Belize and Guatemala meet at OAS Summit

The thirty-second General Assembly of the Organisation of American States is taking place in Barbados this week, and one result of the meeting has been a chance for Belize and Guatemala to hold bilateral discussions. According to an OAS release, Foreign Minister Assad Shoman has met with his Guatemalan counterpart, Gabriel Orellana, not to mention facilitators Sir Shridath Ramphal and Paul Reichler… and to top it off, OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria. This is precisely the group that was supposed to be on hand in Washington for the presentation of the facilitators’ proposals to solve the Guatemalan claim to Belize, but for various reasons could not get together. No details of the meeting have emerged other than an agreement for an OAS ad hoc mission to conduct a census of the two-kilometre wide adjacency zone, which straddles the border. This exercise had been mandated months ago, but never implemented. As for when the long awaited joint presentation will be made, the facilitators would only say: “soon”.