Sedi second take on decriminalizing transportation of drugs

A regional security conference was held recently in Antigua, Guatemala. It was widely reported in the international press because the president of Guatemala is proposing to decriminalize the transportation of drugs through Central America. It is part of an unusual plan to combat the large scale escalation of violence that has resulted from drug trafficking. Wilfred Elrington, the foreign Minister, who was at the conference, has already made initial statements on the topic. He wants the US and the UK involved in the debate but today he says that he is more concerned about health than on the criminality of the issue.

Wilfred "Sedi" Elrington

"The country of Belize has basically taken the position as articulated by the British, the Americans and all our major allies that this is an issue that is inimical to a national security interest and that in fact we should treat it as criminal offense and that is the position which we have taken all along. There have been individuals who have had different positions. I personally have long thought that really it's a health issue, not so much a criminal issue. 01:08:48 I know people who smoke marijuana every day of their lives who are smarter than I am, who are more competent than I am, who physically seem to be better equipped than I am. I don't see any harm being done to them at all, at all, at all and they don't behave bad in any way."

Marleni Cuellar

Wilfred "Sedi" Elrington

"Do you feel that it should be decriminalized?"

Wilfred "Sedi" Elrington

"I think we should engage in the debate. I certainly don't think that persons who are found with a little bit of marijuana should be incarcerated. I don't think so at all. I don't think you’re helping them, as a matter of fact I think you’re harming the society. A little man who you find with one stick of marijuana, you will lock up. You leave a wife there, you leave five kids there, and nobody to provide for them. How can that make sense? Who is he harming by having a little stick of marijuana? Especially in a place like Belize. I think we have to think these things through. Now I could be wholly wrong but that is my view. The important thing is though I think that we in Belize should start the debate and I think that's the point that the Guatemalan president was making. We in Central America need to start the debate because what is good for the United States isn't necessarily good for us. What the Belize position is as far as I know is that we are prepared to discuss these issues with the region and with a representative of the United States or the United Kingdom, the super power in the region because I believe that really and truly it is sterile to discuss it in their absence because in final analysis you will only move forward with their concurrence. And to be truthful, the position of Barrack Obama seems to be changing somewhat. He's no longer articulating the expression "war against drugs" and they are trying to move more towards the area of seeing it as a health problem."

And in respect of the slew of election petitions, Elrington says that it's a good move since voters need to think before they put their X on the ballot.

Channel 5