National Security Council Convenes Urgent Meeting in Belize City

Here in Belize City, the National Security Council met this afternoon at the Office of the Prime Minister in Belize City, following a meeting this morning between Minister of National Security John Saldivar and the senior command of Belize’s security forces.  The Belize Defense Force, the Belize National Coast Guard, as well as the Belize Police Department, remain on high alert tonight, going into the weekend.  A short-term plan of action has also been put in effect in the event of further escalations at the western and southern borders.  Late this evening, Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega emerged from the meeting flanked by Minister of National Security John Saldivar, Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington and the brass of the security forces.  Details of the National Security Council meeting are sparse; however, Vega was able to inform the media that all efforts are being made between the governments of Belize and Guatemala to de-escalate tension along the border.

Gaspar Vega

Gaspar Vega, Deputy Prime Minister

“This afternoon, the National Securities Council held a special meeting to discuss the events that took place at the Chiquibul National Park. At that meeting, the Right Honorable Prime Minister participated via a telephone conference and he informed us that he has already met with the President of Guatemala, Jimmy Morales, where they both agreed that they will do whatever it needs to be done to deescalate the tension at the borders and to avoid any military confrontation at the border. Additionally, the Prime Minister informed us that he has met with the deputy Secretary General of the UN, he has met with the Secretary General of CARICOM and later today he is to have a meeting with the Secretary General of the O.A.S. who is at Ecuador at the moment due to the crisis that they are going through. I want to also inform you all that activities at our local borders, western and southern, are going quite smooth. We have our B.D.F. vigilant, but we also want to inform everyone that no generals—the one from the Belize Defense Force and the one from the Guatemalan Army—their lines of communication are open as usual and they are in constant communication. So we want to inform the general public to please stay calm but responsible. We must stay responsible. We would like to ask that from every citizen of this beautiful country.”

Reporter

“The last we heard from President Morales, he was delivering five ultimatums. Do you have any idea whether those were addressed in his conversation with the Prime Minister earlier today?”

Gaspar Vega

“I’m not in a position to get into details at the moment. I just want to inform the people of the country that both our Prime Minister and the President of Guatemala have met and they have both agreed to a very important thing and that is to deescalate the tensions. The Prime Minister will be communicating to the public today through an audio message that everyone will be able to listen. Plus on Monday, we will be having a full press conference where we will be able to get into more details. For now that’s all I can say.”

Isani Cayetano

“Earlier today, several press releases were issues with regards to heightened state of readiness on the part of the Belize Defense Force. Where do we stand with that at this present moment at our border points?”

Gaspar Vega

“The [Belize] Defense Force has always been ready. We don’t need to do anything more than what we have always done. I sincerely believe that the Belize Defense Force is one that we can be proud of and we don’t need to say anything else.”

Reporter

“When it comes to…as we’ve said, there have been rumors since the message aired from the Guatemalan President and of course understandably Belizeans are a bit concerned. So what would be your message to them this evening?”

Gaspar Vega

“As I said in the latter part of the message, let’s stay calm, but we have to be responsible. And by that, we don’t need to say things that are not necessary.”