For Immediate Release
November 17, 2004

United Nations Ends Successful Peace Mission in Guatemala
Fact of the Day

The U.S.-backed U.N. Verification Mission in Guatemala known as MINUGUA, has formally ended after 10 years. The closure is not an end to the peace process, but is a new opportunity for the Guatemalan people to take control of their futures. The United Nations and Guatemala have signed agreements to open an Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and form a special body to investigate clandestine groups. In announcing the end of the mission, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said that Guatemalans had made "enormous progress in managing the country's problems through dialogue and institutions."

Source: The United Nations