By Caribbean News Global contributor
BELMOPAN, Belize – Eamon Courtenay, minister of foreign affairs, foreign trade, and immigration of Belize, attended the LXXXIII meeting of the Council of foreign ministers of SICA under the leadership of Costa Rica, the current presidency Pro-tempore of SICA.
Minister Courtenay was accompanied by ambassador Amalia Mai, chief executive officer, and foreign service officers, Emil Waight and Jenina Urbina.
In a statement, the government of Belize, said: “Minister Courtenay stressed the importance of the approval of the Regional Plan of Action for the Comprehensive Management of Migration in the Central American region. He reiterated the plight of the migration crisis and the urgency for an integral response and the protection of human rights of migrants. He also expressed the significance that people of African descent play in the development of our region. He appealed for the respect of their human rights and dignity and also for the immediate availability and just distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines within the Afro-descendant communities as well as for the empowerment of the Afro-women and youths especially in accessing scholarships.”
The statement continued: “The SICA foreign ministers received a report from Jolita Butkeviciene, director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Office of Director General for International Cooperation and Development, European Commission, which highlighted the EU Cooperation for the SICA region. The European Union is SICA’s largest cooperation partner. Ministers were also briefed on the management and implementation of SICA’s regional cooperation and the contributions from SICA donor partners.”
On Monday, March 22, 2021, Florencio Marin Jr., minister of national defence and border security, received Captain Freddy Ruben Perez Castillo, the newly appointed Mexican Naval Attaché to Belize, for a courtesy visit at the Curl Thompson Building, Belmopan.
At a meeting with Brigadier General (Ret’d) Dario Tapia, chief executive officer in the ministry, the minister and Captain “pledged to continue to promote the spirit of goodwill and mutual interests, and to strengthen the existing good relationship of cooperation between the two countries. They both agreed to maintain open lines of communication,” the government of Belize said in a statement.
