Ministry of Defense Preparing for Cartel Violence Spill Over

Rising cartel‑related violence just across the northern border in Quintana Roo is raising concerns about whether that criminal activity could spill into Belize. Authorities say they are closely watching developments as tensions among narco groups escalate in the Mexican border region. Today, News Five asked the C.E.O. in the Ministry of Defense what Belize is doing to stay ahead of the threat. While he declined to share operational details, C.E.O. Francis Usher said the focus right now is on strengthening the country’s security presence and taking proactive steps to keep that violence from crossing the border.

 

Shane Williams

“The issue of narcos up north, what has been the strategy? What has been the meetings like and what are your concerns?”

 

Francis Usher, CEO, Ministry of Defense

“To be proactive instead of reactive. I don’t want to get into the details of the strategy and where we are placing manpower, how much manpower, et cetera. But what I can say is that we are increasing, or we have increased numbers, we have increased our presence and we have upped the ante in terms of our strategy. We are allocating the necessary resources both in the north and the south the north because of the issues in Mexico, but also in the south because there’s a lot of terrain that transnational organized crime uses for the logistics of their operation. So we have to ensure that we are ready and so we are focusing on being proactive instead of reactive.”

 

C.E.O. Francis Usher says security agencies remain in close coordination as they monitor developments across the border in Quintana Roo, particularly in the border city of Chetumal.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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