Last week, we told you how Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington and the Belize Delegation held their first bilateral meeting with the new Guatemalan Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel.
She's the Guatemalan diplomat who has been appointed to replace Carlos Raul Morales, and last week, she and the Guatemalan delegation sat down to have lengthy conversations about the start of the process to restore cordial relations between the two countries. You'll remember that in April of last year, tensions rose after a Belizean joint law enforcement team shot and killed 13 year-old Guatemalan Julio Alvarado Ruano. Less than 5 months later, in August 2016, an OAS Independent Investigation Team presented their report which vindicated the Belizean law enforcement, but the Guatemalan Government rejected it completely.
So, last week's meeting may be signaling a resumption of cordial diplomatic relations, since dialog has been re-opened.
Today we spoke with Foreign Minister Elrington about last week's bilateral talks. Elrington shared his first impressions of the new Foreign Guatemalan Minister:
Hon. Wilfred Elrington - Minister of Foreign Affairs
"I started off by telling her how I have always had very good relationships with the foreign ministers of Guatemala, starting with the first one I met, Haroldo Rodas in 2008, and right down to Carlos Raul Morales, the last one, and I had expressed the hope that we'd have the same kind of relationship with her. She, of course, was very gracious, and said that, yes, she's aware of the relationships we've had, and she had been part of those delegations. She knows for a fact the kind of relationship we had."
Daniel Ortiz, reporter
"What's your first impression of the new Foreign Minister in her capacity as the lead diplomat in Guatemala?"
Hon. Wilfred Elrington
"She's obviously and experienced person because she is very focused. She knows exactly what the position is for Guatemala, what their interest is. And she is very deliberate too. She doesn't beat around the bush. She goes right to the issue, and indicate what in fact they see needs to be done, and how they issue moving forward. So, she's not inexperienced at all. She's quite experienced, and in the tradition of Guatemalan Foreign Ministers, she's holding the Guatemalan line, but she is not inflexible or arrogant, or haughty. I found her to be quite easy to talk to; she's not stuck-up."
Email
Print