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GUATEMALA'S BORDER AND TERRITORIAL DISPUTE WITH BELIZE INTENSIFIES AS TRADE TALKS ADVANCE.

Article Excerpt
Guatemala's Foreign Minister Jorge Briz has said that Belize has assumed an "intransigent" posture in its effort to resolve a border dispute whose history reaches back beyond the birth of Belize as an independent country. Briz challenged the latest Belizean attempt at border security while simultaneously the two countries were on the verge of finalizing a trade pact between them. Intransigence in this case, however, is a two-way street. Guatemala failed to submit a treaty for ratification by referendum in 2002, which would have ended the dispute.

With that aborted attempt at resolution as justification, Asaad Shoman, Belize's minister of foreign affairs, in late May sent a letter to Luigi Einaudi, then acting secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS), accusing Guatemala of trying to delay a resolution indefinitely. In that letter, Shoman said his country would seek ways other than negotiation to end the stalemate. Shoman wants the border dispute settled, and he also wants his country out from under the cloud of Guatemala's historic claim to half of Belize.

Briz denied any heel dragging on his country's part and returned the accusation. "Guatemala has followed a process without affecting the claim. If it hasn't advanced, it's Belize's fault," said Briz, adding that he has asked for a meeting with...