Panamanian authorities had been tracking Moises Cal for the past few weeks. That's the latest news coming out of that country this evening. Those authorities were alerted to Cal after they noticed how many trips he was making to Panama over a short period of time. 14 trips in three months, that works out to an average of a little more than one a week, so it's not surprising that Cal drew some attention.
But while the average traveler would have been pulled over from the first few trips, Cal was traveling under the pretense that he was a diplomat, using the cover of a Belize issued diplomatic passport, making it look now, like an act somehow condoned by the state.
But it isn't; at least not according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Eamon Courtenay. Speaking with the media today Courtenay said that when he resigned in early December, Cal was directed to turn in his diplomatic passport.
Eamon Courtenay, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"Ambassador Cal was requested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when he was called upon to resign to turn in his passport to Immigration. We assumed that that had been done. What's unusual in this case of course is his keeping the passport after he was called upon to do it. I will not step away from the fact that Ambassador Cal abused his position in relation to keeping that passport after he was called upon to turn it in. What his intentions were, I don't know."
Jules Vasquez,
Sir but you can't get away from the fact that your Ministry either by omission or commission facilitated his abuse of that official passport.
Eamon Courtenay,
"Well as I said to you I reject that entirely and it is not a matter of looking for scapegoats at this time. The position is very simple: passports are dealt with by the Ministry of Home Affairs, not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We know that he should not have had it and we told him to turn it in."
Jules Vasquez,
You can't speak to intent but did Ambassador Cal, former Ambassador Cal, in your mind, keep the passport in order to facilitate fourteen trips to Panama in three months?
Eamon Courtenay,
"Jules obviously that is something that everybody has to look at. Traveling to Panama, he did not have to a diplomatic passport in order to travel to Panama. Yes it allowed him certain courtesies. Obviously Ambassador Cal chose not to turn it in to the Ministry of Home Affairs and he knows why he did that."
Jules Vasquez,
Are you able to specify what requests the Panamanian authorities have made of you all or what queries they have made of you all?
Eamon Courtenay,
"In relation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the only query was his status, whether he was still a diplomat, whether he had diplomatic privileges."
Jules Vasquez,
Were they aware that he was not in Panama when these queries were being made?
Eamon Courtenay,
"No I don't think they were aware of that. They represented the contrary."
Jules Vasquez,
So are you of the belief that he traveled to Panama with $1 million and a passport as has been reported by the press, has that been officially communicated to you?
Eamon Courtenay,
"Not specifically, no."
Jules Vasquez,
Is it your feeling that the embarrassment that Cal has caused the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is significant? This is a man who was the former Secretary General of SICA when we held the presidency the last time. He traveled throughout this region, posed with presidents on behalf of our Prime Minister. Is this a great embarrassment as you sit here with these SICA Ministers?
Eamon Courtenay,
"I think it is a very regrettable thing that Ambassador Cal has done. It has given Belize a black eye and none of us are proud of it, none of us can be proud of it. It has happened and we are trying to continue to do our work in a positive way and we regret what has happened."
Jules Vasquez,
Sir were there any family reasons that you are aware of why he stepped out of politics?
[Eamon Courtenay Walking Away]
Courtenay says that the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs will be meeting to set up a new protocol to terminate unsanctioned diplomatic passports.
And speaking of those diplomatic passports, it's one of the worst kept secrets in Belmopan that Belize's diplomatic passports are like secrets that have been passed around. A good number of them, and we're not sure anyone knows quite how many, are in the hands of non diplomats, including former diplomats, deactivated political players, and friends of the ruling party.
Cal's one was turned in earlier this week, and government must content with the possibility, some say the likelihood, that he was suspected of laundering activities while he was an accredited diplomat.
And though he's always been a retiring public figure, Cal's name first came to national prominence in 2002 when he was responsible for an epic diplomatic blunder. Cal, then Ambassador to Guatemala, circulated a confidential discussion paper, complete with internal strategy details to the entire diplomatic corps in Guatemala, including the Guatemalans. An unforgivable gaffe at a delicate time when the Ramphal Reichler proposals were afoot. For that, and if only as a gesture to the Guatemalans, Cal had to be recalled. But his monstrous mis-step was soon forgotten and we next saw him appear in 2003 as Belize's Ambassador to Central America. He held that post until December of 2006 - when he won the convention to be the PUP's.
