OKLAHOMA CITY – To find a consulate in Washington, D.C. or New York City would not be unusual. But Oklahomans might be surprised to know that 13 countries have established consulates in this state and Guatemala has opened offices as the first career Consulate General.
As an example, tucked into a building in northwest Oklahoma City is the office of Ambassador José Arturo Rodríguez Díaz, Consul General of Guatemala.
Issues routinely addressed by the ambassador and his staff (including interpreter Joshua Sánchez) include the acquisition or renewal of passports and IDs, and documentation for dual nationality of children of Guatemalans born in the United States.
The consulate also provides native Guatemalans with information about health care and schools. If a loved one or friend has died, the consulate helps the family with funeral arrangements. The ambassador and his staff lend a hand on immigration matters when Guatemalans have disappeared, been detained or imprisoned.
In the legal area, “We have lawyers who consult on Tuesdays and Thursdays with Guatemalans who need their services,” Ambassador Rodríguez said. The lawyers are Oklahoma City attorneys hired by the consulate, and the consulate provides the service at no charge to users, the ambassador said.
The consulate also helps Guatemalans with other issues, such as promoting Guatemalan culture, tourism and commercial relations between Guatemala and Oklahoma.
The number of visitors who enter the consulate to request their services remains stable throughout the week, Monday through Friday, although the COVID-19 pandemic has made adjustments necessary, such as requiring advance scheduling of in person visits to the office to ensure social distancing.
The Oklahoma City consulate has jurisdiction over Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri, Rodríguez said. Previously the ambassador traveled regularly to Tulsa and Guymon (which have sizable Guatemalan populations) and held mobile consulates in the other three states, but travel has been curtailed because of the coronavirus. However, “Once everything is clear we’ll be back on the road,” the ambassador said.
Previously Guatemalans in Oklahoma were served by consulates in Houston and Colorado; staff from those consulates would travel to Oklahoma City once a year to help Guatemalan citizens. But because of the growing number of Guatemalans in Oklahoma, the consulate in Oklahoma City was established in June 2017.
Rodríguez said he has served the Guatemalan government, in foreign affairs, for 30 years. He started as an assistant and worked his way up the ladder, taking special courses in foreign affairs and diplomacy. Rodríguez rose to the rank of ambassador approximately seven years ago, he said; he was assigned to Buenos Aires, Argentina, before he was transferred to Oklahoma, along with his wife and two children, to establish the First Career Consulate General in Oklahoma City.
Guatemala is “a developing country,” but has “a historical relationship of cooperation, trade and migration with its neighbors and friends from the north of the continent,” the ambassador said. “So for the progress of Guatemala, it is important to maintain a healthy and friendly relationship with the United States.”
Besides the Guatemalan consulate general, Oklahoma City also is home to honorary consulates from Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia, Germany, Japan, France and Spain; Norway and the United Kingdom have honorary consulates in Tulsa; Romania has an honorary consulate general in Norman, Switzerland has an honorary consulate in Edmond, and Thailand has an honorary consulate in Broken Arrow.