Belizean, Guatemalan diplomats meet at OAS

Talks between Belize and Guatemala have entered their second day at OAS headquarters in Washington. The low-key meetings, scheduled to conclude today, are supposed to assess the extent of compliance by both countries to the agreements made under the OAS sponsored negotiating process. While the talks do not deal with the substantive issues of the Guatemalan claim to Belize, there will be no shortage of topics for discussion. From the beginning Guatemala appears to have given the negotiations a low priority and has not been in a great hurry to make good on its commitments. Meanwhile, the fundamental questions of the dispute will be dealt with at the next ministerial level talks at the end of May. Under the agreed protocol, Guatemala has already submitted its written arguments. Belize will be responding by April thirtieth, after which Guatemala has two weeks to issue a rebuttal. At that meeting next month the two facilitators, Paul Reichler and Sir Shridath Ramphal, will present their recommendations on the way forward. Belize’s delegation to today’s talks, led by Ambassador Assad Shoman, includes CEOs David Gibson and Alan Usher as well as Ambassadors Moises Cal, Lisa Shoman and Fred Martinez. The Guatemalan side is headed by Foreign Minister Gabriel Orellana. The two facilitators are also in attendance.

In related news, there is still virtually no movement to report in efforts to remove the twenty-seven Guatemalan families who have settled illegally at a spot near Edwards Central in the Columbia River Forest Reserve. Removal of the encampment, almost three kilometres inside Belize, has been stalled by bureaucratic foot dragging in the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry. The official lethargy is expected to be a topic of discussion at this week’s talks.