ii)
CONFIDENTIAL
6
Commonwealth Declaration on Belize (though
nearly sabotaged at the last moment by
Canada) gave some reassurance to the people
of Belize in their dispute with Guatemala.
1.
There may be occasion in the future when the
Commonwealth will have a similar role, for
example if problems were to occur in the
Caribbean or the Pacific.
DSR 11C
bilateral
The Commonwealth includes most Third World
countries in which we have significant
ecomomic and political interests (the OPEC
countries excluded) -about 75% of our
aid programme goes to the Commonwealth - and
the Commonwealth tradition probably gives
us better access to their governments than we
would otherwise enjoy. It does not guarantee
good access, and it does not necessarily
prevent the expression of hostility towards
us (look at Malaysia), but on balance
it probably gives us an edge over our political
(mostly the Eastern bloc) and commercial
(mostly the West) competitors. It is not
←------- - possible however to demonstrate any direct
commercial advantage deriving from
the Commonwealth, rather than from good
individual
bilateral relations with/ Commonwealth
countries.
/(iii)
"...