O.A.S. will set up monitoring office in Benque

That long promised international presence along the Belize-Guatemala border came a step closer to reality this week with the arrival of an official team from the Organization of American States. They are here to set up an office in the one kilometre wide half of the adjacency zone on Belize’s side of the border. The O.A.S. office, which will be located near Benque Viejo, will monitor adherence by both countries to the terms of the recently signed agreement on confidence building measures along the frontier. The O.A.S. base of operations should soon become operational and it is expected that one of its first tasks will be to deal with the establishment of a housing subdivision by authorities in Melchor de Mencos that extends into Belizean territory.