Shyne Barrow Criticises UDP Over Venezuela Stance

Former United Democratic Party (UDP) leader Moses “Shyne” Barrow has criticised the party’s handling of its position on Venezuela. According to Barrow, the leadership failed to consult members before expressing ‘sympathy’ for President Nicolás Maduro.

“You have Patrick Faber and her crying tears for the dictator, narco‑trafficker Mr Nicolás Maduro, without discussing the matter with the party. We are a conservative party. We are a centre‑right party,” he said.

The comments follow a UDP press conference last Tuesday, during which Senator Patrick Faber criticised the Briceño administration’s January 5 statement on Venezuela. According to Faber, the statement did not clearly outline Belize’s foreign policy and seemed “like a government that is afraid to offend Washington.” He argued the People’s United Party was hiding behind CARICOM instead of asserting an independent stance.

Barrow, however, said the UDP’s position was inconsistent with the party’s international affiliations. “We are sister parties to conservative parties, to the Republicans. While I believe in the George Price mantra of foreign policy, ‘friend to all, enemy to none’, I am certainly not a friend to a despotic dictator who jailed his political opponents, who has millions of Venezuelans displaced, and who was a threat to the zone of peace in CARICOM.”

Barrow also cautioned against antagonising Belize’s largest trading partner, the United States, and expressed support for the government’s foreign affairs statement, describing it as “mild and temperate and consistent with what CARICOM put out on the matter.”

Faber declined to comment when contacted by News Five.