US embassy cable - 04GUATEMALA1132

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