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OAS WILL SUPPORT TECHNICAL DEMARCATION OF BORDER
BETWEEN EL SALVADOR AND HONDURAS

  April 11, 2003

The Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Ambassador Luigi R. Einaudi, has responded to requests made by the Governments of El Salvador and Honduras to the Pan American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH) concerning the demarcation of their border.

In a letter delivered personally to the Foreign Ministers of El Salvador, María Eugenia Brizuela de Ávila, and Honduras, Guillermo Pérez-Cadalso Arias, Ambassador Einaudi explained that the OAS General Secretariat will ask the PAIGH to appoint a technical engineer to resolve any differences that may arise within the El Salvador-Honduras Special Demarcation Commission--for example, when geodesic coordinates specified in the judgment of the International Court of Justice do not correspond to the geographic features mentioned in that judgment.

The foreign ministers came to the OAS to receive the news after accompanying their presidents to a White House meeting with President George W. Bush to discuss the United States-Central America Free Trade Agreement.

"The demarcation of this border is a highly important achievement that will contribute directly to enhancing integration in Central America and accelerate the economic and social development of its peoples," said Ambassador Einaudi. The intent, added the Assistant Secretary General, is that the expert join the El Salvador-Honduras Special Demarcation Commission in time to attend its next meeting, scheduled for May 5.

In 1992, the International Court of Justice issued a ruling regarding the border between El Salvador and Honduras. In September of last year, the Presidents of El Salvador, Francisco Flores, and Honduras, Ricardo Maduro, pledged to complete the demarcation of their border within 18 months.

Reference: E-083/03