Four diplomatic posts to be shut down
Belize will be closing a number of embassies and consulates abroad, an austerity move which Belmopan says is part of its “home-grown” plan to return the country to financial health.
The blue, white and red flag will be hauled down from our high commission in Ottawa, Canada, a mission in Geneva, Switzerland and consulates in Cancun and Chetumal, Mexico. Budget cuts will be instituted at the remaining missions as part of an overall belt-tightening plan. The final decisions were made this morning at a special session of cabinet. A government press release indicates that the closings will save over a million dollars per year.
Of course what the press release does not say is that millions more had previously been wasted on those same diplomatic misadventures. The high commission in Ottawa, for example, was opened last year at great expense solely to accommodate the whims of one man: Assad Shoman. Shoman, it will be recalled, sought to retire from his post as foreign minister and live the good life in Havana with his new Cuban wife and child. What better way to go than as ambassador. The only problem was that Belize already had an ambassador in Cuba, Amalia Mai, who by all accounts was doing a splendid job. No problem; the veteran diplomat and PUP stalwart–who once faced going to jail for her party–was dispatched to Washington to represent Belize at the OAS. Having vacated Cuba on short notice, shipped all her belongings to the U.S. capital, rented a house, bought a car and enrolled her son in school, Mai settled down to work. But that work never materialized, as Belize’s ambassador to the United States–who also was assigned to the OAS–decided that Washington was not big enough for two Belizean ambassadors. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Ambassador Lisa Shoman was also Assad’s niece. The next thing Mai knew she was assigned to open a new diplomatic post in the far frozen north; somehow Canada had become a major ally…at least until today. Where Foreign Minister Shoman–sorry that’s Foreign Minister Godfrey Smith–will send Mai next is anybody’s guess. The Cuban post vacated by Minister of National Development Shoman has already been filled by non-resident ambassador Sal Figueroa out of Mexico. A return to Belize and a desk at the foreign ministry would be logical…but the boys in blue may find that Belmopan is a little too close for comfort.
