He Hopes to Rebuild Relationship Between the Countries

Manuel Estuardo Roldan

Ambassador Roldan says that his primary focus will be to build the relationship between Guatemala and Belize. And one of his priorities is to help alleviate the pressures on the border by establishing economic opportunities for Guatemalans. When he leaves office, he says that he hopes that he would be known for improving the relations between the neighboring countries—a relationship that has been wearing thin.

Manuel Estuardo Roldan, Guatemalan Ambassador to Belize

“Precisely, you hit the nail on the head. We have to build a relationship with Belize. As you know we have a differendum that is going to take its own course and we believe it is time to look each other in the eye and not back to back. We have a lot of common challenges that we must tackle together as friend, as neighbours because we’re never going to move. As you know, we have to get along with your neighbours and that’s exactly what I am here for. We have a positive agenda that we want to build on. What we must try to do is to alleviate poverty in the adjacency zone; to that effect we are trying to develop agriculture projects so as to foster economic opportunities for people that live in that area of our countries and we have the best level of communication with the Belizean authorities and I like to use the analogy like a shoe lace. Whether you are trying or not, you have to pull the knot on both sides, if you only pull on one side you will end up with a lace in your hand and what you will do is destroy the knot, so we are trying to mobilize and both countries are trying to do the same thing.”

Andrea Polanco

“What do you hope will be your legacy? What mark would you like to leave?”

Manuel Estuardo Roldan

“Ahhh. What I would like to leave is the best and most positive relationship between our peoples. We have to know each other and we have to look each other in the eye and live as friends, brothers, neighbours. Yeah that’s what I want to leave.”