OGDEN — Guatemalan authorities hope to soon establish an honorary consulate in Utah and, perhaps by next year, a full-fledged consulate, the leader of Guatemala’s Congress said during a visit to Utah.
The plans stem from efforts to augment ties between Utah and the Central American nation, aided in part by officials from Ogden, who served as hosts to a contingent of six Guatemalan lawmakers that finished a visit to the state on Sunday, July 27.
“The plan is for the (Guatemalan) Foreign Ministry to formalize our consulate next year,” Nery Ramos y Ramos, the president of Guatemala’s Congress, said in a phone interview during his visit to Utah. “Soon, an honorary consul is to be established.”
Guatemala would join Mexico, El Salvador and Peru in creating an office in Utah to serve the needs of its citizens here. An honorary consul candidate has been identified, though he still needs to be formally approved by Guatemalan authorities. He would be able to handle some consular functions in conjunction with the Guatemalan Consulate in Denver, which now serves Guatemalans in Utah, but would not have a formal office.
While helping prod plans for consular representation in Utah was a big focus of the visit, Ramos y Ramos, joined by five other members of Guatemala’s Congress, said fostering economic ties was another key objective. “Many business operators are interested in establishing direct commercial ties,” he said.
Luis Lopez, head of Ogden’s new Community Engagement and International Relations Office, helped show the Guatemalan lawmakers around and said Mayor Ben Nadolski has been central in fostering the Guatemala-Utah connection. This is the second trip by a Guatemalan delegation to Utah since last January, and the contingent met this go-round with Ogden leaders and officials from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They also met with Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, and Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Draper.
Lopez said local business operators with ties to Guatemala and Mexico have been central in fostering the connection, with commercial potential a key interest.
“The question we’re asking is simply, what opportunities are there for commerce, economic opportunities between Guatemala and Ogden? The state is asking the same questions, and (Guatemalan officials) are asking the same questions. Everybody seems to be interested around that topic, economic opportunity,” Lopez said. “We’re just kind of in exploration mode on some of those opportunities.”
During their January trip to Utah, the visiting officials met with leaders from the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, which promotes economic development in the state. Guatemala’s key exports as of 2022 were coffee, bananas, crude palm oil and ferro-nickel, according to the World Bank.
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While the U.S. Census Bureau puts the estimated population in Utah of people born in Guatemala at 5,900 as of 2022, Ramos y Ramos estimates the community numbers around 26,000. Many Guatemalans have historically come to the United States to flee civil conflict or natural disasters and in search of economic opportunity, Ramos y Ramos said. He said the presence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Guatemala, in particular, has helped foster the country’s ties with Utah.
Aside from Ramos y Ramos, the other Guatemalan lawmakers who came to Utah were Gustavo Crúz, Raúl Solórzano, Evelyn Morataya, Karina Paz and Darwin Lucas.
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