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Disarmament DiplomacyIssue No. 36, April 1999Central America Demining DeclarationIn Managua on 12 April, 7 Central American States - Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras - signed a Declaration reaffirming their commitment to eradicate all landmines from their territory. The signing was followed by a ceremony in which 5,000 of the around 70,000 landmines planted in Nicaragua were destroyed. According to Cesar Gaviria, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (12 April): "Central America is in the vanguard... This is a model for the rest of the world."Report: Central America unites against landmine threat, Reuters, 13 April. © 1999 The Acronym Institute. |