Members of Belize-Guatemala Mixed Commission appointed

24 August, 2000 - Belmopan
The Prime Minister, Hon. Said Musa, has appointed five persons to
represent Belize on the Mixed Commission established at the Ministerial
Meeting held between Belize and the Republic of Guatemala at the OAS
headquarters in Washington, D.C., in July of this year.

The Mixed Commission, which comprises five Commissioners each from
Belize and Guatemala, will receive and implement proposals for
confidence-building measures aimed at promoting permanent friendly
relations and cooperation between the two nations.

The Mixed Commission will also submit proposals of its own to the
Governments and the Panel of Facilitators of the negotiating process.
Areas to be addressed include educational and cultural exchanges, trade
promotion, tourism development, counter-narcotics operation, natural
resources management and others identified by the Panel of Facilitators
and approved by the Foreign Ministers of the two countries.

The Belizean side of the Mixed Commission is headed by His Excellency,
Ambassador James Murphy, and includes the Hon. Erwin Contreras, Area
Representative for Cayo West, Mr. Godwin Hulse, Managing Director of
Forest Drive Enterprise Inc., Ms. Lois Young-Barrow, of the Lois
Young-Barrow and Co. Law Firm and Dr. Ludwig Palacio of the University
of Belize, Punta Gorda campus.

The Guatemalan side of the Mixed Commission is headed by Dr. Efraín
Aguilera, former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and includes Mr.
Haroldo Quej, Secretary of the Environment, Ms. Lucy Barrios de Mendez,
from the Office of the Vice Presidency, Mr. Carlos Morales, Director
General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ms. Lucrecia Barrientos,
Advisor in the Ministry of the Interior.

The first meeting of the Mixed Commission is scheduled to occur in
Guatemala City on Monday, August 28th, 2000.