The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

is the executive office in charge of conducting the

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

of the country. This ministry can give the Guatemalan

nationality Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the ...

, enforces the immigration laws of the country, preserves the national limits and boundaries, negotiates international treaties and agreements with other countries and preserves the copies of the ones signed by Guatemala. It is appointed by law to preserve the national interests overseas and to be part of the National Security System.

Background and history

Starting in the 19th century, right after independence from Spain was signed, the public administration was slowly organized. There was a first stage when Guatemala was a part of the

United Provinces of Central America The Federal Republic of Central America ( es, República Federal de Centroamérica), originally named the United Provinces of Central America ( es, Provincias Unidas del Centro de América), and sometimes simply called Central America, in it ...

, and a second stage starting in 1847, when

became an independent, free and sovereign republic to administer its own public affairs. Through that time, the different executive offices were organized as "secretariats", following the Spanish nomenclature. This terminology included the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs, which kept its name until after the Revolution of 1944. Decree #47, passed by the Revolutionary Joint on December 27, 1944, still used this category. However, when the new Constitution came into force on March 15, 1945, the Constitutional system created the Ministries of State. For that reason, Congress passed a bill for the organization of the Executive Branch, which first spoke of a Foreign Affairs Ministry, on April 25, 1945.

Foreign affairs

Currently, Guatemala holds diplomatic relations with 152 countries. It has 41 embassies throughout the World, and 4 missions in International Organizations.

References

{{authority control Government of Guatemala Foreign relations of Guatemala Ministries of Guatemala Foreign affairs ministries Foreign policy International relations Public policy Diplomacy

Background and history

Foreign affairs

See also

References