Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Attorney General Godfrey Smith cannot travel to the United States at this time. That is because the U.S. Embassy revoked his visa. The news came to Smith today via email. And the only explanation from the U.S. Embassy is that his visa was revoked under a particular section of that country’s Immigration and Nationality Act. Smith spoke with News Five today and explained that he reached out to the U.S. Embassy for clarification, but none was provided. In his interview, he explicitly stated that the revocation is certainly not a result of any wrongdoing or nefarious activity on his part. Here is how he puts it.
Godfrey Smith
Godfrey Smith, Attorney-at-law
“What can it not be because of. The usual reasons in this part of the world people’s visas get revoked or cancelled has to do with drug dealings or immigration matters. Let me just say this, because social media, I have not followed it, but I know it is crazy with speculations, as is expected, so let me say this. I do not take drugs. I do not traffic drugs. I do not represent drug traffickers, though nothing prevents me from doing it if that was my area of law. I do not engage in immigration hustling or trafficking, not ever, not now. I do not engage in representing Americans trying to evade taxes in the U.S. I have no such clients. I do not engage in terrorism or terrorism financing or any such thing, or money laundering for the purpose of terrorism finance. So, I say all of that to say, there can be absolutely no doubt that it is not related to any nefarious activity. What does that leave us with. Again, let me say this, if there is a reason, I call on the United States, the U.S. State Department to reveal it freely, to say what those reasons are. I have no hesitation in saying it to do it to anybody they wish.”
Godfrey Smith Links U.S. Visa Revocation to China Ties
Was Godfrey Smith’s U.S. visa revoked because of his growing ties to China? The former Foreign Minister believes his political advocacy may be behind the decision. Smith says he has openly pushed for Belize to end its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan and establish formal ties with China, even as Washington works to limit Chinese influence across Latin America. While the U.S. Embassy has not provided a specific reason for revoking his visa, Smith says the timing is difficult to ignore.
Godfrey Smith
Godfrey Smith, Attorney-at-law
“As you know the starting point is that Belize has diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Belize does not have diplomatic relations with China. In January of this year, I made a visit to China. During that visit I engaged with very high-level officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explore the opportunity for more Belizeans to get to understand what China is, to see the behemoth that China is. To see the possibilities that China represents and to see the discussion was fruitful. The officials for the government of China said that notwithstanding the lack of diplomatic relations, they were prepared through me to engage in that collaboration. As a result of that, I travelled to Jamaica where I met with officials of the Chinese embassy in Jamaica, since they do not have an embassy in Belize and we formalized a program for Belizeans, young leaders in the media, academia etc., young professionals, and so far, a number of Belizeans have gone. It came to my attention that representatives, or a representative of the U.S. Embassy in Belize reached out to media personnel to find out if they had been invited or knew anything about it. So, I am aware that they are aware. And may I just add this point too, because I know what social media is like. I do not get paid by the Chinese government to do this. So, this is strictly out of belief, policy belief, philosophical belief, ideological belief.”
Smith says his engagements with China have been in the capacity as a private individual and not as a representative of the Government of Belize. Smith says he has no interest in reapplying for his U.S. Visa.
Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.
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