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E-001/2001  
January 5, 2001

PRESS RELEASE ON BELIZE AND GUATEMALA

 

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), César Gaviria, is following closely recent developments related to alleged illegal settlements in areas claimed by both Belize and Guatemala.

The Secretary General welcomes the initiative of the Facilitators to convene an emergency ministerial-level meeting to be held January 16, 2001, in Miami. "This is an important initiative taken within the framework of the November Confidence-Building Agreement," said Gaviria.  

         Over the past year, Belize and Guatemala, with the support of the Secretary General, have been working to solve their longstanding territorial differendum.  The governments created a Panel of Facilitators – composed of Mr. Paul Reichler and Sir Shridath Ramphal – to develop and recommend measures, mechanisms and processes aimed at resolving their differences.  On November 8, 2000, the two countries signed an Agreement on Confidence-Building Measures, which provides a framework for managing disagreements and preventing incidents in the adjacency zone.