…And another says he might not return to Guatemala

Fred Trelfa

The protest is expected to continue as the Guatemalan teachers have not reached an agreement with their government.  News Five also spoke to another traveler who was already in Belize but crossed the border to visit Tikal. He said that he would return to Belize but there was a possibility he might not return to visit Guatemala.

Fred Trelfa, Detained at Western Border by Guatemalans

“We were coming down; we went to Flores and then Tikal and we were driving across.  It was relatively pain-free to get up to the border, but once we got up to the border, we noticed there was a long back up of trucks and then we were driving a pretty big truck over there so we had to squeeze on the bridge that was barley big enough to fit us to get up to the border. We probably sat there for about two hours before they let us—they were letting five people at a time go into Customs so by the time we got there we were probably fifteenth in line. We waited about twenty minutes, they let us in and then we went back out to the car and at that point they didn’t open up the gates to let anyone through. So we were still sitting there for at least another forty-five minutes.  And then they had said they were going to start opening the gates so I ran through to the other side.  I got my immigration stamped, took care of everything I could here and then my friend drove the car through.”

Jose Sanchez

“At any point were you a little bit unsure or felt unsafe?”

Fred Trelfa

“Yeah well I didn’t think—we have a tight itinerary of places where we need to go and we have to get some places and we didn’t know if we were going to get through.  For a while they told us they wouldn’t get through until five o’ clock then some people told us who knows. So yeah I felt like I was unsure if we were going to get through the border today at all. Now I don’t know where I’m going to go cause everything is thrown off. I’m not going to drive six or seven hours to get somewhere.”

Jose Sanchez

“Does this deter you about coming back to Belize or Guatemala?”

Fred Trelfa

“Probably not Belize, cause everything here has worked out pretty well, but definitely going to Guatemala.. if I do I’m going to be more vigilant about checking.”

It is not known when the teachers will call of their protest.