<p><strong style="font-size:13px;">The brazen midday execution of Special Constable Conorquie at the Caracol Archaeological Site on Thursday, by persons believed to be Guatemalan nationals, has caused public outrage. And as you heard earlier in the newscast, there are significant differences in the interview from the San Ignacio police and the sanitized information released on Thursday. Still, the general feeling is that the perpetuators are indeed xateros operating in Belize illegally. But, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wilfred Elrington, maintains that the issue is of a domestic nature. Elrington says that only if and when it has been confirmed that the suspects are poachers from neighboring Guatemala will the Foreign Ministry step in to protest the matter with its counterparts. </strong></p>
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<p><strong>Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs</strong></p>
<p><em>“I was briefed on that incident yesterday evening by Colonel Lovell, who is the C.E.O. in the Ministry of National Security. As far as I understand it, it is a national security matter. The sad shooting of Mr. Conorquie, I was told, was allegedly done by two persons of Hispanic extraction who were apparently on horses and who disappeared into the bush. The identity of the persons has not been ascertained and neither their nationality, we really don’t know. It occurred well within the borders of Belize so that it is essentially a domestic matter. It has nothing to do with Foreign Affairs at this time, as far as we know. Whenever these things occur it causes strain on the relationship, you know. In this time it would certainly cause strain because the Belizean government would be very, very serious in dealing with it. It’s something that we never wished to happen, we don’t want to happen, we don’t want to encourage it to happen and we would certainly protest the matter very strongly with our Guatemalan counterparts. We would certainly notify them on the incident by diplomatic note and what normally happens thereafter is a sort of attempt between the foreign minister and then the presidents to see how we could calm the waters. Neither of us is of the view that it is profitable to inflame our populations and so every effort is taken to try to mitigate the damage and contain the damage that is done by these unfortunate incidents.”</em></p>
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<p> </p>
<p><strong>Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs</strong></p>
<p><em>“I was briefed on that incident yesterday evening by Colonel Lovell, who is the C.E.O. in the Ministry of National Security. As far as I understand it, it is a national security matter. The sad shooting of Mr. Conorquie, I was told, was allegedly done by two persons of Hispanic extraction who were apparently on horses and who disappeared into the bush. The identity of the persons has not been ascertained and neither their nationality, we really don’t know. It occurred well within the borders of Belize so that it is essentially a domestic matter. It has nothing to do with Foreign Affairs at this time, as far as we know. Whenever these things occur it causes strain on the relationship, you know. In this time it would certainly cause strain because the Belizean government would be very, very serious in dealing with it. It’s something that we never wished to happen, we don’t want to happen, we don’t want to encourage it to happen and we would certainly protest the matter very strongly with our Guatemalan counterparts. We would certainly notify them on the incident by diplomatic note and what normally happens thereafter is a sort of attempt between the foreign minister and then the presidents to see how we could calm the waters. Neither of us is of the view that it is profitable to inflame our populations and so every effort is taken to try to mitigate the damage and contain the damage that is done by these unfortunate incidents.”</em></p>
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