Maya Communities’ Lawyer Disputes Government Stance

Attorney Leslie Mendez, who represents the Maya communities in southern Belize, offered a very different take on the draft bill one that contrasts sharply with the government’s position.

 

Leslie Mendez, Attorney-at-law

“We have received a copy of the working draft and instructions to the draftsperson. We received that earlier this month, your honors. I don’t think that we’re sharing the same optimistic spirit that I think that the court has welcomed it and we’re a bit disheartened to know that this might be the last monitoring hearing. So, if I might persuade the court to reconsider that. The reason for that is that throughout these past two years, I believe, we have been reiterating the same four concerns when it comes to specific aspects of the policy that we now see somewhat hardened in the working draft, at least from our perspective.”