The Honourable Michael Peyrefitte, Speaker of the House of Representatives, met with the Honourable Mario Taracena Diaz-Sol, Speaker of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala at a meeting hosted by the Nicaraguan Government through the XVIII Extraordinary Meeting of FOPREL (Forum of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments of Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean Basin). The meeting was held on Thursday, 19th May 2016, at the Congress Conference Room in Managua, Nicaragua.
The meeting also had the participation of Speakers and Deputy Speakers of the parliaments of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica. At the meeting, the Honourable Peyrefitte briefed the Speakers of Central America about Belize’s perspective in relation to the recent incident that occurred in our Chiquibul Reserve where a young boy lost his life.
The one-day meeting resulted in the signing of an agreement between the member countries of FOPREL in the framework of strengthening good relations and parliamentary friendship among the counties in the region. The agreement between the National Assembly of Belize and the Congress of Guatemala declares among other things the following:
- To invite Guatemala and Belize to promote and facilitate the solution to all disagreements involving them through dialogue and parliamentary diplomacy, in accordance to due process and international agreements;
- For FOPREL to encourage Guatemala and Belize to support the ongoing processes between these two countries under the auspices of the OAS;
- FOPREL will encourage the Congress of Guatemala to promptly consider the ratification of the protocol signed between Belize and Guatemala in May 2015, to amend the Special Agreement signed in 2008.
It must be noted that, after 150 years of the dispute, it is the first time that the parliaments of Belize and Guatemala are getting involved in the discussion at this level.
Accompanying the Honourable Peyrefitte at the meeting in Nicaragua was Mr. Eddie Webster, Clerk to the National Assembly.
