Belmopan - 05 June, 2002

Belize-Guatemala ministerial meetings were held on June 3rd, 2002, in Bridgetown, Barbados, on the margins of the Thirty-Second Regular session of the General assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS). H.E. Assad Shoman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belize, accompanied by Ambassador Alfredo Martinez, met with H.E. Gabriel Orellano, minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemalan, accompanied by Vice-Minister Ramiro Ordonez; along with OAS Secretary General, H.E. Cesar Gaviria, and the facilitators of the Process, Sir Shridath Ramphal and Mr. Paul Reichler.

At the conclusion of the meetings, the facilitators expressed their satisfaction with the progress achieved to date, and in particular the work accomplished in Barbados. The facilitators were also pleased to acknowledge the renewal of mutual commitment by Belize and Guatemala, through their Foreign Ministers, to the Facilitation Process to its successful completion. Ramphal and Reichler advised the Parties and the Secretary General that they would present their proposals for a resolution of the territorial differendum shortly.

In order to expedite their work, the Facilitators requested and secured from the Parties and the Secretary General, assistance in the form of an OAS ad hoc Mission that would obtain certain additional information concerning the location and characteristics of persons currently in the Adjacency Zone.

The Facilitators expressed their deep gratitude to the Secretary General for the consistent and continuing support of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.

The Belize-Guatemala Facilitation Process, developed under the aegis of the OAS, is designed to assist the Governments of Belize and Guatemala achieve a peaceful and definitive resolution of the long standing territorial differendum between the two countries.