The AG Weighs on the Guatemalan Re-registration Issue

Michael Peyrefitte

Everyone has weighed in on the eligibility of naturalized Guatemalans to re-register and vote – from the Chief Elections Officer to the Foreign Minister and even the Attorney General.  Each has offered a similar, yet slightly different take on the matter. AG Michael Peyrefitte today had his take on the difficulties with the renunciation process for Guatemalans lawfully residing in Belize.

Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney General

“As far as I know, the Immigration Department has put a pause on people who are of Guatemalan origin.  That’s the last information I got, was that it was on pause because of that same renunciation situation.  However, evidence has been gathered that when the ambassador for Guatemala to Belize was here, meetings were held between the Immigration Department and that person and we tried to ascertain what was the means of renunciation.  And what they told us was, as long as the person renounces in the way, according to Belizean law and the way a Belizean would do it, and you submit that person’s Guatemalan passport with that renunciation form and you send it to our embassy, we will accept that as that person being renounced.  So we did that.  The Guatemalans told us that’s what you do, so we did that.  Now they’re saying that you can’t renounce at all.  So what we would want is one straight answer from the Guatemalans, but the most difficult thing to do is to get a straight answer from a Guatemalan official.”