Back in March we told you that the new Director of Indigenous Peoples' Affairs was Minister Oscar's Requena's brother. He replaced Greg Choc, whose contract was not renewed after 3 years. Today Minister Dolores Balderamos Garcia explained that they decided to appoint a director as opposed to another commissioner. However, is Gustavo Requena a "nepo brother"?
Minister Balderamos Garcia explained that despite his relation to her Cabinet colleague, Requena applied to the post just like any other applicant and has the required experience.
Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Minister of Indigenous Peoples' Affairs
"Let me clarify, we no longer have a commissioner for Indigenous Peoples' Affairs, we won't be using that nomenclature anymore. We've appointed a direction, which we feel, it's best to have a director as opposed to a commissioner. And the director of Mr Gustavo Requena, he happens to be the brother of Minister Oscar Requena but I can say categorically that Mr Requena was not hired because he is the Minister's brother. He interviewed, he applied, he has vast experience in community work, having worked as a teacher at Julian Cho Technical High and also he was an outreach officer at the Ya'axche conservation organization. We are very pleased because he made his application, he comes qualified, he is committed and he has really hit the ground running in terms of our work in the south at the Office of Indigenous Peoples' Affairs so let me take this opportunity ti dispel whatever notion there might be that there was any nepotism or any such thing, Belize is very small and so we have to go with the talent that we see there, with the experience and with what an individual brings to the table so I have to say that so far we are pleased with Mr Requena and we will continue our work."
However, the Belize Indigenous Alliance for Collective Resilience isn't buying that. The same day the appointment was announced, they issued a release stating, quote, "While we acknowledge Mr. Requena's connection to Indigenous communities, we cannot overlook the glaring issue of nepotism that surrounds this appointment. Mr. Requena's familial ties to the area representative for Toledo West, a government minister, raise serious questions about the fairness and integrity of his capacity to direct the Indigenous Peoples' Affairs mandate given his comments on record that question his impartiality." End quote.
The Toledo Alcalde Association had also issued a release stating, quote, "The Government has once again failed to prove to the Maya people of southern Belize that it can be trusted with its commitment to respect and protect the Maya land rights by appointing Mr. Gustavo Requena… His appointment, particularly in the absence of any consultation with Belize's Indigenous Peoples' representatives, the Maya communities, and their representatives, coupled with his direct familial relationship to the Area Representative of Toledo West, Minister Oscar Requena, is a total failure in building trust on this Government." End quote.
