HAVING SEEN:

1.             The brief of April 2, 1997, containing the preliminary objections interposed by the State of Guatemala.

2.             The brief of April 18, 1997, from the State of Guatemala in which it requested the Court "that the aforesaid brief be deemed not to have been submitted."

CONSIDERING:

1.             That the time period for presentation of preliminary objections in the instant case has not yet elapsed.

2.             That the declaration by the State of Guatemala suggests that the brief had been presented in error.

NOW THEREFORE:

THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS,

in accordance with the provisions of Article 35 of its Rules of Procedure and in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 29 of those Rules,

DECIDES:

As requested, to deem the brief of April 2, 1997, containing the preliminary objections not to have been submitted.

Done in Spanish and English, the Spanish text being authentic, at the seat of the Court in San Jose, Costa Rica, this eighteenth day of April, 1997.