Belmopan- 19th, September, 2005
Since before independence, the Commonwealth instituted a special Ministerial Committee on Belize to support Belize in its struggle for a secure independence with all its territory. The Members of the Committee are the Foreign Ministers of Barbados, who chairs the Committee, Canada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Nigeria and Tanzania. The United Kingdom attends as an observer.

The Commonwealth Ministerial Committee on Belize met at The United Nations Headquarters in New York City today, 16 September 2005, to review the developments in the continuing efforts of Belize to bring an end to Guatemala’s territorial claim. The Committee received a report from His Excellency Senior Ambassador with Ministerial Rank Assad Shoman on the current situation concerning the dispute. He was accompanied by His Excellency Alfredo Martinez, Ambassador of Belize to Guatemala.

The Committee expressed satisfaction that agreement had been reached on a process that if assiduously followed could result in an early and definitive resolution of the dispute. The Committee noted that the Agreement on a Framework for Negotiations and Confidence Building Measures Between Belize and Guatemala signed by the two Parties and the Secretary General of the OAS on 7 September 2005 provided for recourse to an international judicial body for final resolution should the Parties fail to reach agreement in negotiations, and expressed the confidence that this mechanism would finally bring this long-lasting and anachronistic claim to an early end. The Committee reiterated its firm support for and solidarity with the Government and people of Belize in the maintenance of their territorial integrity and sovereignty.

---
Ends
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Trade and Tourism