Open doors for Israelis …Belize waives visa requirement
Posted: 17/11/2009 - 10:08 AM
Author: Adele Ramos - adelescribe@gmail.com
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Attorney General of Belize, Wilfred Elrington, and Ambassador for Israel, Mattanya Cohen, who is based in San Salvador, El Salvador, today affixed their signatures to a visa waiver agreement that would lift visa requirements for nationals who want to visit the other country, citing a boost in tourism and trade as the impetus for the agreement.
“We are not only looking to Israel; we are looking all over the world for people to come, bring their technologies, bring their capital, bring their skilled labor and to help us to develop this country. And this initiative with Israel is only one such initiative,” the Minister said.
Symbolizing the exchange, Cohen presented Elrington with a set of commemorative stamps of the Pope Benedict XVI, who visited Israel last year, in 2008. The Ambassador formally extended an invitation to Minister Elrington to take advantage of the fact that Belizeans can go to Israel without a visa. (The waiver is for visits of up to 90 days; beyond that the visitor must apply for a visa.)
The minister smiled politely at the prospect, as not many Belizeans travel to Israel; but not many Israelis have travelled to Belize, either.
Cohen and Elrington signed agreements in English and Hebrew, which the Belize minister obviously could not read.
“I know that you don’t understand one word,” said Cohen, “but believe me, it’s OK.”
As the Israelis and the Palestinians have had an eternal war over territory (the Holy Land), Guatemala has retained its claims that at least half of Belize (and possibly all of it) belongs to Guatemala, via inheritance from Spain, who claimed to have acquired the lands of the Americas during the colonial era via a decree of the then Pope.
“We understand the difficulties that the Israelis have with the Palestinians ...we know the realities of that. But certainly we do not think that by signing this agreement with the Israelis we are in any way prejudicing any of our sides,” said Elrington.
Even though Israel remains a strong ally of the US, so does it remain a strong ally of Guatemala, and some observers have questioned the open doors now being extended to Israel in this context of its relationship with Guatemala.
For his part, though, Elrington said: “I cannot see why because of a dispute we have with Guatemala and because Israel is an ally of Guatemala, we should not in fact be having closer relations with Israel. We don’t have a dispute with Israel; we have a dispute with Guatemala.”
The visa waiver agreement, which the Minister said would later be made public, is mutual. Unlike that between Belize and the US which only gives the waiver to US nationals (who need no visa to come to Belize), Belizeans (who are not also US citizens or green card holders) require a visa to enter the country.
“Israelis need visa in order to enter the [United] States, and believe me, relations between the US and Israel are the best relations,” said Cohen.
Ambassador Cohen told the media at today’s signing ceremony that each year, only 50 to 60 visitors come to Belize from his country. So then, why is the signing of the visa waiver agreement such a big deal for the officials?
Elrington, who hailed the accomplishment as a sign of Belize’s maturing foreign policy, said that the primary reason for the agreement is to facilitate trade and other relations between Belize and Israel.
“I personally believe that that can only bring good to Belize,” said Elrington. “This is a time when we are venturing into the world of trade and investment. It’s a world that is really signaled by knowledge. It is driven almost exclusively by knowledge and the Israelis have proven themselves to be perhaps one of the most knowledgeable people in the world. They have done tremendous work and research in all areas of activity.”
The agreement between Belize and Israel attracts special attention because decades ago, the United Nations was looking for a new homeland for the Israelis, and watchful eyes were on Belize:
“I don’t know how widely known it is, but in the 40’s and the 30’s, when the world was looking for a homeland for the Israelis, Belize was one of the countries that was considered to be a candidate for the [Israeli] settlement,” said Attorney General and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wilfred Elrington at the signing. “We could only imagine what they would have turned Belize into, given the kind of development that they have done in Israel, which is certainly much less hospitable than Belize is.”
Cohen explained that Uganda in Africa and Belize in Central America were two locations that were proposed.
“In the beginning of the century, there were a few ideas where to build the new Jewish state ....But definitely, we will not agree to go anywhere. The land of Israel is the historic land of the Jewish people for the last 4,000 years. So the state of Israel is the only place for the Jews and the only country for the Jews,” said Ambassador Cohen.
Elrington contends that the visa waiver agreement, endorsed by Cabinet, would greatly benefit Belize. When Cabinet announced the draft agreement back in September, it said that “More than 100 countries, including several CARICOM and Central American states, have entered into such agreements with Israel.”
Ambassador Cohen told the media that the signing is one of three goals he had set for his 2009 tenure: “So I am expecting that as a result of this agreement, we will have more Israeli tourists here in this beautiful country of Belize. This is one thing. And the other thing I expect, more Israeli businessmen to come here to Belize...”
Two were invited to attend today’s signing — Ronald Amiran, an Israeli who lives in Belize, and the other an Israeli of Guatemala who also works in construction and, according to Minister Elrington, “has started roads and other projects in Belize.”
Cohen’s second goal was to have Rosalinda Wischenka succeed her retired husband, Naftuli Wischenka, appointed as honorary consul of Israel in Belize. The third accomplishment falls under an agreement for the Enhancement of International Technical/Cooperation between Israel and Belize. Over a 15-year span, they have sent hundreds of thousands of students from developing countries for training in Israel.
At today’s signing, Ambassador Cohen also presented Elrington with the formal report of the consultancy, in which an Israeli consultant in agriculture made a series of proposals, among them an irrigation strategy to boost agriculture.
In response to our queries on the alliance between Guatemala and Israel, Elrington said that Belize is part of the Central American Integration System (SICA), of which Guatemala is a part, and there is ONE integration agenda. (Belize is due to chair SICA in July 2010.)
Minister Elrington said that the strengthened partnerships between Belize and other countries are in line with a wider movement to integrate the countries of the hemisphere and the world.
“We have to find a modus vivendi,” said Elrington.
The intention, really, is to have all countries from Mexico to the tip of South America, as well as Central America and Caribbean “coalesce to form one block, one region to enhance competitiveness in business and capacity for development,” said Elrington.
In May, Caribbean media reported that Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Barbados were among those countries that had signed to lift short-stay visa requirements for nationals of the European Union.
Belize has been pursuing similar visa waiver agreements with Taiwan and Peru.
There are roughly 80 countries for which Belize does not require citizens traveling here to hold a visa. They include the countries of Central America and the Caribbean, Canada, France, UK and other parts of Europe, US, Ghana and Mexico.
When we asked the minister why the US does not have a reciprocal visa waiver program with Belize, he said the US is very selective with whom they want to have this reciprocal arrangement.
“They have it with some countries, but they don’t want it with countries like Belize,” said Elrington, pointing to what he described as a “highly erroneous view that every Belizean wants to go live in the US” – a mindset he said descended from the US Congress.
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