Belize represented at the 43rd Regular Session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States in Antigua, Guatemala

June 13, 2013

BELMOPAN, Belize – Belize was represented at the Forty Third Regular Session of the General

Assembly of the Organization of American States held in Antigua, Guatemala, on June 4 – 6,

2013, by a delegation led by the Honourable Wilfred Elrington, Attorney General and Minister

of Foreign Affairs of Belize. The General Assembly was convened under the theme “For a

Comprehensive Policy Against the World Drug Problem in the Americas,” and it culminated

with the adoption of the “Declaration of Antigua” in which OAS Member States articulated their

national perspectives and the hemisphere’s analysis of the drug problem. In his statement to the

General Assembly, Foreign Minister of Belize Wilfred Elrington said that any efforts to confront

the drug problem had to include as a central element a serious and good faith effort towards

demand reduction in the principal markets in North America.

During the course of the General Assembly, the Inter-American Convention against

Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance and the Inter-American

Convention against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance were both opened for signature.

It is to be noted that Belize was the Vice-Chair of the Working Group charged with negotiating

these conventions during the final stages of preparation.

Within the margins of the General Assembly, members of the Belize delegation also held

bilateral meetings to discuss issues of mutual interest with representatives of various countries

including Guatemala, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, with the caucus of Foreign

Ministers of CARICOM and SICA.

In addition to Foreign Minister Elrington, the delegation of Belize included HE Alexis

Rosado, Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, HE Nestor Mendez,

Ambassador / Permanent Representative of Belize to the OAS, HE Alfredo Martinez, Sr.

Ambassador of Belize in Guatemala, Ms. Kendall Belisle, First Secretary / Alternate

Representative of Belize to the OAS, and Ms. Margaret Juan, Minister Counsellor at the

Embassy of Belize in Guatemala.