So, what's going to happen to those hundreds of Guatemalans who do come into Belize and have built a life here with Belizean children? As we've reported over the years, there is a problem with the renunciation process for such applicants to apply for Belizean citizenship.
Under Belize's Constitution, Section 29.3,, quote "No person shall be entitled…to be a citizen of Belize or be granted citizenship of Belize if such person shows any allegiance to or is a citizen of a country which does not recognize the independence, sovereignty or territorial integrity of Belize …". End quote.
And, basically, that's Guatemala.
It first became a serious consideration for the Government back in 2012 that the Ministry of Immigration placed a hold on applications from Guatemalans who who wanted to become Belizeans. The practice was that for any Guatemalan to become a Belizean, they must first renounce their Guatemalan nationality. The difficulty is that Guatemalans can formally take any oath required by Belizean swearing in process. Even if they renounce their Guatemalan Citizenship in Belize, it's completely meaningless because these new Belizean citizens can then return to their native country and still get a Guatemalan passport.
When the Prime Minister was asked about it today, he said that the Belize Government consulted with their Guatemalan counterparts, and finally has some clarity on what Guatemalan applicants would really have to do to make the renunciation of their past nationality a final thing. Here's how he explained it:
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister
"They say that once you are a citizen of Guatemala then you always remain a citizen of Guatemala and it doesn't matter how much you renounce that citizenship, they will continue to regard you as a citizen of Guatemala. But they went further and they said, well if for your purposes we can agree something that would see us acknowledging the renunciation, they said there is a further problem that the Guatemalan constitution prevents the government from doing anything that would render a Guatemalan citizen or a former Guatemalan citizen stateless. So, they described a catch 22 situation to us. In other words they said, well, if these people can be given Belizean citizenship then they will not be stateless and so we could accept their renunciation. But of course we can't give them Belizean citizenship except if the Guatemalans recognize the renunciation. So, that is where we are. We are in a pickle because I will tell you, it is the considered strong and fervent view and position of the cabinet that it would be not just unfortunate, it would be a tragedy if people who originally are Guatemalan citizens but who have come to this country legitimately, who have laid down roots, who have had children, who have participated in the life and work of nation building here in Belize were to be told, you absolutely no matter what can never become a Belizean citizen."
Currently there still isn't any fix to address this renunciation problem.
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