The Caribbean and cruise ship passengers alike are expected to benefit from at least four new cruise ports that are in the works to open in the region in the next few years. Cruise Fever reports that Harvest Caye in Belize will be the first up and running, with a scheduled opening date of February 16, when Norwegian Jade visits the port to take in the country’s eclectic mix of rainforests, jungle, and coral reefs.
Belize and Guatemala signed on Monday the Protocol to the Special Agreement which will allow the governments of both nations to separately hold public consultations with a view to submitting their territorial dispute to the International Court of Justice.
The General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) elected on Wednesday the Permanent Representative of Belize, Ambassador Nestor Mendez, as the next Assistant Secretary General of the hemispheric institution.
The mysterious collapse of the ancient Mayan civilization has been attributed to a variety of factors, most notably overhunting, deforestation, and a catastrophic peasant uprising. However the theory of prolonged extreme drought has been gaining ground among the scientific community in recent years regarding the Mayan demise.
Belize and Guatemala agreed at the headquarters of the Organization of American States on a Road Map and Plan of Action, which has as its main objective the strengthening of the bilateral relationship between the two countries during 2014 in order to make concrete the holding of popular consultations to enable the consideration of the territorial dispute before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
European Commission (EC) is urging European countries to impose trade sanction on Belize over illegal fishing, while warning Curacao that it may be next. The EC also urged European Union governments to hit Cambodia and Guinea with the sanctions, cautioning South Korea and Ghana that they, too, may be next in line.
As part of Argentina's foreign policy to increase links and cooperation with the Caribbean, Foreign minister Hector Timerman and his peer from Belize, Wilfred Elrington signed a South to South cooperation agreement which covers several fields and opens trade opportunities.
The Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union signed an agreement to support the Peace Fund project, Implementation of Confidence Building Measures in the Adjacency Zone between Commonwealth member Belize and Guatemala, managed by the hemispheric organization.
Britain welcomed Guatemala and Belize's agreement to hold simultaneous referenda on referring their territorial dispute to the International Court of Justice. The territorial dispute of the Central American neighbors is centered on Guatemala claims since 1940 of most of Belize.