Renewed Garifuna Talks, but Will Meaningful Action Follow?

The government is moving to repair relations with Belize’s Garifuna community following weeks of controversy over Prime Minister John Briceño’s remarks about the size of the population. Briceño has now met with the National Garifuna Council, putting longstanding concerns such as land rights, cultural preservation and official recognition back on the national agenda. Indigenous Affairs Minister Dr. Louis Zabaneh says the talks represent a renewed effort to address the issues the NGC believes are critical to the community’s future. But the question now is whether that renewed dialogue will lead to meaningful action.

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Indigenous Affairs

“We made agreements on timing for us to accomplish these different things. One of them has to do with a memorandum of understanding. We presently have a memorandum of understanding from the end of 1999 between the NGC and the government of Belize. It’s very general. Around August of last year, the National Garifuna Council brought a updated, if you will, modified MOU. I took that to cabinet. We formed a subcommittee. We reviewed the MOU, and then it has gone to NICH through the Ministry of Culture for a proper analysis because it has many points that require some good technical analysis, legal points, for example financial implications and so forth. So we agreed that assessment should be completed by the end of this year, and then it comes back to the subcommittee. It goes back to cabinet, and then that process continues. We consult back with them for any clarifications, and we hope that by the nineteenth of November of next year, that by then we would have worked through this MOU with our brothers and sisters in the NGC.”

 

Zabaneh clarified that the meeting had been requested by National Garifuna Council President Alex Nolberto prior to the prime minister’s recent remarks and was part of ongoing discussions between the government and Garifuna leaders.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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