Guatemala May Seek Regional Peace Force
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GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemala said Saturday that it is likely to seek observers from the Organization of American States after China vetoed a United Nations peacekeeping mission for this Central American country.
Angered over Guatemala’s warm ties with Taiwan, China used its veto power late Friday in the U.N. Security Council for the first time in nearly 24 years, frustrating Guatemala’s efforts to bring in 155 unarmed U.N. peacekeepers to oversee a rebel disarmament.
The remaining 14 members of the council approved the mission to help disarm 3,000 rebel fighters.
“This is really deplorable and of course represents a complication for the Guatemalan peace process,” Guatemalan Foreign Minister Eduardo Stein said.
The diplomatic spat has been the only hitch so far in the peace process since the Guatemalan government and leftist guerrillas signed a peace treaty Dec. 29, ending 35 years of civil war.
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