Guatemalan presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo on Wednesday said he has “no interest” in changing the country’s diplomatic ties with Taiwan should he be elected as the Central American nation’s next president.
Arevalo, who is running against Guatemala’s former first lady Sandra Torres in the country’s presidential runoff election on Aug. 20, made the comment in a teleconference with the Washington-based Atlantic Council.
Guatemala is one of 13 countries that recognize Taiwan, including the Holy See, and the relations with the country were established in 1933.
Photo: Reuters
“We are discussing [with Taiwanese officials] the ways in which we can ... harness their cooperation into our development plans,” he said. “We have made it very clear that there is no interest in altering the diplomatic relations between our countries.”
Asked whether he expects Guatemala’s “status quo” with Taiwan to be maintained, Arevalo said that expanding trade with China and keeping his country’s diplomatic relations with Taiwan are not mutually exclusive.
“We do not see that [as] being contradictory with the fact that there [are] already commercial ties established between Guatemala and the People’s Republic of China,” he said.
“[F]or us working in both directions, keeping diplomatic relations with Taiwan and exploring commercial relations with China are completely compatible,” he said.
Last month, Arevalo told local radio station Con Criterio that he would increase Guatemala’s economic cooperation with potential foreign partners as president and mentioned Beijing as an example.
Guatemala should be the master of its own foreign policy and he would seek to maintain good relations with Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China if elected president, Arevalo said at the time.
The 64-year-old Arevalo visited Taiwan in 1994 when he was deputy minister of foreign affairs.
Arevalo came in second in the first-round presidential election on June 25 with 12 percent of the total votes cast after running a campaign that focused on corruption.
Guatemalan police on Friday last week raided the offices of Arevalo’s Semilla party for alleged irregularities in a move condemned by the candidate, the US and the EU.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS