Belize Prime Minister John Briceño says his country is making measurable progress on development but has warned that small and vulnerable states continue to face a global financial and political system that does not adequately account for their exposure to climate and economic shocks.
Addressing the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, Briceño said multidimensional poverty in Belize now stands at 19.1 per cent, unemployment at 1.9 per cent and public debt at 66.6 per cent of gross domestic product.
‘These figures are not abstractions,’ Briceño said. ‘They are Belizeans at work, families with greater purchasing power, and a government with room to invest in the future.’
‘We are doing well, but we have further to go,’ he added, pointing to the government’s Plan Belize 2.0, aimed at creating jobs, reducing vulnerability and imported-energy dependence, protecting ecosystems and preparing Belizeans for a changing economy.
But the prime minister warned that climate risks were becoming more difficult to manage, citing more intense hurricanes, unpredictable weather patterns and the unprecedented influx of sargassum along Belize’s coast.
‘Managing them requires innovation, capable institutions and strategies that are properly financed,’ he said. ‘Yet, even the best national effort will fall short without coordinated international cooperation.’
With less than four years remaining before the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals, Briceño said the international community must also begin considering what comes next.
He said any successor framework must address unfinished development goals while being built on what he described as a fairer foundation.
Briceño also placed reparatory justice at the centre of his address, saying the issue was no longer ‘a marginal whisper in this Assembly.’
‘It is here, at the center, and it is not going away,’ he said.
He argued that the economic structures created during slavery and colonialism continued to shape global inequalities even after countries gained political independence.
‘When independence came, the flags changed,’ Briceño said. ‘The structures did not; the terms of trade did not change; the cost of capital did not change.’
He warned that the rapid development of technology could create another generation of inequality unless rules governing data, standards and economic value were designed more equitably. Turning to international financing, Briceño said Belize had demonstrated that debt could be reduced and conservation financed through innovative approaches, but argued that vulnerable countries continued to face disadvantages in accessing capital.
‘Belize does not seek special treatment. We seek accurate treatment,’ he said.
He called for the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index to become a practical tool across the international financial system, including in determining eligibility for concessional financing, conducting debt sustainability assessments and allocating capital.
Briceño said per capita income did not capture ‘how much of an economy sits in a hurricane’s path’ or how quickly a climate shock could undo years of fiscal progress.
On Haiti, the Belizean leader said the worsening security situation should be viewed as a regional concern.
‘Haiti’s crisis is our crisis – Haiti is the Caribbean,’ he said.
While pointing to planned elections in December as a source of hope, Briceño warned of rising violence and backed calls from the CARICOM Eminent Persons Group for the Gang Suppression Force to be ‘urgently and fully deployed.’
‘A Haitian-led, Haitian-owned political transition deserves a security environment in which it can actually succeed,’ he said.
Briceño also renewed Belize’s opposition to the United States embargo on Cuba, describing the impact of the decades-old restrictions and fuel constraints on the Cuban economy as ‘unnecessary and unjustified.’
He called for the lifting of the embargo and for Cuba to be removed from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.
On Ukraine, he said the principle of territorial sovereignty had to be applied consistently.
‘If borders can be redrawn by force, then every border is provisional,’ Briceño said.
The prime minister also renewed Belize’s call for Taiwan to participate meaningfully in the UN system, citing its partnership with Belize and its importance to global semiconductor and artificial intelligence industries.
‘Taiwan is a friend of Belize,’ Briceño said, adding that the relationship had helped the country strengthen climate resilience and technical capacity.
Briceño also raised Belize’s longstanding territorial dispute with Guatemala, accusing Guatemala of a ‘serious breach of international law’ after what he said was a Guatemalan military aircraft entering Belizean sovereign airspace on September 23 while its transponder was disabled.
He said the incident was part of a wider pattern of alleged incursions involving Guatemalan state vessels and personnel in the Sarstoon River area.
‘Belize has chosen, and will always choose, law over force,’ Briceño said.
He called on Guatemala to ‘immediately cease all incursions by air, land, or sea’ and respect the International Court of Justice process, with the territorial case scheduled for hearing in February 2027.
Briceño also reaffirmed Belize’s support for Guyanese diplomat Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett to become the next UN Secretary-General.
‘A Caribbean woman at the helm of the United Nations would be historic,’ he said. ‘But history alone is not the argument; her record is.’
He ended by calling for a more representative and effective United Nations, saying small states should be central to decisions affecting their future.
‘Let the smallest voice be heard as clearly as the largest. Let agreements become action,’ Briceño said.
‘Let this United Nations prove that cooperation is not weakness, but the highest expression of our common strength.’