Peace in Our Time

As of 1998, 17 percent of the world’s land boundaries and 38 percent of maritime boundaries were disputed. One down: Secretary-General Kofi Annan has welcomed as "historic" an agreement between Belize and Guatemala that seeks to end one of the world’s longer running, and more obscure, border squabbles. In the dense jungle where the two ...

As of 1998, 17 percent of the world's land boundaries and 38 percent of maritime boundaries were disputed. One down: Secretary-General Kofi Annan has welcomed as "historic" an agreement between Belize and Guatemala that seeks to end one of the world's longer running, and more obscure, border squabbles.

As of 1998, 17 percent of the world’s land boundaries and 38 percent of maritime boundaries were disputed. One down: Secretary-General Kofi Annan has welcomed as "historic" an agreement between Belize and Guatemala that seeks to end one of the world’s longer running, and more obscure, border squabbles.

In the dense jungle where the two countries meet, local residents can only guess where the border falls, and as international disputes go, this one has inspired little violence. Nevertheless, for the last 143 years Guatemala has claimed land from Belize. Now, after two and a half years of negotiations, a "groundbreaking accord" is in place (subject to approval in national referenda in both countries). Guatemala gained key maritime concessions in exchange for dropping their land claim. A $200 million Development Trust Fund, administered by the Inter-American Development Bank, will take responsibility for demarcating the boundary. The British government welcomed the "rare thing" of a "good news territorial agreement" — without noting that a British colonial treaty instigated the dispute in the first place.

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