And while that is an issue, going back to the conflicting accounts of Guerra and Manzanero, there are two different versions of the same story, and so we followed up with Ambassador Badi-Guerra’s ministerial boss, Wilfred Elrington. After today’s very brief budget debate in Belmopan, we asked him about it, and he candidly said that he had no information about the incident:
Hon. Wilfred Elrington - Minister of Foreign Affairs
"Let me be very candid and tell you that I don't have the details on any of that, I don't have the details on any of that but I can you promise you that I will get it and then you contact me tomorrow and I'll give you what I know."
Daniel Ortiz
"Have you given any details to confirm that this indeed happened as is out there in the general public?"
Hon. Wilfred Elrington
"I have not but I will find out because if it was done, I'm sure my ministry would have had something to do with it. I will find out from the CEO all the details and then I undertake tomorrow in the morning to let you know what the situation is. I will do more than that if she has the time, I will have her come down tomorrow and you could meet us at the Laing building and we will have us a respond to the queries you're making."
Well, rather than wait until tomorrow for further clarification, he called the press to the Foreign Affairs Ministry Office office in Belmopan about a half-hour later. That’s when both he and his CEO shared details about the transit of the Guatemalans from Belize to their home country. They clarified that there were actually two separate incidents. Here’s how that conversation went:
Lou-Anne Burns-Martinez - CEO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
"You must remember that as of the 15th of March, 2020 the last press release advisory that we have had in relation to nationals who cannot enter Belize, yes the border, Guatemala closed its border with Belize, Belize closed its borders but we have not at any point prevented Guatemalans from entering or departing Belize. Remember these planes are still coming to Belize; they have nationals from certain countries. There's a misunderstanding to think, we are doing something wrong in allowing Guatemalans to return to their country. In similar fashion, now our border is closed for entry, for anyone but Belizeans - Belizeans are allowed at that border to come in. So it's really important and I think I would want to say at this time everybody feels uneasy, people are a bit nervous and we need in times like this, not to be hasty."
"In this particular case that I understand you to be referring to, we had 2 Guatemalan nationals entering. One was a member of Central American parliament and another was a student, who were then travelling onto their homes in Guatemala, one closer to Belize in Peten. We were indeed contacted by the Guatemalan Ambassador to Belize and his team and that is a good thing. They did absolutely everything correct, there is absolutely nothing incorrect that was done by the Ambassador and his team and in fact it was helpful for Belize to know that we had 2 people entering. So we knew where they were coming from and we had as clear idea of the passport numbers, so it helps us as well in terms of checking them to see if they have any symptoms and clearly if they had symptoms, they would not have been allowed to transit on"
Hon. Wilfred Elrington
"My understanding is that there are 2 sets of people involved. There were 2 persons who were coming with the knowledge of the Guatemalan authorities and they asked us to extent courtesies. They could have come on their own, pick them up and gone because there is nothing to prevent them from doing that, nothing in our law but given how we operate, we are very cautious, they advised us and asked us for courtesies. We had no difficulty with that, that's my understanding. Then apparently there were some other Guatemalans that came in took a taxi and were taken to the Western Boarder. We have nothing to with that and as far as I know, there is now law preventing that from being done, that's what transpired. Apparently, the Ambassador from our ministry, made a comment in relation to that, that's unfortunate, certainly was not authorized but neither of the 2 incidents is unlawful or not permissible under our law and under present circumstances."
This evening, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated those points that the Minister and the CEO made with a press release.Â
That release says, quote, “The Belize western border is closed to entry into Belize for all persons except Belizeans; however, Guatemalan nationals seeking to return to Guatemala are allowed to exit Belize through the Belize western border.â€
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