OAS Secretary General Visits Belize-Guatemala Adjacency Zone
The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, along with a delegation representing the Group of Friends of Belize and Guatemala, is visiting the Adjacency Zone from August 31st to September 2nd and meeting with the foreign ministers of both countries as part of the trip.
According to the OAS, the visit is meant to reaffirm the organisation’s commitment to peacefully settling the Belize-Guatemala dispute, assess how confidence-building measures are being implemented on the ground, and highlight the impact of community and educational initiatives in the area. The visit also aims to strengthen international technical and financial support for the OAS mission operating in the zone.
The Group of Friends delegation included representatives from Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Spain, Türkiye, and the European Union, among other international partners.
At the OAS Office in the Adjacency Zone, Ramdin and the delegation met with Belize’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francis Fonseca, and Guatemala’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Ramiro Martínez Alvarado, and received briefings on the OAS Mission’s work and recent developments in the area.
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The delegation also toured the “Ta’ Amay” Peace Promotion and Training Centres and took part in unveiling a mural on peaceful coexistence created jointly by Belizean and Guatemalan youth, described as a symbol of binational integration and community trust.
As part of his broader agenda, Ramdin also held separate bilateral meetings with both foreign ministers in Belmopan and Guatemala City. While in Guatemala City, he met with the secretary general of the Central American Integration System, Lina Eugenia Ajoy Rojas.
The Adjacency Zone is a 213-kilometre-long, two-kilometre-wide strip of territory covering roughly 426 square kilometres, established in 2000 as a key confidence-building measure to preserve stability, dialogue, and peace during the process to resolve the Belize-Guatemala territorial dispute. Through its Office of the General Secretariat in the Adjacency Zone, formally established in 2002, the OAS has maintained a continuous presence in the area focused on preventive diplomacy, security, and social development.
According to the OAS, the mission’s principal achievements include verifying more than 500 incidents on the ground, facilitating regular coordination meetings between the armed forces of both countries, including eight annual meetings between mid-level officers and four between senior commanders, and maintaining a permanent communication channel between the two countries’ foreign ministries.
At the community level, the OAS manages four “Ta’ Amay” peace promotion and training centres located in Benque Viejo del Carmen, Melchor de Mencos, Santa Cruz, and Aldea El Arenal. More than 2,500 students, over 80 per cent of them women, have received training through these centres, which also host community initiatives focused on health, access to justice, and social and cultural development.