Briceño Sits Down With National Garifuna Council

Prime Minister John Briceño says he has met with the National Garifuna Council to discuss the concerns of the Garifuna community, including land rights. This follows criticism over his comment about the size of the Garifuna population in Belize

Briceño said the meeting covered “the matters of concern to our Garifuna people, among them land rights.” He added that his administration “remains committed to upholding indigenous people’s rights, protecting the Garifuna culture and heritage that form an invaluable part of the fabric of our Belizean identity.”

The meeting comes weeks after an exchange between Briceño and Soca artist Machel Montano, in which the Prime Minister said, “There are only about three or four thousand of them, but they’re fighting hard to keep that culture.”

Briceño has since apologised. National Garifuna Council President Alex Nolberto confirmed the prime minister reached out to him and acknowledged the error in his statistics.

Nolberto said the community’s priorities go beyond the remark itself. He pointed to a memorandum of understanding still in the pipeline, which he said would “legally recognise us as indigenous people” and “bring the resources that we so need to develop our people.”

Indigenous Affairs Minister Dr Louis Zabaneh said earlier that he believed the comment was “an innocent mistake”, but that he understood the community’s reaction. He said the focus should now shift to “those things that are more important”.