Guatemalan president calls for early settlement

With the facilitators about to make their recommendations on Tuesday in Washington D.C., Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo is weighing in with his own ideas for solution of the Guatemalan claim to Belize. Speaking to the Associated Press during an official visit to Washington D.C., last week, Portillo said that he has asked his Foreign Minister, Gabriel Orellana, to move quickly to come up with a concrete proposal to end the differences between the two countries. Saying that taking the dispute to an international court would take too long, Portillo says his government can come up with a realistic plan in two to three months. He said that his decision was well received in the United States and would pave the way for other territorial disputes to be resolved and hasten the economic integration of the region. Officials contacted by News 5 in Belize’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no official reaction to the report, but long term diplomatic observers believe it may be an attempt to distract attention from the upcoming facilitators’ report which may not reflect well on Guatemala.