30 April 2003
International Community to Discuss Progress of Guatemalan Peace Accords
(May 13-14 meeting aims to boost efforts to reduce poverty in
Guatemala) (360)
Washington -- Members of the Guatemalan government will meet with the
international community to discuss how to accelerate progress of the
1996 peace accords for Guatemala and on strengthening efforts to
reduce poverty in the Central American nation.
The Consultative Group for Guatemala is scheduled to meet with that
nation's leaders at the May 13-14 meeting in Guatemala City, to be
chaired by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The Consultative
Group, which includes the United States and 17 other nations, serves
as a key forum for dialogue between Guatemala and the international
community, and for coordinating donor assistance after the signing of
the peace accords, which ended 36 years of civil war in Guatemala.
The IDB said in an April 25 statement that Guatemalan President
Alfonso Portillo is due to open the event, after which top officials
from the three branches of the Guatemalan government and leaders of
the private sector and civil society will meet with donor nations and
multilateral agencies.
The United States, Mexico, Spain, Norway, Venezuela and Colombia
served as the "group of friends" of the Guatemalan peace process. U.S.
economic aid to Guatemala has been built around supporting the 1996
peace accords, which dealt with such issues as protecting human
rights, resettling displaced persons, and promoting land reform.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that the peace accords
need to take full effect in order for Guatemala to achieve peace,
democracy, and equitable growth.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is operating
programs in Guatemala to support national reconciliation through the
1996 peace accords, to improve democratic institutions, combat
corruption, increase access to education, improve the health of women
and children, and increase the incomes and economic status of the
rural poor. USAID has also provided the nation with millions of
dollars in emergency aid, food, and medical supplies to address
ongoing problems with malnutrition, and launched a reconstruction
program after Hurricane Mitch devastated Guatemala and other countries
of Central America in 1998.
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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