BELIZE: FOREIGN MINISTER/ATTORNEY GENERAL POSITIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BELMOPAN 000120

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR WHA/CEN - R. BEAL
EMBASSIES ALSO FOR LEGATT, DEA, REGIONAL AFFAIRS, USMS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV SNAR SOCI PINR BH
SUBJECT: BELIZE: FOREIGN MINISTER/ATTORNEY GENERAL POSITIVE
IN INITIAL CALL

REF: A. A) BELMOPAN 105 (NOTAL)

B. B) BELMPAN 108

C. C) BELMOPAN 109

Classified By: Ambassador Robert Dieter for reason 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Belize's new Attorney General and Foreign
Minister Wilfred Elrington told the Ambassador February 20
that he did not see any major problems in the bilateral
relationship. He seems likely to focus most attention on the
justice system and less on his foreign affairs portfolio.
Contrary to some older reporting indicating that he was
anti-American, he went out of his way to talk about his
family and other ties to the U.S. and to indicate that his
view of the world has matured and become more nuanced. END
SUMMARY.


2. (U) Ambassador Dieter had an initial meeting with
Belize's new Attorney General and Foreign Minister Wilfred
Elrington on February 20. Elrington was relaxed, talkative
and candid and what was to have been a courtesy call touching
on a few issues of substance stretched to over 90 minutes of
relaxed conversation.

FOREIGN POLICY
--------------


3. (C) The Ambassador asked the Minister for his assessment
of the OAS-sponsored resettlement of Guatemalans from the
village of Santa Rosa. Elrington said he had not yet
received a briefing on the issue and called in the MFA action
officer for an update. The GOB's understanding of the
situation is that six families remain in Santa Rosa. Their
houses are being constructed and they will be resettled on
the Guatemalan side of the disputed border as soon as the
housing is done. Other families were resettled in January
and early February. The MFA official told us that he expects
the process to be completed soon. The briefing completed,
Elrington told the Ambassador: "Now you know what I know."


4. (C) On bilateral issues, Elrington said he did not see
any major problems. He wanted to know about the upcoming
Trafficking in Persons Report and said that the GOB is
concerned not to run afoul of the U.S. on this again. He
asked to be informed if we hear of any problems.


5. (C) In response to the Ambassador's question about
impending personnel changes, Elrington ran down a number of
posts for us:

-- The GOB did not intend to make sweeping changes at its
U.S. missions and would keep Nestor Mendes in Washington (it
was not clear if it would be as Charge or Ambassador) .
-- Lois Barrow Young (ex-wife of the PM) would go to New
York as PermRep.
-- The CEO (deputy minister) of MFA would be Alexis Rosado,
former Ambassador to Belgium.
-- Chendo Urbino, a defeated UDP candidate, would be
appointed Ambassador to Mexico.
-- The Ambassador in Guatemala and High Commissioner in
London would remain.
-- Adelbert Tucker would be appointed non-resident
Ambassador to Nigeria with responsibility for developing
relations with Africa.
-- Ambassador to Panama Musa would be removed. "Cabinet is
allergic to that name," Elrington said dryly.


6. (C) Elrinton's response to our Kosovo demarche was
reported in ref A.

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
--------------


7. (C) Elrington spent a considerable part of the meeting
discussing issues that are within his Attorney General
portfolio. He identified the office of the Director of
Public Prosecutions (DPP) as "really a mess," with a DPP who
did not argue cases in court and who had health problems that
kept him from work. In addition there had been political
interference in cases and the DPP was "compromised" by some
of his previous actions. The most effective Crown Counsel
was on maternity leave and the government would probably have
to bring in attorneys on contract to prosecute cases and

clear up the 400-case backlog.


8. (C) Elrington asserted that the previous government had
deliberately undermined the justice system in a number of
ways, including by appointing "incompetent" judges, several
of whom he named for us. Case backlogs were piling up in
part because the judges were slow and not productive. He
indicated he would be looking at the possibility of removing
some though he was not optimistic.


9. (C) The problem with the justice system, Elrington told
us, "starts with the police. We need a new, new, new face on
the police," and significant change in training and
orientation. He suggested bringing in people from the
outside and weeding out higher-ranking officers who were
cooperating with "the criminal elite that runs this country."
He said he would explore bringing Belizeans working abroad
in law enforcement back home, and that he also favored police
training abroad to expose officers to cultures "where people
are proud to be honest."


10. (C) Eliminating the culture of corruption was a major
theme in Elrington's comments. He said that the Prime
Minister was telling the UDP caucus that Belize had entered a
different era. What the previous government got away with
they would not. Having said that, he recognized that people
were human and there would be a lot of temptations for the
new members of the government. The key to success would be
vigilance.

COMMENT
--------------


11. (C) Although he has a reputation as something of a
loose cannon, we think Elrington will be accessible and ready
to listen. His candor is refreshing. He is clearly much
more up to speed on domestic issues than international ones,
and we suspect that he will leave much of the day-to-day
running of MFA to the CEO and staff while he focuses on the
justice system. We do not expect that he will continue
pressing the efforts of his predecessors to have Belize play
a larger role in bringing Caricom and Central America closer
together, nor does he strike us as someone who will spend
significant amounts of time traveling abroad except when
necessary.


12. (C) Like the Prime Minister and others in the new
government with whom we have spoken, Elrington sees fixing
the criminal justice system and the police as a top priority.
You have to "eliminate criminals and straighten society," he
said. We will encourage the GOB to take a more active role
in the Merida Initiative, where our interests and theirs seem
closely linked.

BIO NOTE
--------------


13. (C) Although some information linked Elrington to
anti-American speeches in the 1980s, we saw no evidence of
this in our discussion. In fact he made a point of noting
how many members of his family lived in the United States and
how successful they were there. He told us: "As you evolve
you mature and see shades of grey." Elrington said that he
had prospered in law over the years (he has practiced law for
some 30 years) and owned significant amounts of property in
Belize, including a development in Progresso, in northern
Belize, with an American partner (www.progressoheights.com).
He said that he banks in the U.S. because he does not like
Belize's exchange controls.


14. (C) Elrington has four children. Two daughters have
followed him into law and are with his firm. His son
attended college in Chicago but apparently did not finish a
degree and now works in the law firm as a process server.


15. (C) Elrington is the sixth of 14 children. He clearly
admires his father who raised the family on a government
salary and ensured that the children received good education.
Music runs in the family: Elrington plays the tuba, as did
his father. Other siblings and his children also play
instruments as well. He described his weekly band practice
as something he lives for.


16. (C) He has a reputation for being a political maverick.
He abandoned the UDP to run as an independent in the 2003
election because he thought "the leadership was not
democratic enough." In the 2008 election, he told us, he
spent his own money and was beholden to no one. He told us
that he never wanted nor sought a ministerial portfolio.
"The prize is to make the country work efficiently. If the
country does well then I and my children will do well." He
strikes us as a sincere family man focused on a domestic
agenda of law enforcement and judicial reform.

DIETER