VZCZCXYZ0016
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #1961/01 2781513
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 051513Z OCT 06 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0868
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUATEMALA 001961 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN AND WHA/USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/02/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS PHSA KDEM OTRA OAS GT BH HO
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MAISTO'S SEPTEMBER 27-28 VISIT TO 
GUATEMALA 
 
Classified By: Ambassador James Derham, Reason: 1.4(d) 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  During a September 27-28 visit to 
Guatemala, U.S. Ambassador to the OAS John Maisto promoted 
"relevant multilateralism" in a number of fora and discussed 
the Guatemala-Belize dispute with the Belizean Ambassador to 
Guatemala and with senior officials in the Guatemalan Foreign 
Ministry.  Ambassador Maisto urged his interlocutors to take 
full advantage of the good offices of the OAS to advance 
Guatemala-Belize negotiations.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) U.S. Permanent Representative to the OAS John Maisto 
began his official meetings in Guatemala on September 28 with 
a breakfast with Belizean Ambassador to Guatemala Alfredo 
Martinez, hosted by Ambassador Derham at the residence. 
Ambassador Martinez presented his interpretation of the 
dispute between the two countries, and expressed particular 
concern about the recent construction of an access road to 
the Guatemalan expatriate community of Santa Rosa, noting 
that the paved road was provocatively (and deliberately) 
constructed within Belizean territory.  Martinez opined that 
the construction of the road could be construed as bad faith 
on the part of the GOG as it ran counter to agreements to 
remove the community from Belizean soil.  However, Martinez 
praised the recent appointment of Gert Rosenthal as 
Guatemalan Foreign Minister, and expressed hope that 
Rosenthal could resolve the road issue and generally bring 
under control recalcitrant figures on the Guatemalan side 
(most notably the GOG's Belize Commission). 
 
¶3.  (C) Ambassador Martinez also recounted recent 
developments in the delineation of maritime boundaries, which 
he reported to be stalled by a Guatemalan refusal to accept a 
proposal for a tripartite maritime ecological park preserve 
that encompassed the disputed waters.  Martinez noted that 
Belize and Honduras had agreed to give Guatemala 
"sovereignty" over an eight mile-wide maritime corridor (half 
ceded by Belize and half by Honduras).  Guatemala had 
insisted on the term "sovereignty" even though part of the 
corridor extended beyond the twelve nautical mile territorial 
limit; Belizean representatives are asking their lawyers for 
a legal interpretation of this anomaly, Martinez said.  The 
tentative settlement - which Martinez judged to be much more 
generous that anything that Guatemala could achieve through 
an international judicial ruling - was jeopardized by the GOG 
opposition to the maritime park proposal.  Martinez blamed 
the GOG position for the extremely acrimonious exchanges 
between the Honduras and Guatemala at a tripartite meeting in 
Panama shortly before Rosenthal took over as Minister of 
Foreign Affairs. 
 
¶4.  (C) Ambassador Maisto noted that OAS Secretary General 
Insulza recently had a positive meeting with Guatemalan and 
Belizean representatives, and stated that the "good offices" 
of the OAS were available for facilitating resolution of 
disputes and/or obstacles in the process.  During subsequent 
discussion of the UN Security Council Race, Ambassador Maisto 
suggested that it was not too late for the GOB to consider 
issuing a statement to release its fellow Caricom members 
from a commitment to not vote for Guatemala, provided that a 
positive development occurred in the border negotiations 
process.  Martinez noted that some of the other Caricom 
members use Belizean opposition as an fig leaf for other 
motives for supporting Venezuela. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Acting Foreign Minister Marta Altolaguirre received 
Ambassador Maisto during his Foreign Ministry courtesy call; 
the other two Vice Ministers, Luis Fernando Andrade and 
Anamaria Dieguez, also joined the meeting.  Two of the 
principal themes of the meeting were trafficking in persons 
(one of Altolaguirre's personal concerns) and the UNSC race. 
Ambassador Maisto mentioned the availability of OAS good 
offices for the Guatemala-Belize dispute and stressed the 
need for a positive gesture by the GOG.  VFM Andrade asked if 
starting the process of relocating Santa Rosa residents would 
be considered such a positive gesture; Ambassador Maisto 
responded that it would. 
 
¶6.  (U) Ambassador Maisto's final event before departing 
Guatemala was a presentation to International Relations 
students at the Jesuit Rafael Landivar University. 
Ambassador Maisto gave the students an extensive briefing on 
the OAS and its role in strengthening and promoting democracy 
in the Western Hemisphere - with emphasis on the 
InterAmerican Democratic Charter and the OAS role in election 
monitoring - and he underlined how U.S. policy supports these 
goals.  During a subsequent question and answer session, 
Ambassador Maisto fielded questions on topics such as 
elections in Nicaragua and Mexico, free trade agreements, 
Guantanamo prisoners, and corruption. 
 
 
¶7.  (U) Ambassador Maisto has cleared this cable. 
 
Derham