No referendum discussion tabled for O.A.S. General Assembly
Alexis Rosado
Turning to the referendum…when Guatemala announced it was not holding a referendum this year but in 2014, Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington said that he will be meeting his counterpart in the margins of the O.A.S. to press for a specific date. But that meeting will not be taking place at this time. C.E.O. Alexis Rosado says it is a busy time…but more disheartening is that the international community is signaling it cannot commit to a long term funding of the process.
Alexis Rosado, C.E.O., Ministry of Foreign Affairs
“We had spoken about having a ministerial level meeting in June. And the original thinking was that we should have it around the general assembly. But once we realized how very active and busy we would be with other issues, we decided that we better save it until another time because really we need to spend time, deliberatively covering all the issues without too much distractions. So we decided to put it off and not hold it around the general assembly meetings.”
Marleni Cuellar
“Now obviously with the other foreign ministers here at this time, it is a good time to be able to get support from other nations and being able to get Guatemala to tie down the date of the referendum. How has it been going on that?”
Alexis Rosado
“So far, what the international community has been telling us is that they would want to see closure to this whole thing. They have been supporting the process; you know we have a Group of Friends that have been supporting the whole process under the O.A.S. and they have made it clear that they cannot just continue funding and supporting the process indefinitely. So they need to see some form of closure. So that’s what we are looking for; to find a way to define a date and that’s what the ministers should be covering when they meet.”
Rosado says, however, that a high level working group meeting was held last week in Guatemala at the vice ministerial level. A number of issues were discussed including confidence building measures, exchanges on different issues such as business, trade, investment, parliamentarians, media, and election processes. A while ago, the Guatemalan Foreign Minister made statements in respect of the referendum and we will have that report later.
