New appointments rearrange diplomatic service

Belize finally has an ambassador to Guatemala. On Wednesday Moises Cal presented his credentials to Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo in a ceremony at the presidential palace. Cal, who formerly served as the programme officer for the United Nations Development Programme in Belize, succeeds Ambassador Mike Mena, who passed away on May second. In a reciprocal move, on Friday the new Guatemalan ambassador to Belize will present his credentials to the Governor General. Ambassador Jorge Skinner-Klee is a member of a prominent Guatemalan family and is the son of a former vice president. He has previously served as his country’s ambassador to Canada and Germany. In related diplomatic news, a formal announcement is expected shortly on the appointment of Stuart Leslie as Belize’s ambassador to the United Nation’s. Leslie previously served in New York as number two to ambassador Michael Ashcroft. Ashcroft agreed to relinquish the Belizean diplomatic post as a condition of his receiving a seat in the British House of Lords. Meanwhile, Belize’s embassy in Washington is expected to have a new occupant before the end of the summer. Attorney and BTL chairman Lisa Shoman will likely be named to replaced the former priest turned diplomat, Jim Murphy.