I have many happy memories of Guatemala. Way too many to name. But as I sign out, there are two that I really wanted to share. The first is of that incredible day earlier this year – 21 January 2012. I understand that in the Mayan Calendar, this day signified a “day of movement”. And truly it was – 18,000 people came to the first Subida X La Vida to raise awareness and reject domestic violence. Many who came were the survivors of violence in the home and determined to show their support; others came to be part of the generational change of attitudes; and many came just to be part of something really special – a massive show of unity and positive energy in this country that we all love. It felt like we started something special that day. And I’m looking forward to Subida X La Vida 2013 – although then as another one of the 25,000 British tourists that visit Guatemala each year!

My second very fond memory is of the British Embassy Team taking the day out to build a house with Habitat for Humanity. It was a wonderful day that supported a brilliant charity that has years of experience helping poor families to build houses and get on their feet. But even more than that, it was a day from which I remember so many smiles – a great team enjoying working together to do something good. As a true Brit, I do find it hard to show emotions. But I’d love to take the opportunity now to thank everyone at the Embassy. They have been so patient with me as I learned about the region, tried to improve my Spanish and came up with a thousand things that I was really keen to do! I am as equally proud of them as I am grateful to them.

And so as I head home, I know that my journey with Guatemala does not end here. I’ll be following all the great things going on, from awesome adventure races across the country to “2012 despertemos”, “Jovenes X Guatemala”, “Rompe el Ciclo”, “Voces X Christina” and our very own British Embassy Guatemala City Facebook and Twitter (@UKinGuatemala) pages, knowing that success in this great country will always make me smile. Thank you for for the posting of a lifetime Guatemala!

The plan was presented by the President, supported by the Vice President, Ministers, and the newly created Presidential Commissioner for Competitiveness and Investment. PRONACOM (in English, the National Competitiveness Programme) will lead on implementation, working closely with government, civil society and the private sector. Although this agenda isn’t new – it’s been around in other guises since 1999 – the new government has identified improving Guatemala’s competitiveness as key to strengthening the economy, attracting investment, generating jobs, and tackling poverty: all election commitments. There are 400 action points focused around six main pillars:  a Guatemalan society that is healthy, educated, capable and inclusive; strengthening and modernization of institutions; social and environmental sustainability; decentralisation and local development; strengthening the country’s infrastructure; and strengthening its export capacity. The test, of course, is in the implementation. Impressively, it looks beyond the lifespan of this current government (Guatemala’s Presidents serve one four year term), to 2021. This Embassy will be focussing efforts to support it. By doing so, we can help Guatemala’s development but also UK trade: it’s win: win.

So our British Week, between 2-10 March, is very timely. Its primary aim is to strengthen further the commercial links between the UK and Guatemala to the benefit of both countries. Most of the 10 activities planned have a commercial focus. For instance, a UK security sector trade mission will be in Guatemala on 5-7 March to explore the potential for supporting the Guatemalan government’s plans for tackling insecurity. Additionally, the Caribbean Council will come to explore possibilities for co-operation between the UK and Guatemala across a range of sectors. Diageo will also be launching their project to help take Guatemala’s iconic rum, Ron Zacapa, global. The hope is that these activities bring tangible results: an increase in trade between Guatemala and the UK that will help investment figures and create jobs.

But there are challenges to overcome, not least the perception in Europe that Guatemala is too dangerous a country in which to do business. The media here also often writes about the problems of corruption, the lack of infrastructure, and the effects of the storms that frequently batter the country. We are working hard with the Guatemalan government, including through its Embassy in London, to help improve the country’s image in the UK. And here in Guatemala we support the government and other Embassies, international agencies such as CICIG, and the private sector as they seek to make improvements in transparency and infrastructure.  We are honest about the realities, but equally about the opportunities: UK companies are already successfully operating here, and there’s room for more.

