Combating transnational piracy and terrorism
The vast expanse of the Caribbean Sea and Belize’s geographic location within the region has long made it an ideal watercourse for the transshipment of narcotics from South to North America. Along with the illegal trade comes the issue of crime and violence and while that may be the residual effect on land, law enforcement officers are tasked with handling similar issues at sea. Since it is also an issue of international concern, various agencies within the Caribbean and Latin America have joined forces to address related problems such as piracy and terrorism. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports on a seminar underway in Belize City.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
Eleven countries are being represented in Belize for discussions on a collective response to maritime violence. The seminar is organized by the US based Center for Civil Military Relations. Jim Petroni, of the US Naval Post-Graduate School is the facilitator.
Jim Petroni, Adjutant, US Naval Post-Graduate School
“The Caribbean region is famous for the fact that it fronts on the ocean. That’s the common factor for all and so much of the Caribbean region is so dependent upon maritime commerce whether it’s in tourism or just trade and supply and so protecting that entire maritime environment is a crucial, crucial thing for the region to do.”
Safeguarding our territorial waters is the primary responsibility of the National Coast Guard and as such it leads the charge countrywide in the fight against maritime offences.
John Borland, Captain, Belize National Coastguard
“Belize is in the process of developing its own maritime security strategy. This is an ideal opportunity for us to gain the fundamentals on which to build this strategy.”
Part of developing that security strategy is acquiring the necessary resources both in trained personnel and equipment. The relationship between Belize and the United States has allowed for the National Coast Guard, the Police Department and the Belize Defense Force to benefit from military donations toward that endeavor. The security policy will also see the combined effort of all local law enforcement agencies.
John Borland
“The Minister of National Security, the honorable Carlos Perdomo, is adamant about interagency approach and interagency cooperation. Represented here today are members of the Coast Guard, B.D.F., the Fisheries Department, the Belize Port Authority, Immigration Department and the Customs Department. To better understand the problems we are facing in the maritime domain if we don’t understand the issues and the root causes then we cannot develop a plan or strategy to counter these threats that transcend not only our borders but governments as we say these are transnational issues that require transnational solutions.”
The large-scale response to maritime violence has seen a unified front being taken by countries particularly within the Caribbean as today’s gathering succeeds other efforts in places such as Trinidad and Barbados.
Jim Petroni
Jim Petroni
“This program actually builds upon a very successful program we did last year in Trinidad and part of the success of that particular program was the tremendous cooperative sense that we felt in the Caribbean region. This is unique to some degree in all the world and it was such a wonderful, delightful environment to work in that we wanted to add more assistance in here.”
The conference, which was held at the Radisson, was opened by US Ambassador to Belize Vinai Thummalapally. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
When the seminar concludes at the end of this week it is expected that participating countries will be better prepared to handle the threat of maritime violence.
