Emergency Ministerial Meeting to be Held for Belize/Guatemala Border Dispute

Belmopan - 05 January, 2001

The Facilitators for the Governments of Belize and Guatemala, Sir Shridath Ramphal and Mr. Paul Reichler, have written Prime Minister Musa, and President Alfonso Portillo of Guatemala responding to developments resulting from Belize’s initiatives to remove illegal Guatemalan Nationals located in two areas of Southern Belize.

The letter calls on the Governments of Belize and Guatemala to assist the Facilitators in determining, as a matter of urgency, the status of the two settlements at Rio Blanco and Machaquila, including whether they fall under the protection of the Agreement on Confidence Building Measures signed at Washington D.C. on 8th November, 2000, between Belize and Guatemala.

The Facilitators also requested the two Governments to attend an Emergency Ministerial level meeting in Miami, USA on 16th January, 2001, with both Facilitators and a representative of the Secretary General of the Organization of American States present, for the purpose of reaching agreement on a specific time table for full implementation of all obligations contained in the Washington Agreement on Confidence Building Measures. This includes Agreement upon a specific protocol for removal of illegal settlements.

Consequently, the Facilitators have called upon the Government of Belize to refrain from any unilateral action with respect to the two settlements, and upon the Government of Guatemala to take positive action to dissuade its citizens from joining or establishing new settlements to the east of the adjacency line between Belize and Guatemala.

Responding to the letter of the Facilitators, Prime Minister Musa has conveyed the decision of the Government of Belize to suspend the issue of an Order To Leave Belize to the 221 Guatemalan Nationals illegally present at the Machaquila area, which was to occur at 3 p.m. today, and which would have required their departure from Belize within 72 hours.

In the instance of the illegal settlement at Rio Blanco, the Government of Belize had already requested the Facilitators to name investigators to carry out a fact finding mission to determine the situation of the settlement, and to provide a mechanism for their removal.

Prime Minister Musa has confirmed Belize’s attendance at the Emergency Ministerial Meeting at Miami on 16th January 2001 where it is anticipated that an effective basis for the implementation of the Washington Agreement and the prevention of illegal encroachments in Belize will be established.

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