OAS RELOCATES GUATEMALANS FROM ADJACENCY ZONE

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 001132

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV GT
SUBJECT: OAS RELOCATES GUATEMALANS FROM ADJACENCY ZONE

REF: GUATEMALA 00944


1. Summary: On April 30, HROff attended the inauguration of
a community constructed by the Organization of American
States (OAS) to relocate Guatemalans living in the "Adjacency
Zone" between Belize and Guatemala. Twenty families moved
voluntarily from Nueva Juda on the Belizean side of the
border, where they had lived since 2001, to wooden homes
built by the OAS in Melchor de Mencos, Peten. This ceremony
marked a significant step forward in the Confidence Building
Measures for the border conflict. End Summary.

Background
--------------


2. In the Confidence Building Measures passed in February
2003, Belize and Guatemala agreed that all Guatemalans living
in the Adjacency Zone before October 2000 (when a survey was
done by the OAS) could remain, but any future settlers must
be relocated. Since that time, Guatemalans have continued to
move into the Adjacency Zone, especially into the Nueva Juda
community. Over the past year, the OAS found 55 families
that admitted to settling in Barrio Nueva Juda since October
2000 (allegedly after the former FRG Mayor of Melchor started
selling tracts of land illegally),all of whom have now
voluntarily agreed to relocate and dismantle their former
homes. April 30, on land donated by the Guatemalan
municipality, the OAS inaugurated the completion of the first
20 houses of this relocation project. In the next several
months, the OAS plans to complete another 35 homes, a school,
small town hall, and sports fields for children.


3. Attended by Ambassadors and government officials from
both Belize and Guatemala, the inauguration had a celebratory
air. After speeches by the Mayors of Melchor de Mencos and
the Belizean parallel community, Benque Viejo, and Belizean
Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, visiting delegates
ceremoniously distributed deeds and keys to the homes, which
were assigned to families through a lottery.


4. Good-will between citizens on both sides of the border
seemed widespread and genuine, and was especially evident
when the mayors of the twin Guatemalan and Belizean
communities, who grew up neighbors and remain close friends,
danced together on stage. Members of the Nueva Juda
community reported being extremely satisfied with their new
homes. Teresa Casanova Trujillo, mayor of the Melchor de
Mencos, told HROff that the border conflict was primarily a
political issue centered in the capitals and that residents
of both sides of the border live as neighbors with few
tensions.


5. One issue that continues to cause tension in the
Adjacency Zone is Guatemalan collection of xate, a commercial
plant marketed widely in Europe. Hundreds of impoverished
Guatemalan farmers venture over the contended area on a daily
basis to collect the leaves of the easily damaged plant,
occasionally causing incidents with Belizean border patrols
working to protect borders (RefTel).


6. Comment: The inauguration was a welcome sign of
confidence building between border zone residents, the GOG,
GOB, and OAS in the lead-up to discussions at the OAS. With
the first residents of Nueva Juda in Melchor de Mencos
happily settled in their new homes, prospects for further
progress seem brighter.
HAMILTON