Talks on maritime boundaries held at O.A.S. headquarters

Right now it’s not an issue on the front burner of either country but talks continue between Belize and Guatemala over the question of that country’s claim to our territory. A release from the Organization of American States indicates that foreign ministers Eamon Courtenay of Belize and Gert Rosenthal of Guatemala met Monday in Washington with O.A.S. Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza. They were joined by the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs of Honduras, Eduardo Enrique Reyna. According to the release, the meeting was held to assess the progress made on negotiations over the maritime areas in the Gulf of Honduras, where the territorial waters of all three nations meet. As is usual following such meetings, the secretary general praised the friendly and constructive spirit of the encounter. The Guatemalan claim to Belize is almost a century and a half old.