*EPF308 04/10/2002
U.K., S. Korea Donate Funds to Help Resolve Belize-Guatemala Dispute
(OAS serving as facilitator for negotiations on matter) (350)

Washington -- The United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea are making financial contributions to a peace fund set up by the Organization of American States (OAS) to help settle a long-standing territorial dispute between Belize and Guatemala, the OAS announced.

The United Kingdom, which along with South Korea and a number of other countries has a permanent observer at the OAS, is contributing $75,000 to the OAS Fund for Peace between Belize and Guatemala, as well as $15,000 toward the OAS's Special Mission in Haiti and a similar amount to the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism.

Meanwhile, South Korea is contributing $50,000 that will go toward the peace fund for Belize and Guatemala and to another peace fund set up to settle a maritime dispute between Honduras and Nicaragua. The OAS is serving as facilitator for ongoing negotiations to try to resolve both problems.

The OAS established the "Fund for Peace: Peaceful Settlement of Territorial Disputes" at its General Assembly in Windsor, Canada, in 2000.

In an April 9 statement, OAS Assistant Secretary General Luigi Einaudi lauded South Korea for being the first Asian country to contribute to the peace fund. He called South Korea's contribution "very important for us."

Belize's ambassador to the OAS, Lisa Shoman, said her country and Guatemala hope to be able to announce shortly "concrete steps" towards a final settlement of their dispute.

According to U.S. State Department documents, the argument between Belize and Guatemala involves Guatemalan claims to territory held by Belize. Negotiations to settle the dispute have gone for many years, including one period in which the United States sought unsuccessfully to mediate, the documents indicated.

Additionally, tensions between Nicaragua and Honduras arose in 1999 when the Honduran Congress approved a maritime treaty with Colombia that recognized Colombian claims to large areas of the Caribbean waters that were also claimed by Nicaragua. Tensions were further heightened when the Nicaraguan Parliament retaliated by passing a 35-percent tariff on merchandise imported from Honduras.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Return to Public File Main Page

Return to Public Table of Contents