Date for Belize/Guatemala Referendum Set

Belize’s Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington, along with a delegation of negotiators including Senator Lisa Shoman, left for Washington on Wednesday afternoon to meet with Guatemalan Foreign Minister Harold Caballeros at the request of OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza.  The purpose of the meeting was to determine a date on which a simultaneous referendum will be held by both countries to present Guatemala’s territorial, insular and maritime claim to the International Court of Justice.  The agreed date for the referenda is October sixth, 2013.  Prior to the public survey, an education campaign will take place during which the populace, in both countries, will be sensitized about the territorial dispute.  They will also be informed about a peaceful and permanent solution to the argument.  Both ministers also agreed to convene a high-level meeting in June to look carefully at the confidence-building measures, and to identify activities directed at bolstering cooperation between residents living in the adjacency zone.