So first, let me hand over to Thomas Marr, Senior International Officer at St Andrews University:

The University of St Andrews offers a unique opportunity to study in a small but incredibly diverse town perched on the east coast of Scotland. For almost 600 years people have been travelling to St Andrews for education and I am proud to count myself amongst them. My current role means that I am an employee of the institution but first and foremost I am a graduate from 2001, and the time I spent here 11 years ago is as fresh in my memory as if it were yesterday. I am looking forward to my first trip to Guatemala and to meeting prospective students who are thinking of taking a more unusual study path than their peers! I’ll be happy to answer any questions about the reality of life at the University of St Andrews and I hope that the insight I can offer from two perspectives (student and member of staff), along with examples from former students Neville and Deedle, will help prospective students with all of their questions.

Dr Neville Stiles, MBE PhD, a Briton who continues his educational activity in Guatemala, has this to say about his time as a researcher in St Andrews:

During my time as a postgraduate researcher in the Centre for Research in Latin American Linguistics, when the age of the internet was not yet born, St Andrews University could have felt somewhat far away from the rest of the world! But to my surprise, this was by no means the case, and today, with all the technology available, it’s even closer. St Andrews is an enchanting place, where life, history, education and all the countries of the world come together to put the University at the centre of the academic map. And today St Andrews remains at the forefront of world research in a whole range of subjects, drawing on a rich 600 year history of research tradition. As for me, I’m currently in Guatemala, but the links with my University remain strong, and I feel proud to be a small part of the story of the first Scottish university and one of the best in the world.

And one of our key British consular contacts and active local citizen in the Atitlan area, Deedle, fondly remembers her time in St Andrews:

The architecture, seaside setting and history of St Andrews all add to make it a truly inspirational educational environment. Within freshers week I was fortunate to find my subject of Social Anthropology and spent 4 incredibly happy years studying with a tremendous, intimate faculty who cared for me as a person as well as a student. There I formed life-long friendships with fellow students which I cherish. In many ways this seminal time of life made me the person that I am today, having spent the last 16 years living at Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. I currently operate a hotel, restaurant and dive school as well as being involved with charitable work, environmental issues and a secondary school.

When I read about the opportunity to help out at the Embassy in Guatemala City in the run-up to their British Week, I jumped at the chance! I already knew what a beautiful and fascinating country it is as I had previously come here on holiday. I had also recently finished my posting at the UK Mission to the UN (UKMis) in New York where Guatemala had just been voted onto the UN Security Council. I saw the positive impact it was having within the international community (for example, Guatemala’s support for the Syria resolution), and was excited to learn more about it.

So, one week in, what are my thoughts so far? I’m having a great time and am very happy to be here. Preparations for British Week are coming along really well, although there’s lots to do and it’s keeping everyone busy. I’ve come from a policy job so it is really interesting for me to be working on the press and media side of things. I’ve done things as varied as designing an e-flyer for our education roadshow event, helping set up radio slots and putting together a guest list for a rum-tasting event! I’m also in the process of launching Twitter for the Embassy (apologies in advance for setting something up that will give the team even more work, and then leaving!)

It has also been really interesting for me to see the differences between working here, a smaller Embassy and at UKMis with its 90 staff members. UKMis is spread over 3 big floors and it was quite common for me not to see colleagues who worked on different floors to me for days at a time. But here, every morning before I even get to my desk I say hello to everyone in the office as we are all in the same corridor! I got to know my colleagues in such a short space of time whereas it took me far longer to recognise everyone at UKMis. It’s also new being in such close proximity to consular services here too: all consular issues are dealt with separately in New York at the British Consulate General (BCG) and we do not have much contact with their areas of work at all. I am excited at the opportunity of work shadowing in consular section during my time here, and getting to know about such things as emergency planning – having an office view of active volcanoes is as stunning as it is disconcerting!

So it’s back to work for me, and I’m looking forward to the challenges and achievements the rest of my time here will bring! Remember to keep in touch with our plans for British Week. We’ve got a page dedicated to it on our web site.

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 Ludwig Guttman held the first disability sport competition: an archery competition for wounded WWII war veterans at Stoke Mandeville hospital in 1948. 4 years later Dutch athletes took part making it an international event, and by the 1960 Games 400 athletes from 21 countries took part and the competition was officially recognised as the ‘Paralympic Games.’

This year, almost 4200 athletes will compete in 20 sports in 15 different venues over 11 days! London 2012 is the first Games where the planning and organisation of the Olympics and Paralympics has been fully integrated, and disability access has been incorporated into the design and structure of the buildings, open spaces and public transport. Everything has been done in consultation with disability advisory groups to make this the most accessible Games ever, and ensure as many as people as possible can enjoy the spectacle. It’s going to be great…

And here in Guatemala we’re also counting down the remaining few weeks to our biggest and best British Week ever, with 8 events in 10 days between 2-10 March. Our website and Facebook site now have information on all the events taking place and how you can get involved. Celebrating British icons such as top UK Universities, cars and fish & chips, the Beatles and Her Majesty the Queen, alongside opportunities for UK-Guatemalan trade and local charity fund raising, there’ll be something for everyone.

We look forward to seeing you!

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 the Embassy on Tuesday night in recognition of Marie’s recent accreditation as Consul here in Guatemala, I had the opportunity to thank all our consular contacts for their continued support, such as local authorities and businesses, British citizens who help us out in looking out for their fellow Brits in the community, and consular colleagues from other Embassies.  Marie also had these words to say:

Hi, it’s a pleasure to be visiting Guatemala again. As David mentioned, I’m the Regional Consul, working in Mexico but with accreditation for all 10 countries in the region.  We have a British Embassy in 7 of these countries, and Honorary Consuls in the other 3, including a great team here in Guatemala.  I hope to meet more of our British community and important consular contacts in Guatemala on future visits, as I plan to travel here to see the team a few times each year!

Having said hello to Marie this week, we’re also saying goodbye to another friend who’s been doing a valuable consular project for us over the past couple of months.  Nathalie has been working in the Embassy on an internship with our Consular section – I’ll let her tell you in her own words what she’s been up to:

Over the last 2 months, the Regional Consular Team has been working on a project to update the information that we have on the number of British, Commonwealth and European Union citizens in the countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The purpose of this is to keep better information to act upon in case of an emergency or crisis.

Therefore, we contacted organizations such as hotels, schools, tour operators, business related companies, NGO’s, etc., to get an estimated number of the citizens that we have responsibility for that are residents in the region, and also an average of the number of tourists and visitors per month. This will not only help us to have our records up to date, but also to have a point of contact in any emergency or crisis situation and to provide an even better consular assistance.

Thanks for all your hard work, Nathalie, and we’ll miss having you around!

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 year term. It was an exciting day of activities and we were privileged to be amongst the invited guests at the inauguration along with most regional Heads of State and Spanish royalty. Banks of party supporters added to charged atmosphere.

Otto Perez Molina at his inauguration ceremony

 The President’s speech promised to bring “profound change” and called for national unity. He majored on three themes:

• Security: he announced task forces to tackle specific criminal activities with the aim of improving the lives of ordinary Guatemalans; restore investor confidence; create jobs; and invigorate the economy. Included is the increased use of the Guatemalan army. This, we know, is controversial amongst some here, but crucially the President said a number of times that Guatemala would uphold human rights.
• Health/Poverty: he referred to Guatemala’s high levels of child malnutrition (4^th highest in the world), poverty and access to health a major obstacles to social stability and country’s development. He has since declared a state of emergency in the health sector.
• Fiscal reform: the objective will be to boost government revenues, not through new taxes but by improving existing mechanisms of revenue collection. The President also committed to improve transparency and tackle corruption.

HMA Julie Chappell at British Week launch

There will be plenty of scope for closer UK/Guatemala ties as the new government’s priorities bring with them a range of opportunities. On 17 January, I was delighted to officially launch our 3^rd British Week and that representatives of the new government could attend to hear first hand me reinforce our commitment to work with them on a range of issues. Much of this effort will focus on commercial relations, to the benefit of both countries. British Week 2012, between 2-10 March, is a case in point: 8 activities in 10 days will aim to strengthen and deepen trade relations and introduce UK companies to the Guatemalan market, and Guatemalan companies to opportunities in the UK. Some events will be open to the public, so we hope to see you there! Details can be found on our web site and on facebook.

Also on 17 January, I launched an English scholarship competition. Through the collaboration of the International Business Academy, we are running an essay competition to win one of 5 scholarships for English tuition here in Guatemala City!  The deadline for applications is 15 February, and the application form with full contact and scholarship information can be found on our website.  We’re looking forward to receiving your essays on the theme of: “2012 is a key year for commerce, politics and culture in the UK and Guatemala.  How could I use this scholarship to build UK – Guatemala relations?”

Public at British Week III

Finally, I just wanted to give a shout out to Richard Heap, who designed our British Week logo. He’s a British graphic designer living in Guatemala who has his own company, London Grafix.

HMA at new Land Rover show room in Honduras

A further important strand for future work involves the Presidential project of “charter cities” – the Economist recently published an article on this interesting project. The idea is to help areas of high potential to develop quickly as leading lights for foreign investment and as ambassadors for the country as a whole. Charter Cities will be given considerable financial and taxation autonomy and control over their local services. To become a charter city, the local population must agree by referendum to sign up to the initiative. As always, the devil will be in the detail and it will be important for individual “charter cities” to develop within the concept a system that works for them. We’ll continue to monitor the initiative carefully.

Hello!  Lisa here too.  Ahead of joining the Ambassador on her Tegucigalpa visit, I first paid a visit to our Honorary Consul and contacts in Roatan, and also visited project sites on the mainland with the UK-based NGO Progressio.  In Roatan, the P&O cruise ship Aurora had arrived in the Mahogany Bay port for the first time, so the Honorary Consul and I attended the official welcome ceremony on board, and were treated to a tour round this impressive vessel which is on a 3 month voyage starting and ending in Southampton, UK.  It was great to meet so many British staff (and over 30 other nationalities too!) and passengers on board.  In another meeting with a group of Bay Islanders, I was also able to hear about their concerns and vision for the development of the Islands, both economically and in terms of social and environmental needs.

Back on the mainland, Progressio kindly let me join their project visit west of Tegucigalpa, navigating thick fog and bumpy roads – but beautiful countryside – to Marcala towards the El Salvador border.  I was privileged to see the fruits of new systems of irrigation and crop rotation which small local producers have been implementing with the assistance of Progressio’s technical teams, and their work with Cooperatives in the area which are bringing more sustainable livelihoods and empowering women.  We also heard from community representatives in the unique location of Nahuaterique, successfully lobbying for Honduran nationality for their citizens and for municipality status to allow them greater opportunities to participate in civil society and benefit from economic and social initiatives.   It’s going to be another year of challenges for communities and authorities alike in Honduras, but we’re looking forward to maintaining and expanding the Embassy’s engagement with a range of people and groups there in the coming months.

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, one of our colleagues from the FCO offices in the UK, Nicola Ware, visited El Salvador and Guatemala together with our Director for the Americas, and had the opportunity to meet some of our former Chevening scholars as well as some other Guatemalan alumni from a range of UK Universities. This is what she had to say about the meeting:

It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet former Chevening scholars and other ex-UK scholars. Our lunch turned out to be one of the highlights of my trip to Central America. I was fascinated to hear what the ex-scholars had been doing since their return to Guatemala. Without exception all were working in areas where their studies were proving essential. One was involved in environmental issues, one was helping a company to develop more responsible and sustainable business practices, another was an expert in corporate tax. I was hugely impressed with their enthusiasm about the UK and their evident wish to make the very most of the opportunities their studies there had given them. As a Brit, perhaps even more interesting for me were their impressions of the UK (“diverse, accepting, multi-cultural, clean, green, full of opportunity, great curries! Great fish and chips!!”) and of British academic life (“challenging, top-class, high quality, thought-provoking, tough”). I was, however, slightly disturbed that having studied in the UK they all now spoke better English than me!

If you’re interested in a Chevening Scholarship, the application process for the academic year 2012-13 is now open!  More details and the application forms can be found on our Chevening pages.  It was a pleasure for us to select 3 scholars from Guatemala and Honduras for the scholarship last year, and we look forward to some quality applications this year too.  We’ll be publicising more about the timings for the selections and interviews here in Guatemala City in January.

Watch this space too for information about a year’s local scholarship, offered in kind collaboration with the International Business Academy.  There are a number of part and full scholarships for English classes on offer, with individuals to be selected via essay competition.  We’ll be launching the competition details together with more of our British Week information in mid-January.”