On Friday, October 25, 2013, Mayor of San Pedro Daniel Guerrero, Councilor Gabriel Nuñez, Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr. – Minister of Tourism and Culture and Mayor of Orange Walk Town -Kevin Bernard attended the signing of the Reaffirmation of Sister City Relationship between Othon P. Blanco, Quintana Roo and San Pedro Town, Belize.
Eduardo Espinosa Abuxapqui, Mayor of Othon P. Blanco, Quintana Roo (better known as Chetumal) endorsed the sister city relationship that exists between the border cities of Belize and San Pedro during a ceremony with the mayor of San Pedro, Daniel Guerrero and Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr., Minister of Culture and Tourism, representing the mayor of Belize City, Darrel Bradley.
During the ceremony, Espinosa Abuxapqui handed over sorority letters both Mayor Guerrero and Minister Heredia of Belize and stated that his goal is to further strengthen the exchange between Chetumal, Belize City and San Pedro in the fields of tourism, education, health, culture and economy.
“We want to preserve and give effect to the feelings of peace and coexistence that we have always had between our municipalities; we, as the new generation of Belizeans and Chetumaleños, have to keep alive this relationship and this fraternity,” stated Mayor Espinosa Abuxapqui.
Eduardo Espinosa Abuxapqui was joined at the ceremony by the Honorary Consul of Belize in Quintana Roo, Jorge Valencia Gomez and his wife Patricia Espinosa Ramirez. Also present was the Secretary of Tourism of Quintana Roo, Raul Andrade Angulo.
The Belizean contingency included Mayor Daniel Guerrero and wife Mrs. Sara Guerrero, Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr and wife Mrs. Carmelita Heredia, SP Town Administrator Mrs. Patricia Tillett, Councilor Gaby Nuñez, Orange Walk Mayor Mr. Kevin Bernard, Belize City Deputy Mayor Bernard Q. Pitts and Hon. Carlos Perdomo.
To culminate the event The Fiesta Inn Hotel in Chetumal hosted a Belizean Cuisine Festival, which brought together the best chefs of both Chetumal and Belize, Javier Chiu and Nonita Ramirez.
The inaugural ribbon cutting of the food festival was led by the hostess and organizer of the event, Olga Gomez , manager of Fiesta Inn Chetumal, who was accompanied by the mayor of Othon P. Blanco, Eduardo Espinosa Abuxapqui , Javier Valencia, Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr, Mayor Daniel Guerrero, Mayor Kevin Bernard , Raul Andrade Angulo and Mrs. Patricia Espinosa Ramirez.
The event was in honor of the culinary dishes of Belize and the Fiesta Inn Chetumal offered a buffet with authentic Belizean dishes like Coconut Breaded Chicken with Mango Sauce, Turkey Dinner, traditional Conch soup and the ever popular Belizean Rum Punch among others.
The Belizean Cuisine Festival contributes to the sharing of culinary knowledge between Mexico and Belize and endorses the sister city relationship between the two nations who for many years have maintained close ties of friendship and share cultural traditions and customs.
