Nonlethal weapons and additional troops for the border
John Saldivar
In the wake of the shooting death of Guatemalan national Francisco Quinn Yat inside the Chiquibul National Park recently, requests have been made by Guatemalan officials for members of the joint border patrol to man the border unarmed to avoid further loss of life. While Minister of National Security John Saldivar dismissed the idea of a defenseless sentry, he told News Five today that the ministry is exploring the use of non-lethal weapons, including tasers, to complement the arsenal currently made available to B.D.F. personnel. Saldivar also says that additional troops will be deployed along the Belize-Guatemala border to ensure border protection.
John Saldivar, Minister of National Security
“There certainly will be no change in terms of the scheduling of those patrols. Those patrols will continue to happen on schedule. There has been a suggestion that possibly the B.D.F. should not carry live rounds. That possibility is not under consideration at all. The B.D.F. will need to carry live rounds simply because they do not know which situation they will meet out there and when they will meet persons that will threaten their lives. But what we want to do and is seriously under consideration at this time is for us to add some non-lethal weapons to the arsenal that they take out there with them. For instance: taser guns and batons and other non-lethal weapon that they can carry. And they will then have to use their judgment while out there on patrol as to which weapon is more adequate to deal with the situation that confronts them.”
Isani Cayetano
“Will there also be an increase in the number of patrols or the personnel deployed to the border area?”
John Saldivar
“We are always hoping to increase our patrol as the personnel allow us. I know that the B.D.F. is currently doing an intake which we hope will allow us to step up our patrols in the area once that intake is trained.”
Isani Cayetano
“What is the impression you are getting from the Guatemalan counterparts with regards to their either military forces or their police patrol along the border area. What are they saying?”
John Saldivar
“Well we, as far as I am aware, we continue doing joint operations, we continue to have discussions, we continue to have meetings with our counterparts in Guatemala to discuss matters of mutual interest on the border. So those continue as per normal. I have no indication that the Guatemalan government would want to discontinue the relations at the military level.”
Isani Cayetano
“Finally, on another note, can you speak to us on the issue of the allowance? I know you were mentioning that that has been defrayed to the officers. But can you bring us up to date with the status of that?”
John Saldivar
“As I’m aware, in this pay period which is later on this week, the allowances should be in every officer’s salary that is deserving of an allowance. And if that is not so, the officer should check with the pay person in the account section. But it should be in their salaries for this month.”
The guatemalans are using this dead guy as a crutch!!…milking Belize for all its worth…bending n squeezing us to their will…how can the government of Belize be so blind as to not see what is taking place??? I wonder wat in hell Elrington must have been smoking…now the minister of national security??? how much more stupid can this UDP government get???
Actually, patrols should NOT be “scheduled.” As soon as the adversary figures out the schedule, it will use it to time its own incursions, because it will know when the BDF will not be on patrol.
Patrols should be frequent, and at random intervals, so the invaders never can know what to expect or predict.
That seems pretty basic.
Could you imagine? Guatemala wants Belizean soldiers to patrol the border without gun or live ammunition? If that is not a case of taking our leaders ‘fu kunnu munnu’, then tell me what is. What can you expect when the government willingly agrees to compensate the survivors of hostile individuals caught violating the very integrity of this soverign nation. The hand writing is on the wall.
Next stop…..ICJ.
Another incompetent boob that should be in jail for treason why is their no one in jail for selling passports come on channel 5 don’t let this story die find out why ask why is their no one in jail for treason why is their no one in jail .
If the Guats are coming in to Belize with LIVE AMMUNITION, WHY, WHY THE HELL are we considering to carry NON-LETHAL weapons?!!!! You cannot taser a Guat from 100ft and expect him to back down if he is a pistol strappin shot gun wielding monster!!!!!!!! They threaten to shoot us and then we turn around and show up with our bare fists? What kind of nonesense is this? We need to stand, we need to DEFEND, I SAY DEFEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OUR NATION. Why dont we have ULTRA NATIONALISTS IN OUR COUNTRY??????????? Right now we need it, as it seems there is not one, NOT ONE PERSON, that is, to the minutest point, a patriot
send the cabinet and barrow with rubber bullets to defend our borders!!
@Belizean- It seems that you can read, but you can’t comprehend. Where in that news report did it say that the BDF soldiers would NOT carry live ammunition? The minister said that he would not even consider that possibilty. We all know, that would be rather foolish if he did.
He DID say he would like to expand his arsenal of non-lethal weapons- this doesn’t mean the soldiers will ONLY be using these weapons( stun guns,tasers, batons, mace, tear gas or whatever else they can add. They would still use high capacity firearms and just use these non-lethal weapons for close contact to avoid inflicting fatal injuries, in the case that they make a capture of an illegal immigrants..etc.
So I would suggest you read well and use your head before you post, so you can show other Belizeans that you are just not another Belizean with air for brains.
Indiana Jones said it perfectly in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”:
“Never bring a knife to a gunfight.”
A hea Sedi d send mek wa gun we shoot LONE $100 BELIZE DOLLAR BILLS.
@ tranquil…I will dismiss your none-sensical comment as plain ” silly”. I clearly see that you missed the point.
why dont say-di and salt-diver and bar-roow noh go patrol the border with the rubber bullets and bean bags see how long them wah survive deh. d freaking pania dem deh come in strap to the teeth and now the incompetent gov deh change rules of engagments….hoe much more stupid than this can they get. its like letting burglers know that you have water guns and plastic knives in you home!!
stupid and incompetent gov. the bdf commander shud stand up now and overthrow this silly puppet group. put sedi and saldiva and barrow to patrol the border with rubber bullets and bean bags or perhaps water gun…….dumb dumb and dumbest ………… this gov really deh put on a puppet show with us…….prob, better off with a guatemalan gov……who knows maybe life would be lots better>