A technical meeting between delegations of the Governments of the Republic of Guatemala and Belize occurred on March 14, 2000 in Washington, D.C., in the presence of the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Dr. César Gaviria. The delegation of Guatemala was headed by Viceminister of Foreign Relations Antonio Castellanos, and the Belize delegation was headed by Permanent Secretary David Gibson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belize.

The meeting began with general presentations made by each of the delegations, and worked on the preparation of a draft agenda to be considered by their respective ministers, including proposals relating to the juridical aspects of Guatemala´s territorial claim.

The delegations agreed to pursue ways to develop and implement confidence building measures, to improve existing arrangements to avoid the recurrence of incidents, and to facilitate negotiations.

The delegations also agreed to continue discussions on appropriate arrangements to improve problem solving capabilities and to strengthen bilateral relations.

At the request of both delegations, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States will continue to provide support to facilitate the progress of discussions.

The meeting occurred in an atmosphere of respect and cordiality.

Washington, D.C. March 14, 2000
Content Courtesty of www.oas.org

NOTE: The fifteen-member states of the Caribbean Community have issued a communiqué on the Belize-Guatemala border dispute.

The communiqué was issued by the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community currently underway in St. Kitts and Nevis and signed by the following: