BELIZE CITY—Ecuador’s Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patino, is in Belize and the media was invited upstairs Whitfield Tower at 10:30 Wednesday morning for a press briefing. I was the first to arrive for the meeting and was ushered to the balcony, which I was informed was the new designated waiting area for the press.

While on the balcony, 6 stories high and in the hot sun, I began feeling sick and ended up leaving the premises after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rep insisted I should return to stand on the balcony with the rest of the media.

“We’re handled with such discourtesy,” Jules Vasquez, 7 News Director, told Amandala, calling it “sixth class citizen treatment.”

Vasquez, who stayed for the briefing, told us that the media waited over an hour and a half, mostly in the hot sun and then the pouring rain.

Vasquez said that by the time they were ready for the press interview, he was soaked. Water was dripping on floor and the couch got soaked as well.

“I told [Foreign Affairs] that is what you want,” Vasquez recounted.

I was unpleasantly surprised by the change in policy at the Whitfield Tower, where the Foreign Affairs office is located, since the last time I visited the office, on the occasion of the visit of OAS officials in Belize back in 2013. The media had been allowed to wait in the reception area of the Foreign Affairs office, so I queried why Foreign Affairs had been made the change.

In not so many words, a Foreign Affairs official told me that the media had become a nuisance to the other tenants in the building, because some videographers were taking footage of other tenants and their clients, and they were impeding the flow of personnel within the building and in the parking lot.

While I was talking with the Foreign Affairs rep, the Ecuadorian delegation arrived and exited the elevator, and so I closed the glass door and retreated to the balcony. I began taking some aerial photos of the City to “kill time.” For about 10 minutes, I stood 6 stories high in the sun hot, but began feeling nauseous, so I decided to sit in the indoor hall, near the elevator, in one of two vacant chairs, where the Government Press Office staff was waiting.

Soon, the rest of the media arrived, and they were eventually told to make their way to the balcony. I didn’t budge, and I explained that the only reason I had returned inside was because I was not feeling well.

Still, the Foreign Affairs official motioned again for me to go back to the balcony. I opted not to, but instead made my way back to my office.

On my return to Amandala, I reported the events to my editor, who felt that the disrespect to the media should not be left unreported, although Jules said he did not think it warranted a story.

Diane Locke, Protocol Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who we were told had asked for the media to use the balcony as a waiting area, told our newspaper that the new policy was put into effect at the start of the year, after complaints relayed by the Thurtons, who own the building.

She said that the hall in front of the elevator could not be used, because it has to be kept clear “for security and safety reasons.”

Locke claims that the patio is “the best option available,” and it is the area that has been designated for interviews with the press although it is, unfortunately, not covered, she admits.

She said that they would “work with media to see how we can make it as comfortable as possible,” and said they would consider putting a tent on the patio, but no folding chairs, due to lack of storage space in the building.

Locke said that the space they are renting at the Whitfield Tower is so small that they can’t even find extra space for an additional 5-gallon water bottle. We thought she was joking, but she insisted it is true. She said that she has looked around for another place for the ministry to rent, but Finance did not approve the rental at the prices that were quoted.

Locke said that the time for press interviews should be properly coordinated in order to minimize the length of time that the media has to wait.

After our conversation with Locke, we called Vasquez, who told us that they were still waiting for the press briefing. This time an hour had passed and it had begun to rain. After the rain began, Foreign Affairs invited the media indoors, but Vasquez was not pleased that they were forced to wait so long in the hot sun, but deemed it worthy to go indoors because of the rain. He was more concerned about catching skin cancer from standing extended periods of time in the sun than being drenched with rain.

Vasquez recalled that the change began about 6 to 8 months ago, and the media was also advised that they could also not enter the parking lot unless they had received approval. Back in May 2014, the media had to interview church leaders who had met at the premises with Prime Minister Dean Barrow, through the fence, as if they were “in prison,” Vasquez recollected.

Amandala also contacted Anthony Thurton & Associates, the owner of the building, and a company representative told us that the decision to have the media on the patio was not theirs, but a policy between Foreign Affairs and the media.

The rep did say that the family company which manages the building, Coney Drive Development Company, could look at making a special accommodation with the media.

We also raised concerns with the company rep over limitations placed upon the media in accessing the parking lot, and we were told that the company could also look at having a designated space in the yard to further accommodate the media.

“I have no problem trying to work it out,” said the rep, who added that the company has been looking out for everybody’s interest, especially their tenants.