Prime Minister John Briceño stepped to the UN podium with the weight of representing one of the world’s smallest nations, but his message would prove among the most pointed of UNGA80.
“For eight decades, the United Nations has endured, a beacon of hope for the world, a
defender of dignity and freedom, a shield against aggression, whether for the mighty or the small, and a foundation for cooperation that has lifted millions out of poverty, and given humanity a chance to move forward together. Yet the vision penned 80 years ago remains unfulfilled,” he began, but quickly cut through diplomatic niceties. Military spending had soared to $2.7 trillion while wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan dragged on with hundreds of thousands dead. Six nuclear powers were now drawn into conflicts, yet the UN remained “actively blocked from doing its job.”
For Briceño, these weren’t just statistics. Each represented families destroyed, communities displaced—including in his own backyard where Guatemala had spent two weeks probing Belize’s southern border with “repeated aggression and provocative actions.
Despite representing a nation of barely 400,000 people, Briceño didn’t mince words on global flashpoints. “The genocide in Palestine must stop now,” he declared to thunderous applause, comparing the situation to apartheid South Africa. “No regime that desecrates the charter and destroys a people has a place in this hall.”
He called for ending the US blockade of Cuba, recognizing Taiwan’s contributions to global development, and urgent action in Haiti. For a small nation leader, his diplomatic reach was remarkably broad.
As the fifth most vulnerable small island state to climate change, Belize faced an existential threat. Rising seas were displacing coastal communities while fishermen traveled farther for declining catches. Yet only 1% of climate finance reached small island states like his.
The territorial dispute with Guatemala loomed large—boundaries agreed in 1859 but still contested. “We remain firm, not belligerent, tested but not subdued,” Briceño said, trusting in international law over force.
Briceño’s final message was clear: “Multilateralism is not an option but an obligation. The rule of law is not an aspiration but a necessity.”
It was a small nation’s challenge to a fractured world—if Belize could stand for justice despite its size and vulnerabilities, what excuse did the powerful have for their inaction?
