Belize Battles Drugs And Human Trafficking

Belize sits on the front line of the regional fight against human trafficking and the illegal drug trade. U.S. Ambassador Andre Bauer says both issues will rank high on his agenda, as the United States strengthens cooperation with the Belizean government. He says intercepting narcotics in Belize can keep them from reaching American streets and feeding deadly addictions, including the fentanyl crisis.

 

Andre Bauer, U.S. Ambassador to Belize

“Sure absolutely we are, and we are gonna take efforts to try to work with the Belizean government to do all we can to, um, absolutely do away with human trafficking. And to, if there’s one person being trafficked, it’s one too many. Anytime drugs are coming up through Belize from another country and Belize seizes those drugs, those are drugs that quite possibly could have gone to America. And we’ve seen an uptick. I’ve had friends who have lost a child to something laced with fentanyl. They had no idea they were even getting fentanyl. And so when we can stop any of these drugs, even if it’s an entry-level drug, those turn into to drug users that use more advanced drugs. And so one of the big thing is, as an American taxpayer, personally, I have no problem with us doing all we can to deter drugs from coming into this country because they’re gonna harm the people of this country, and then they’re gonna harm people that it just flows through into other countries like the United States of America. So that is a biggie for me. Safety, security, economic opportunities are the most important things to me of what I can do while I’m fortunate enough to be in Belize for the next couple of years, and those are things I’m gonna spend the vast majority of my time on.”

 

Bauer also said strengthening security, public safety and economic opportunities will be a major focus of his work in Belize over the coming years.

 

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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