Ambassador Luigi Einaudi, appointed as a Special Representative of the Organization of American States (OAS) to help ease tensions between Honduras and Nicaragua, today began a second round of meetings with the two nations’ foreign ministers.

Einaudi will work with Foreign Minister Roberto Flores of Honduras and Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Eduardo Montealegre to discuss details of an agreement on the separation of military forces and other confidence-building measures, reached two weeks ago in Miami during their first direct talks on the issue.

"There are many details that still must be worked out, but we are all hopeful because the political will exists to resolve these problems in a peaceful manner," Einaudi said today. "The two delegations will meet throughout today and tomorrow to discuss how to best carry out the agreements reached in Miami."

Tensions arose between the two countries late last year as the result of the ratification, by the Honduran Congress, of a maritime delimitation treaty between Honduras and Colombia. Nicaragua, which claims some of the maritime areas in question, has taken the boundary issue to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Ambassador Einaudi, a retired U.S. diplomat, has said his role is to help the two countries develop mechanisms to prevent unintended clashes while the parties wait for a decision from the International Court.

In Miami, Nicaragua and Honduras agreed, among other things, to define and establish a military exclusion zone in the Caribbean Sea and to immediately freeze, along and near the land border, the presence of military personnel and border posts at the levels that existed on September 1, 1999.

Entire contents � 1999 Organization of American States
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