Cartel Wars Move Closer to Belizean Border

cartel wars move closer

CARTEL WARS MOVE CLOSER. The cartel wars have descended on Chetumal, a top shopping mecca in Mexico north of Belize’s border. The violence, including the killing of a police officer, prompted Belize to issue a travel advisory warning. In response the Belize Defense Force (BDF) has doubled its presence at the border to resist drug cartels.

But the BDF lacks the experience in actual fighting that the cartels have with their constant warfare. So the Belize police, who frequently do battle with street gangs, are not only joining forces with the BDF. They are taking the lead in border operations and patrols.

Still, many remain skeptical that the police and the BDF can take on cartels. And Commissioner of Police Chester Williams admits that the cartels are well-trained and equipped. But “we cannot allow ourselves to be intimidated by that… If David would have felt defeated before even confronting Goliath, he would not have defeated him.”

He points out that “Belizean military personnel normally excel because we know how to maneuver the jungle.” However, the jungle itself, especially the Hondo River border area, makes Belize vulnerable. Channel 5 calls it “a hot spot for border jumpers, contrabandists, human traffickers and narco-traffickers.” They can cross the border illegally due to the sparse customs and military personnel at the border.

Will cartel forces seek refuge in Belize?

Moreover, on April 29 Mexico sent 200 troops in artillery vehicles to help the Chetumal authorities. Belize Home Affairs Minister Kareem Musa says it’s possible that cartel forces may seek refuge in Belize. So Belize is targeting Belizeans known to be working with the cartels to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Yet the various layers of the cartels’ activities make them difficult to track. Musa says, the “human smuggling layer, …the importation of cannabis and…all of these various trades would result in some sort of collaboration with local [Belizean] networks.” Also, Honduras’ Plaza Publica reports that smuggling Asian cigarettes to Corozal provides cartels huge profits.

So Belize faces cartel forces that are both heavily funded and heavily armed. For that reason, Belize PM Briceno met on May 8 with President Lopez Obrador in Mexico City. They agreed to increase coordinated patrols with Belize on the border now. Recently he also met with top US government officials, including Blinken and Majorca, to call for help now.

Briceno said that “if we do not get help now, 10 years from now, we can have a totally different Belize. We have to do everything possible to keep out the organized crime from Mexico.”

Let’s call on the Lord to be Belize’s main defender in keeping cartel violence from spreading to Belize.

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