So far in this campaign season we've told you about two candidates - one for the UDP, the other for the PUP who allegedly have Guatemalan nationality. They are Ralph Huang, the UDP's Candidate in Cayo South and Doctora Lesbia Guerra, the PUP's Candidate in Cayo West. Well, tonight there is one more PUP candidate who has been confirmed to be Guatemalan born. He is Greg Papas Garcia, the PUP Candidate for Corozal Bay. This document is a Guatemalan birth certificate and today Garcia confirmed that he was born in Guatemala. Garcia told us that he can't control destiny - and the fact is his parents met in Guatemalan university, and that led to his conception while they were students. He said he was registered at birth - and had no choice in the matter. He told us that his parents also registered his birth with the British High Commission in Guatemala City. Garcia says that within two months of his birth he was living in Belize - and this is the only place he has lived. He said he does not hold Guatemalan nationality and his only passport is Belizean.
Garcia's case is notable because his aunt Sandra Torres just ran for the presidency of Guatemala and lost. That lineage on his mother's side of the family is reflected in his name as registered at birth as Gregorio Enrique Garcia Torres.
And while the constitution only stipulates that no person who holds any other nationality can be a member of the national assembly, that doesn't affect Garcia because as we said he does not have Guatemalan nationality. However, there's a wrinkle. Anyone born in Guatemala is considered a Guatemalan by that country's laws, while those born to Belizean parents - no matter where they are born - are considered Belizean. According to Immigration minister Godwin Hulse, because of the very strict rule in the constitution that no person who holds any other nationality can be a member of the National Assembly, his investigation of the matter suggests that there would still have to be a renunciation - even if the person does not formally hold Guatemalan nationality.
As for Garcia, he says he is quote, "100% Belizean - the only thing I did not do was being born here. If I could change that I would..."
Email
Print