Guatemalan diplomat stays silent
If you are wondering why we have not heard from the Guatemalan side of the dispute, it’s because in Belize at least, they’re keeping a low profile. Today, in the belief that it never hurts to ask, we approached Guatemalan charge d’affaires in Belize, Carlos Avila, and asked him how it felt to be in a distinct minority.
Carlos Avila, Guatemalan Charge d’Affaires
“This is a governmental issue and I can’t be blamed individually for anything. That’s a country to country thing, so I don’t think that I should feel like I am the bad guy here. I don’t even think that you should put it that way because we don’t think of you people as bad guys either.”
Stewart Krohn
“But we don’t represent a government and you do. Do you feel what was said here by the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition, do you think that their attitude is anything unreasonable? ”
Carlos Avila
“Regarding those things, I don’t have any comment.”
Stewart Krohn
“How come you are here as charge and the Ambassador Mr. Skinner Klee, never seems to be in Belize. Why is that?
Carlos Avila
“I really don’t have comments about that because I suppose that if I receive orders from my government that I shouldn’t comment on something, I can’t give you a comment.”
Stewart Krohn
“Belize’s ambassador sits in Guatemala City, he answers the phone, he talks to reporters, anyone who wants to talk to him he is open to, why is it different with you here?”
Carlos Avila
“Because I suppose that the ambassador is a man who represents the country either here or in Guatemala or anywhere, and he has to be in and out here, and in and out everywhere doing the job that he has been sent for. Doing that job he has to be in and out of the country, not only in one place.”
Stewart Krohn
“You expect him to be in Belize anytime soon?”
Carlos Avila
“He’s always in Belize.”
Despite Avila’s assertion, the Guatemalan Ambassador to Belize, Jorge Skinner Klee, was not available for comment.
