PM Briceño Addresses Alexis Rosado’s Continued Role on Belize’s ICJ Team

Prime Minister John Briceño today addressed the continued appointment of Alexis Rosado as Belize’s co-agent at the International Court of Justice while the senior diplomat faces criminal proceedings involving allegations of sexual offences.  Rosado’s continued role in the territorial case with Guatemala has drawn renewed scrutiny as his criminal case proceeds through the High Court.  Speaking with the media today, Briceño gave his position on Rosado remaining on Belize’s ICJ team.

John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize:  “Of course it creates some kind of concern but right now I think I’m not in any way trying to minimize the severity of the of the accusations and again in our constitution in our laws you know you are innocent until declared guilty. But we also have to look after the future of the of the country you know we’re at the ICJ in February, both in February with Guatemala and then in March with Honduras. And the agent, Ambassador Rosado has been working on this issue for a few decades along with Ambassador Shoman. And it would be, I don’t think it would be in the best interest of the nation to be to remove him at this time. It’s unfortunate the timing, but it is what it is. That’s reality and we need to be able to put the best case possible to defend the sovereignty of our nation.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Francis Fonseca said last week that government’s decision to retain Rosado followed advice from Belize’s agent, Assad Shoman, and the legal team. According to Fonseca, they consider Rosado’s years of preparation and knowledge of the territorial case important to the work ahead.  Fonseca acknowledged the seriousness of the criminal charges while stressing that Rosado remains presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Following the charges in 2022, Rosado relinquished his overseas diplomatic postings but continued serving as Belize’s ICJ co-agent.  He was first charged in April 2022 following a complaint made in December 2021. At his initial arraignment, the charges included one count of rape, one count of sexual assault and six counts of aggravated assault of an indecent nature. The complainant alleged that the abuse began when she was thirteen. Rosado has pleaded not guilty.