U.S. Under Secretary Leads High-level Delegation to Belize

Earlier today, Prime Minister John Briceño and Foreign Minister Francis Fonseca met with Ambassador Uzra Zeya, as well as a high-level delegation from the United States.  The mission called attention to Belize’s leadership on humane migration, and emphasized the successful co-chairmanship of the Migration Roundtable and commending initiatives such as the Amnesty Program.  Uzra Zeya is the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights.

 

 

Uzra Zeya, U.S. Ambassador

“Over the last few days, I’ve had excellent wide-ranging meetings with Prime Minister Briceno, Minister of Home Affairs Musa, Minister of Defense Marin, National Security Director Delcid, along with other senior officials and the Special Envoy for the Development of Families and Children.  I also engaged dynamic leaders from civil society and the National Women’s Commission and the National AIDS Commission.  So I want to extend my sincere appreciation to Prime Minister Briceno and Foreign Minister Fonseca for their close collaboration and our growing partnership in Belize and throughout the region.  The United States is grateful for our flourishing relationship anchored in shared commitments to democratic values and human rights.  We are also proud to be the leading trading partner and source of investment funds for Belize and its people. The United States invested three million dollars this past year to help make a difference in areas that Belizeans care about, improving civilian security, strengthening the justice sector and securing Belize’s borders.  In fact, since 2015, we have provided over fifty-seven million U.S. dollars in security, economic, health and humanitarian assistance to this great nation and through my visit, I have seen firsthand the dividends of this cooperation.  We also recognize Belize’s principled stand as one of twelve countries recognizing Taiwan.  This cooperation with Taiwan is benefiting the Belizean people as seen in the recent global cooperation and training framework event focused on combating gender-based violence that brought together advocates from Taiwan, Belize and the United States.”