Julie Chappell » Ambassador to Guatemala, Guatemala City

Tomorrow, 11 February, marks 200 days to the Paralympic Games in London. As with the Olympic Games, the UK is prepared and gearing up to receive athletes, press and government delegations for this international and inclusive sporting showcase! Hosting the Paralympics in 2012 will be a particularly special moment for the UK as the country that founded the Paralympic movement in 1948 and put disability sport on the map. Dr … Read more »Counting Down!

Julie is taking a well deserved break, so this is David at the helm for a couple of weeks. In the Embassy this week we were pleased to welcome our Regional Consul, Marie Forsyth, on a visit.  Marie’s based in Mexico City, but has responsibility for our Consular sections and Honorary Consuls in all 10 countries from Mexico down to Colombia – a busy role!  At a reception hosted by … Read more »Regionalising consular work

Inauguration days are exciting times with feelings of optimism and hope that a new government’s election brings: they bring opportunities but also challenges. Guatemalans exercised their democratic right in record numbers last September and November when they chose Partido Patriota, led by Otto Perez Molina, to govern the country. On 14 January the new President was sworn in, along with Guatemala’s first female Vice President, Roxanna Baldetti, for a four … Read more »New government; new opportunities

I recently made my last trip to Honduras as UK Ambassador. It was sad to say goodbye, but I’m happy that there are lots of good things for my successor to take on when she arrives in June. For example, during the visit I and Lisa (who is in charge of our Honduras project work) attended the soft launch of the new Land Rover showroom in Tegucigalpa. It’s a brand … Read more »Visiting Honduras

And to kick off the new year, here’s our Lisa with a blog on one of our most important (and popular!) areas of work: Scholarships! One of the highlights of working in the Embassy is involvement in the FCO’s Chevening Scholarships programme, and the opportunity to meet and support the future leaders of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador who apply for these one-year Masters scholarships in the UK. In December, … Read more »Chevening Scholarships

I love the change of a year. It gives you the chance to take stock of how much has happened and look forward to the year coming in. This is a particularly special end of year period for me for a number of reasons. Firstly, because 2011 was frankly epic and I’m incredibly grateful to the whole British Embassy Team for everything we’ve achieved. Secondly, because 2012 will be my … Read more »2012: the end of the world?

Saturday 10 December marked International Human Rights Day, with a special emphasis this year on human rights and social media.  Over this past year, the British Embassy here in Guatemala has been active in using the social media available to us to put several human rights cases in the spotlight, by attending crucial hearings at the courts together with EU colleagues and then publishing the results in the Ambassador’s blog … Read more »International Day of Human Rights

The British Director for the Americas at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Angus Lapsley, visited Guatemala and El Salvador from 6 to 8 December Director Lapsley discussed a range of bilateral issues, including human rights, democracy, regional security and commercial. See his video blog:  

I can’t believe it’s December! The Christmas trees are up and here in Guatemala the skies are beautiful and sunny. In the British Embassy, preparations continue for two massive events next year. I’ve written quite a bit about the first event and today marks 50 days until we join in the first human chain ever to be seen in a volcano! This is to support the domestic violence campaign “Rompe … Read more »British Week 2012

As we head towards the next international climate change negotiations in Durban, South Africa, today’s blog comes from Zoe – our new Deputy Ambassador in El Salvador – who has been getting involved in some exciting new work to explore links between the UK and Central America as areas that are potentially very  rich in marine energy and hopefully partners for the future as we work to develop sustainable and … Read more »Marine energy in Central America?