Belize’s Foreign Minister in Special Interview with teleSUR

Belize's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eamon Courtenay, gave a special interview to teleSUR media, in the context of the recent decision by the Belizean government to take some measures against the Israeli government. 

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"Today we have taken four measures as a result of a decision taken by our cabinet and our parliamentary representatives," the foreign minister said referring to the government's actions in response to the indiscriminate Israeli bombardment of Gaza. 

Courtenay said the first step was to revoke the approval of Israel's ambassador-designate to Belize, who had not yet formally presented the corresponding credentials.

Secondly, the government decided to suspend the right of the Honorary Consul of Israel resident in Belize to continue representing the interests of Israel and Israelis in the Central American country.

"Thirdly, we suspended the right of our Honorary Consul in Israel to continue to perform his duties in Israel," the foreign minister stated.

In this regard, Courtenay said that Belize had sought the approval of the Israeli government for the appointment of a second honorary Council and "we have withdrawn that request."

According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Belize government's measures imply that "there will be no diplomatic contacts between Belize and Israel through established diplomatic channels at the present time."

Courtenay stressed that "these measures fall short of formally suspending or revoking relations with Israel."

As for trade relations between the two countries, the minister said there is very little cooperation from Israel to Belize and Belizians. Trade between Israel and Belize is very small, as the Zionist regime is quite remote from Central America, Courtenay said noting that relations and contacts between the two countries are mainly through diplomatic channels.

The Foreign Minister stated that the Belize government's decision is in response to "what is happening in Gaza, which is a flagrant violation of international law, international humanitarian law and the human rights of Gazans residing in the Gaza Strip."

As members of the international community, "we have an obligation to do everything we can to encourage Israel to stop the actions it has been taking, to stop violating international law, to stop operating as an apartheid state, to stop operating as a genocidal state," the minister said.

He added that it is time for all countries to consider what steps they can take to persuade the Israeli government to end its bombardment of Gaza and establish an immediate ceasefire, allowing relief workers and humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave to alleviate human suffering.

"We are talking about human lives and the actions taken by Israel since October 7 are unjustifiable and constitute serious violations of law," concluded the Minister.