming
Summit of Americas, slated for April 14 to 15
in Colombia.
Also coming soon is the 1st SICA-CARICOM
fisheries ministerial meeting, an idea which
came out of the SICA summit held in Salvador
in August 2011.
“We think that’s a very exciting initiative.
We all have a great interest in the
sustainable development of our fisheries
industries and to that extent we have to work
together to strengthen the industries,” said
Elrington.
Alemán added that the regions can
benefit from synergies, because the fisheries
industry is one of the areas within which they
want to interchange their best practices and
best experiences.
The decision has also been made to set up a
SICA-CARICOM unit at the Secretariat in
Salvador, to improve ties between the two
sub-regions.
In related news, SICA has decided to give its
highest honor to former CARICOM
Secretary-General Edwin Carrington, as they
recognize him to be the foremost proponent of
integration in the region who has helped them
to establish special links between CARICOM and
SICA, said Elrington. The upcoming OAS private
sector summit would be an opportune place and
time to confer the award, the minister said.
On the local front, on Thursday, March 29,
SICA held a regional local government
consultation on the Central America and
Dominican Republic Municipal Autonomy Charter
at the Princess Hotel in Belize City.
A SICA statement said: “This initiative
promotes a national consultation in each of
SICA’s member states, in order to better
understand local needs and include them in a
draft Municipal Autonomy Charter, to be
presented at the SICA Heads of State and
Government Summit, as part of the instrument
approval process.”
Elrington said that he had been briefed on the
event, which, he said, “went very, very
well...”
He said that the two sub-regional offices
would promote and implement the decisions made
by countries in the SICA system to speed up
implementation of the integration movement,
not only in the political affairs but also on
the security front.
SICA will post two resident officers in Belize
to advance its political and security
initiatives, and to ensure that SICA mandates
are implemented.
Amandala
NOTICE
South Ambergris Caye
Neighborhood Watch Meeting-
7 PM, Wednesday April 11.
Lone Star Grill &
Cantina
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
You are
never a loser
until you quit trying
Mike Ditka |
