ON THE CEREMONY OF HANDING OVER OF POWER TO NEW GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT OSCAR BERGER

Unofficial translation from Russian

PRESS RELEASE

The handing over ceremony of power took place in Guatemala on January 14 to the new President of that country, Oscar Berger, elected as the result of national elections which, in the opinion of numerous foreign observers, had been held in an organized and democratic manner and generally up to international standards. The elections had constituted yet another step in the assertion in Guatemala of democratic principles and the consolidation of the processes of concord and national reconciliation.

N. M. Yelizarov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Costa Rica and concurrently to Guatemala, represented the Russian Federation. He handed Oscar Berger a congratulatory message from President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

In the conversations held during this event, the sides noted the positive dynamics in Russian-Guatemalan cooperation and the favorable prospects for its expansion on the basis of the existing Treaty on the Principles of Relations Between Russia and Guatemala.

January 16, 2004