Mexico Pushes for Treaty on Human Trafficking Collaboration

Hugo Juarez Carrillo

Last week, Chetumal Police rescued a Belizean teenager who was briefly ensnared by suspected human traffickers in the Botes area. It highlighted the severe problem of human trafficking, for which Belize was roundly censured by the U.S. Government in its recent Trafficking in Persons report.  Today, the Mexican press and consular officer commended the Belizeans who thought and acted quickly to rescue the teenager and called for greater cooperation between the countries on their shared border.

Hugo Juarez Carrillo, Press and Legal Affairs, Mexican Embassy

“We are very happy that we have this type of collaboration. I think Senator Osmany [Salas] was very proactive in order to help these people and he thought very fast, which was the way that should be used, and he was right to call the Belizean Embassy in Mexico City because they got in touch with the Mexican Foreign Affairs office and through them to the State Police that acted very fast in order to save this girl. As you know, human trafficking is one of the cancers of the twenty-first century; there are people who think or have proof that this is a more profitable “black” business than drugs. I really believe that the collaboration between two countries or any countries, international collaboration should be the way to combat these illegal activities. Mexico and Belize are working on a treaty to in order to have closer judicial collaboration, to have very clear rules, and I hope that quite soon we will have an understanding about these matters.”