President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of December 29 with a delegation led by Republic of Guatemala Vice President Juan Alfonso Fuentes Soria and Mrs. Fuentes. President Ma briefed his visitors on the state of cooperation and ties between the ROC and Guatemala, called for continued deepening of bilateral exchanges, and offered his best wishes for lasting friendship between the two nations.
In remarks, President Ma noted that Vice President Fuentes is a distinguished dentist and specialist in the field of higher education who—as a former rector of San Carlos University of Guatemala, the former head of a presidential commission on human rights, and a former secretary general of the Supreme Council of Central American Universities—has worked indefatigably in support of cooperation between the ROC and Guatemala in the fields of higher education and healthcare.
President Ma stated that the ROC and Guatemala established diplomatic relations in 1933, over 80 years ago, and that the two countries have had frequent and cordial interaction at the highest levels. The president mentioned that he first visited Guatemala in 2000 in his capacity as Taipei City mayor, and then in 2009 as president. He recalled that during his visit there in 2009 he was invited to deliver an address before the Guatemalan Congress, which at that time was celebrating the 24th anniversary of the nation's constitution. The Ju Percussion Group was also part of the delegation and performed at the National Theatre. Their performance was greeted with enthusiastic applause, and the president said the friendliness and passion of the Guatemalan people made a deep impression on him. In addition, ROC Vice President Wu Den-yih sent a congratulatory message via our embassy in Guatemala to Vice President Fuentes when he was inaugurated in September of this year. Guatemalan First Lady Ana Violeta Fagiani Enriquez de Maldonado also led a delegation to the ROC in this past November. All of these examples show the close friendship at the highest levels between the two countries.
The president mentioned that his administration has continued to promote cooperation projects between the ROC and Guatemala in healthcare, education, and infrastructure under a foreign assistance policy wherein the purpose must be legitimate, the process must be lawful, and the implementation must be effective. Those projects have reached to all corners of Guatemala and directly benefited the public. Pointing to medical cooperation as an example, President Ma noted that the ROC began its cooperation in recent years with the First Lady's Secretariat for Social Work (Secretaria de Obras Sociales de la Esposa del Presidente, SOSEP) to promote a five-phase program for free clinical services, under which over 500 mobile medical clinics in various communities throughout that nation have provided free services to over 10,000 Guatemalans. Chao-Long Chen (陳肇隆), Superintendent of southern Taiwan's Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, also helped Guatemala set up a national organ transplant center, with an eye toward enhancing its health and medical care. In addition, the ROC government has provided timely assistance to Guatemala when it suffered damage due to severe storms in 2005, a devastating earthquake in 2012, and a serious drought this year. These are substantive examples of the ROC acting in the role of "provider of humanitarian aid."
President Ma also mentioned that the ROC's Minister of Foreign Affairs just two weeks earlier had led a delegation to Guatemala, where he attended a groundbreaking ceremony for phase three widening of Highway CA-9 (the Atlantic Highway), a project carried out with financial assistance from the ROC. The Atlantic Highway is an economic lifeline for Guatemala, said the president, noting that 35 kilometers have already been widened during a 10-year period of cooperation. As a result, the highway can accommodate a much larger traffic flow, and the time required to get from the countryside to urban centers has been significantly reduced. In the field of education, the ROC government operates the Taiwan Scholarship and Huayu Enrichment Scholarship programs to encourage outstanding students in Guatemala to study or do research in Taiwan. Three Guatemalan students are now enrolled in the School of Medicine for International Students at I-Shou University in Kaohsiung, and the daughter of Guatemalan Ambassador to the ROC Olga Maria Aguja Zuniga has completed a master's degree in civil engineering at National Cheng Kung University where she studied on a scholarship provided by the ROC government. The president expressed confidence that when these outstanding students complete their studies and return home, they will certainly take up prominent positions in Guatemala and use what they've learned to make meaningful contributions to the nation.
President Ma stated that Guatemala is a staunch Central American ally, and that it has long firmly supported the ROC in international organizations such as the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Guatemalan President Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre specially designated Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales Moscoso to speak on behalf of the ROC during the General Debate of the UN General Assembly. President Ma expressed gratitude for this strong friendship, and hopes that the Guatemalan government will continue to support our participation in international organizations.
Vice President Fuentes, along with Licenciado Oswaldo Enriquez Contreras, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Ambassador Aguja and ROC Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruce J. D. Linghu (令狐榮達) to meet with President Ma.
Following the president's remarks, ROC Vice President Wu and Mrs. Wu hosted a banquet for Vice President Fuentes, Mrs. Fuentes, and their accompanying delegation.
In prepared remarks, Vice President Wu noted that Vice President Fuentes is a highly regarded leader in the fields of both education and medicine in Guatemala, and in addition to his ongoing concern for education and healthcare issues, he has also lent invaluable assistance in the political sphere to Guatemalan President Maldonado.
Vice President Wu pointed out that substantive ties and cooperation between the two countries have yielded impressive results, and he further expressed firm belief that by building upon the solid foundation of the existing bilateral friendship, the two nations can certainly continue working for shared prosperity via the framework of their many cooperative projects, so as to build better lives for their respective peoples.