OAS ceremony will laud facilitation process

It may seem a bit anti-climactic to Belizeans, who for the last ten days have been immersed in the details of the Ramphal/Reichler proposals. But on Monday in Washington, D.C., the Organisation of American States will hold a formal ceremony marking the successful conclusion of the facilitation process. That event will feature the involvement of OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria, Assistant Secretary Luigi Enaudi and Foreign Ministers Assad Shoman, Gabriel Orellana and Guillermo Perez-Cadalso of Belize, Guatemala and Honduras respectively. Regional Foreign Ministers and other diplomatic heavyweights will also be attending, presumably including the two facilitators. While for us in Belize the real test of successful diplomacy will come in November’s simultaneous referenda, the OAS is already touting the facilitation process as a model for the resolution of a number of territorial conflicts in the region and the world. News 5’s Janelle Chanona will provide us with coverage of the ceremony on Monday.