• About
  • Join/Donate
  • Contact
Monday, August 8, 2022
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
The Brief
NB MEDIA CO-OP
Share a story
  • New Brunswick
  • Canada
  • World
  • Environment
  • Indigenous
  • Labour
  • Gender
  • Politics
  • Culture
  • Videos
  • NB debrief
  • Articles en français
  • New Brunswick
  • Canada
  • World
  • Environment
  • Indigenous
  • Labour
  • Gender
  • Politics
  • Culture
  • Videos
  • NB debrief
  • Articles en français
No Result
View All Result
NB MEDIA CO-OP
No Result
View All Result
Home COVID-19

Maritimers return home after being stranded in Guatemala [Updated]

by Stacey Gomez
March 21, 2020
Reading Time: 3min read
Maritimers return home after being stranded in Guatemala [Updated]

Left-to-right: BTS cooperants Lenora Yarkie (from Edmonton, Alberta), Laura Robinson (from Rothsay, New Brunswick), and Indigo Christ (from Halifax/Mabou, Nova Scotia) in Guatemala City. Photo from Breaking the Silence.

Update, March 25: On March 23, the three volunteers with the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network (BTS) that were stranded in Guatemala returned to Canada. A BTS staff member was also able to return to Canada on March 24, though another one remains in Guatemala. 

The Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network (BTS) is calling for immediate action on the part of the Canadian government to support the return of its Canadian volunteers and staff, as well as all Canadians currently stuck in Guatemala.

BTS has been engaging in solidarity with Guatemalan human rights defenders and educating Canadians throughout the Maritimes on human rights issues since the 1980s. BTS is housed at the Tatamagouche Centre in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia and has committees throughout the Maritimes. Through BTS’ Human Rights and Community Development Cooperant Program, Maritimers and other Canadians are placed with partner organizations in Guatemala in support of their work. There are currently three BTS Cooperants in Guatemala, as well as two in-country staff members.

In light of the global outbreak of COVID-19, BTS made the decision on March 14 to immediately arrange for BTS cooperants to return to Canada. Despite facing booking challenges, BTS was able to secure flights for BTS cooperants to leave Guatemala on March 17. However, the day before they were supposed to leave, the Guatemalan government announced that the border would close for a period of two weeks in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision resulted in a suspension of all land and airline travel in and out of Guatemala, leaving BTS staff and cooperants, as well as other Canadians stranded in Guatemala. BTS quickly responded by arranging for in-country accommodations for the cooperants.

In a letter addressed to Foreign Affairs Minister Champagne on March 20, the organization notes: “Since the closing of the borders by the Guatemalan government, our attempts to contact the Canadian Embassy in Guatemala to obtain support have been unsuccessful.”

The letter calls for the Canadian government to take the following measures:

  1. Provide a contact person at the Canadian Embassy in Guatemala City to ensure a steady flow of communications and timely access to information, to provide logistical support and to coordinate repatriation efforts as soon as possible;

  2. Provide daily updates from Canadian Embassy consular services to ALL who are registered with ROCA.

  3. Engage Guatemalan authorities immediately in order to negotiate the return of Canadian citizens currently stranded in Guatemala as soon as possible, whether through official or unofficial channels;

  4. Make arrangements to guarantee the safe return of Canadians currently in Guatemala, including organizing a chartered bus from Guatemala City to an airport in Mexico with direct flights to Canada, and supporting the arrangement of flights from Mexico to Canada.

  5. Develop a contingency plan in the event the current situation is prolonged;

  6. Provide support to Canadians stranded in Guatemala to ensure access to basic necessities and health care should they require it.

“The Canadian government has the responsibility to provide the necessary support to all its citizens in Guatemala who wish to return home and currently unable to do so, including enacting measures to protect their health and safety while in Guatemala. Canada must lead by example and simply cannot abandon its citizens abroad in the midst of one of the most acute global health crisis in recent history,” reads the letter.

The BTS cooperants include Laura Robinson (from Rothsay, New Brunswick), Indigo Christ (from Halifax/Mabou, Nova Scotia) and Lenora Yarkie (from Edmonton, Alberta). Staff members include BTS Lead Cooperant Este Chep (Kristofer Orantes Migoya) and BTS Guatemala Coordinator Lisa Rankin (from Mabou, Nova Scotia).

Stacey Gomez is the Breaking the Silence Maritimes Coordinator.

Tags: Breaking the SilenceCanadaCOVID-19GuatemalaMaritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence NetworkStacey Gomez
Share212TweetSend

Related Posts

Premier’s ‘innovative thinking’ won’t improve health care
Health

Premier’s ‘innovative thinking’ won’t improve health care

July 19, 2022

It is a political truism: there is no better time to do something controversial than on a lazy Friday afternoon,...

News media ignore tragedies, exploitation in Canadian-owned mines
Canada

News media ignore tragedies, exploitation in Canadian-owned mines

May 16, 2022

Editor's note: Following the publication of this article, reports emerged that no survivors were found in an underground refuge chamber...

New Brunswick public sector pension plans have shares in world’s largest weapons manufacturer
Canada

Anthony Fenton on Canada and the Saudi-UAE war on Yemen [video]

May 15, 2022

Tertulias Fredericton presented a talk by Anthony Fenton on Canada and the Saudi-UAE war on Yemen on May 11, 2022....

Les deux Nouveau-Brunswick : un pour les riches, un pour tous les autres
Articles en français

Les deux Nouveau-Brunswick : un pour les riches, un pour tous les autres

April 9, 2022

Il existe deux versions du Nouveau-Brunswick. L’une est occupée par le premier ministre Blaine Higgs et les gens de son...

Load More

Recommended

On Miramichi Lake, who holds the paddle?

On Miramichi Lake, who holds the paddle?

5 days ago
Slow deployment, safety hazards make SMRs a poor climate solution

Slow deployment, safety hazards make SMRs a poor climate solution

6 days ago
Decades of neoliberal governance have left disabled New Brunswickers in poverty and without social assistance

Decades of neoliberal governance have left disabled New Brunswickers in poverty and without social assistance

4 days ago
NB Media Co-op

© 2019 NB Media Co-op. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Join/Donate
  • Contact
  • Share a Story
  • Calendar
  • Archives

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • Join/Donate
  • Contact
  • Share a Story
  • COVID-19
  • Videos
  • New Brunswick
  • Canada
  • World
  • Arts & Culture
  • Environment
  • Indigenous
  • Labour
  • Politics
  • Rural

© 2019 NB Media Co-op. All rights reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In