OAS Adjacency Zone Mandate Does Not Extend to Sarstoon River

The OAS recently concluded a high-level meeting in Belize involving the foreign ministers of Belize and Guatemala, along with representatives of the Group of Friends. The discussions focused on continued cooperation and support for confidence-building efforts between the two countries.  Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oscar Arnold, explained that the OAS Office in the Adjacency Zone plays an important role in verifying incidents, reducing tensions and facilitating communication between Belize and Guatemala. He clarified, however, that its mandate is limited to the Adjacency Zone along Belize’s western border and does not extend to the Sarstoon River in southern Belize.  Arnold also outlined the present cross-border situation in western Belize and the mechanisms used to address incidents involving residents and authorities from both countries.

Oscar Arnold, CEO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “They report mainly on incidents that occur within the adjacency zone. That is their mandate. In the current capacity, the OAS is there as an incident verification, totally objective body, an early warning kind of conflict prevention body. But they also do some development building there. They also facilitate the implementation of different confidence building measures that take place in the adjacent zone. So we were in Arenal and we saw how, again, how the inhabitants of both sides of the border coexist, how they go to school. There’s a music program there that is very well engaged by both Guatemalans and Belizeans. There’s a bakery where they provide baked goods that are sold. There’s a shared water system as well for potable water for both communities. And so it’s important to see how those communities in the adjacency zone, how they interact and coexist. We would have liked to have the OAS as well as part of the, I guess the overarching body that oversees the Sarstoon as well but there was no decision that was made by both parties for that. And so it’s the land border in the adjacency zone that the OAS has a mandate over.” 

The Group of Friends provides international support for the work of the OAS Office in the Adjacency Zone. Belize and Guatemala continue to rely on that mechanism to manage incidents peacefully while their territorial, insular and maritime dispute remains before the International Court of Justice.