Bz. and Guatemalan start joint patrol programme

The Ministry of Defence has announced today that starting earlier this week, Belize has agreed to conduct joint border patrols with Guatemala in the border area. According to a release from M.O.D., on Saturday, Brigadier General Alan Usher and Guatemala’s Vice Minister of National Defence Brigadier General Hugo Sing Urzua, signed an operative declaration which states that all patrols in the area will involve troops from both Belize and Guatemala. This move was recommended by the facilitators of the negotiation process between the two countries after Belizean troops shot and killed three Guatemalans in San Vicente Village in the Toledo District. At the moment, the troops meet at rendezvous points along the border. The joint patrol program is slated to last until the twenty-second of January.