Alfredo "Fred" Martinez (September 9, 1953 – July 9, 2014) was a Belizean

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. A former member of the

Senate of Belize The Senate is the upper chamber of the National Assembly of Belize. It has 13 members appointed for a five-year term by the Governor-General. Establishment and appointment Senators are appointed by the Governor-General in the following ma ...

(1984-1989, 1997-1998) and

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Orange Walk Town Orange Walk is the fourth largest town in Belize, with a population of about 13,400 (Official Release of the Main Findings of the 2010 Population and Housing Census). It is the capital of the Orange Walk District. Orange Walk Town is located on ...

(1985-1988, 1991-1992), Martinez held numerous diplomatic posts during his career. Martinez was Belize's chief negotiator in the talks with

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

aimed at resolving the countries' longtime territorial and border dispute. Martinez's first diplomatic posting was as

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to neighboring

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

from 1993 until 1997. He was appointed Ambassador to Guatemala in 2003, a position he held up to his death in 2014. In addition to his ambassadorship to Guatemala from 2003 to 2014, Martinez was concurrently

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

as Belize's non-resident ambassador to

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

and

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. Martinez was appointed to the

and Leader of Government Business from 1984 to 1989. He was briefly reappointed to the Senate from 1997 to 1998. (Members of the Senate are appointed by the Governor General of Belize). He was also elected

from 1985 to 1988 and again from 1991 to 1992. Martinez served as the chairman of the United Democratic Party (UDP), one of the country's two major political parties, from 1990 until 1993.

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