B.D.F. soldier is hacked in southern Belize

Belizean and Guatemalan officials may be edging close to an agreement to take the territorial dispute to the I.C.J., but on the ground, the B.D.F. has been busy securing Belize’s border. And tonight there are disturbing reports that a Belize Defence Force soldier was attacked and hacked over the weekend, well within Belizean territory in the south and is recuperating from the injuries he sustained. Private Marvin Teul was surprised presumably by Guatemalans who came from behind as he and another Private, Dennis Cal, were taking fruit from a farm. Teul was injured in the neck and back but Cal was unscathed. And while the investigation will not be complete this week, Brigadier General Dario Tapia feels the assault was the result of a breakdown in the operation.

Brigadier General Dario Tapia
“The incident occurred on Saturday evening. We got a call here at Price Barracks about seventeen-thirty that the individual, one of the soldiers got chopped. These two soldiers, from what we understand, went down to cut either plantain or banana one of those two. We are being told by the patrol out there that when they went out there one of them had already cut one of the bunch, the other one was in the process of bunching. When they were doing that, so they were apart, that’s when they were attacked by, my understanding was two individuals. One of them received chop wounds to his neck and back and as a result we sent a helicopter, a BATSUB helicopter to evacuate the soldier to Karl Heusner where he was subsequently given medical treatment and stitched up and is now in recovery in Karl Heusner and I understand they’re planning to release him to our medical centre tomorrow.”

Marion Ali
“These soldiers were clearly within Belize’s boundary and who were they attacked by?”

Brigadier General Dario Tapia
“Well, certainly they were in Belizean territory, they were approximately two hundred and fifty meters from the border and we can speculate who attacked them but for sure we don’t know because the reaction at the time was to try and stave away the attackers. So none of them were captured so really we can assume it’s Guatemalans but we don’t know.”

Marion Ali
“Were they alone by themselves doing mobile patrol aside from the fact that they were trying to retrieve some vegetables or fruit? Is there a base there? What kind of backup system did they have?”

Brigadier General Dario Tapia
“Well, there is a Rio Blanco observation post where they have up to twelve soldiers out there. What they were doing there on their own? That is the subject of an investigation because they shouldn’t have been out there on their own wondering off from the observation post because my understanding is that the incident occurred several hundred meters from the observation post. So they didn’t business to be out there alone unless they were on a patrol and my understanding is that they were on no type of patrol, they were already resting at the observation post and we understand the incident occurred around four-thirty the afternoon and we got the call at five-thirty.”

Marion Ali
“Was there a breakdown in the supervision who was supposed to be carrying out whatever observation or project?”

Brigadier General Dario Tapia
“Well, certainly the circumstances as we know it will lead us to believe that. We will investigate it, the patrol who will be coming out tomorrow but they will have to walk out so they won’t get here until Thursday and we won’t get to question all the patrol and get further details as to what transpired and based on that, if there is a breakdown in the discipline then we’ll need to address that disciplinary wise.”

Marion Ali
“Do any of these two soldiers in particular, will they be charged with anything disciplinary or criminal any at all?”

Brigadier General Dario Tapia
“Well, we have to look at the orders for the observation post. If they left on their own, certainly they will face disciplinary action. If it’s a situation where the commander allowed them to leave, then the commander would have to answer too. The commander at the moment is Second Lieutenant Antonio and certainly we will be dealing with him. When the operation is concluded, we’ll be able to deal with that aspect if there is a breakdown in operational security.”

The investigation should be completed by next Monday.