
Signing ceremony, SICA Headquarters, San Salvador, El
Salvador, February 7, 2000. From left to right,
Roberto Flores Berm�dez, Foreign Minister of Honduras; Luigi R. Einaudi,
OAS Special Representative; Eduardo Montealegre Rivas, Foreign Minister of
Nicaragua. Photo courtesy of the newspaper El
Diario de Hoy, San Salvador
COMMUNIQUE
(NOTE: Unofficial translation)
San Salvador, El Salvador, February 7, 2000
The Ministers of Foreign Relations of the Republics of
Honduras and Nicaragua, in following up on their meetings in Miami and
Washington, met in the city of San Salvador on February 6 and 7, 2000,
along with the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the
Organization of American States (OAS), and agreed to communicate the
following:
With the purpose of preventing actions that could
affect regional peace and good neighborly relations and promoting Central
American integration, the Ministers have agreed to establish the following
system of confidence-building and tension-reducing measures in the
Caribbean Sea, which will be in effect while the International Court of
Justice determines the maritime boundary between Honduras and Nicaragua in
the Caribbean Sea.
-
Honduras and Nicaragua will not maintain any military or police
posts in the Caribbean Sea other than those in existence before
September 1, 1999. Thus both parties commit to restoring within a
period of 30 days, their respective positions in effect before the
indicated date.
-
Honduras and Nicaragua will refrain from carrying out any military or
police action in the Caribbean Sea that could provoke incidents or
serve as an obstacle to resolving any controversy by peaceful means.
-
The parties agree to the establishment of a combined
Honduran-Nicaraguan patrol mechanism, with the possibility of inviting
representatives of another member or observer State of the
Organization of American States, subject to agreement between the
parties and in compliance with the laws of both countries.
-
At the request of either one or both parties, the combined patrol
mechanism will participate in the following tasks:
-
Prevention of incidents between naval craft of Honduras and
Nicaragua.
-
Verification of any possible military presence that would violate
this agreement.
-
Drug-interdiction operations.
-
Control of piracy against fishermen of both countries.
-
Rescue operations.
- The remaining details of how the joint patrol mechanism will
function will be agreed a technical level within 45 days from the
present date, and will be put in effect within 15 days after that agreement.
- The Ministers agreed that, in cases of doubt or discrepancy relating
to the interpretation and application of this agreement, the parties
will find a friendly solution, using the good offices of the Special
Representative of the Secretary General of the Organization of
American States.
- The parties agree that nothing stipulated in this document, or
resulting from its implementation, will prejudice the positions and
rights maintained by each state, nor will it create rights, nor will
it constitute a precedent that will grant rights to either State.
- The Foreign Ministers reaffirm the will of their respective
countries to resolve their differences peacefully and to faithfully
comply with the judgment that the International Court of Justice will
make in determining the maritime boundaries between Honduras and
Nicaragua in the Caribbean Sea.
The Ministers expressed their conviction that the
content of this communiqu� contributes to the peace and to reducing
tensions, and reaffirm the integrationist spirit of both countries.
Roberto Flores Berm�dez
Foreign Minister of Honduras
Eduardo Montealegre Rivas
Foreign Minister of Nicaragua
Luigi R. Einaudi
Special Representative of the Organization of American
States
February 7, 2000
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