AgreementsHome  Peace Fund Belize and Guatemala |
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| Belize and Guatemala | |||
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| Background | |||
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| The governments of Belize and Guatemala restarted talks on their longstanding territorial differendum in March, 2000 under the auspices of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS). Jointly, Belize and Guatemala appointed a Panel of Facilitators to help guide the negotiating process. As a result of this process, in February 2003, the Foreign Ministers of Belize and Guatemala signed an “Agreement to Establish a Transition Process and Confidence-Building Measures” between the two countries, which was later amended in September 2005 in the “Agreement on a Framework for Negotiations and Confidence-Building Measures between Belize and Guatemala”. Under this Agreement an Adjacency Zone between the two countries was established and the OAS opened an Office in the area to implement confidence-building measures. Since then, the OAS Office in the Adjacency Zone has carried out a series of activities that have substantially eased tensions; it has fostered community development; it has prevented the escalation of conflicts through verification missions and reporting of incidents; it has supported the armed forces; and it has successfully executed community resettlement projects, such as Santa Rosa Community and the Nueva Juda Resettlement Projects. In 2003, the Secretary General of the OAS, at the request of the governments of Belize and Guatemala, established a broadly representative Group of Friends of the Belize-Guatemala Transition Process (the “Group of Friends”), consisting of OAS Member and Observer States, and others interested in supporting a peaceful resolution to the territorial differendum. The Group of Friends acts as an advisory body to the Secretary General and provides political and operational support for undertaking the various activities contemplated under the “Agreement to Establish a Transition Process and Confidence Building Measures between Belize and Guatemala”. Some members of the Group of Friends provide financial assistance for the activities undertaken under the Transition Process and Confidence Building Measures, by means of contributions to the Belize-Guatemala sub-fund of the Fund for Peace. |
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| Current Status |
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| On December 8, 2008, the Governments of Belize and Guatemala, acting on the recommendation of OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, signed the “Special Agreement to Submit Guatemala’s Territorial, Insular, and Maritime Claim to the International Court of Justice”. Currently, both countries are making the necessary arrangements provided for in their respective domestic systems to submit to a referendum the decision to ask the International Court of Justice to settle the territorial differendum. The plebiscites will take place simultaneously in both countries on a previously agreed upon date. Thanks to the support of the OAS through the Peace Fund, Belize and Guatemala are closer than ever to finding a permanent solution to their centuries-old conflict. |
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| Recent Activities |
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From June to November, 2011, in coordination with the Mayors of the communities on both sides of the Adjacency Line between Belize and Guatemala , Melchor de Menco and Benque Viejo, the OAS/AZ Office will execute a culture of peace program. The program will consist of music (wind and string instruments), singing, painting and theater workshops and training programs for Belizean and Guatemalan students resident in the area. On May 25th, 2011, the Belize Defense Forces (BDF) hosted the tripartite trimestral Operational Coordination Meeting between the BDF and the Guatemalan Army with the participation of the Director of the OAS Office in the Adjacency Zone, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Belize-Guatemala Affairs, Ambassador Raul J. Lago, and the Chief of the OAS Peace Fund. The meeting took place at the Windy Hill Hotel in San Ignacio Belize and was presided by Coronel Javier Castellanos, Deputy Commander of the Belize Defense Force. On May 5th, 2011, the General Secretariat of the OAS convened a meeting of the Group of Friends of Belize and Guatemala in the Main Building of the OAS, in Washington DC. The OAS Secretary General provided an overview of the most recent advances with regard to the negotiation process. Likewise, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Belize-Guatemala briefed the participants on the activities implemented by the OAS Office in the Adjacency Zone, and also discussed future activities aimed at implementing confidence building measures between the two countries. On March 9, 2010, Representatives of Belize and Guatemala met in Belize City, Belize under the auspices of the OAS to put in effect a High Level Working Group to promote a direct and continuous line of communication between both countries on the situation in the Adjacency Zone, as well as to examine issues of common concern, and to advance on pending bilateral matters. On December 16, 2009, at the invitation of Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, the foreign Ministers of Belize and Guatemala, Wilfred Elrington and Roger Haroldo Rodas Melgar, met at OAS Headquarters in Washington, D.C. to discuss opportunities that will help bring even closer the governments and people of Belize and Guatemala. As a result of the meeting, and following a proposal by the OAS Secretary General, it was decided that a high level working group would be created to further facilitate the efficiency in the fulfillment of the Confidence-Building Measures and the possibility of carrying out joint projects of cooperation in the framework of the OAS. On December 8, 2009, in Santa Elena, Guatemala, the General Secretariat of the OAS facilitated a Technical Meeting between delegations of Belize and Guatemala who met to discuss environmental and security concerns in the Adjacency Zone. The program “Promoting a Culture of Peace” concluded on October 16, 2009. With support from the Federal Republic of Germany, this program enrolled more than 300 Belizean and Guatemalan students in music (wind and string instruments), singing, painting, and theater classes. The classes were held in the facilities of the OAS Office in the Adjacency Zone and at the Cultural Center of Benque Viejo, Belize. The initiative was coordinated by the Mayors of Melchor de Menco and Benque Viejo. The closing ceremony was a cultural event attended by members of the Diplomatic Corps and NGOs of Belize and Guatemala, officials of the two countries, and the Secretary General’s representative for Belize–Guatemala affairs. Belizean and Guatemalan schools participated, with a total of 1,800 students. Rural Tourism as an Income Generator The Peace Fund in coordination with the YABT and the government of Israel provide scholarships, one for a Belizean citizen and one for a Guatemalan citizen, to be trained in rural tourism at the Golda Meir International Center – Mount Carmel of Israel. “The Small Business of Rural Tourism as an Income Generator Course” was held from July 26th to August 12th, 2009 in Haifa, Israel. |
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RELEVANT TREATIES
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| Photo Gallery | |
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| Video Gallery |
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Culture of Peace Video
OAS Report Card Presented Date: December 10, 2010 Music Workshop to Promote a Culture of Peace in the Belize-Guatemala Adjacency Zone Date: October 16, 2009 The closing ceremony of the program to Promote Culture of Peace Date: October 16, 2009 Signing of Special Agreement between Belize and Guatemala Date: December 8, 2008 - 11:00 AM Place: Hall of Heroes, OAS Building Washington, DC Signing of the agreement through which Belize and Guatemala will formally accept the recommendation from the Secretary General José Miguel Insulza to submit the territorial differendum to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. (7'02'') Press Conference: Belize and Guatemala ministers to meet at OAS Date: February 10, 2006 - 12.10 PM Place: Headquarters Washington DC Remarks by OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, Ambassador Assad Shoman, Chief Negotiator with Ministerial Rank of Belize and Jorge Briz, Foreign Minister of Guatemala (14') |
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