BDF Gets New Equipment to Strengthen Belize Border Operations

The Belize Defence Force is among several government agencies receiving new equipment through a European Union-supported project aimed at improving Belize’s border management.  This first batch of equipment is valued at a little over two hundred thousand dollars. It includes all-terrain vehicles, radios, portable stoves and other tools for officers working in the field.  For the BDF, the equipment should make a practical difference for soldiers deployed in remote areas and along difficult terrain. The ATVs will help them reach places where regular vehicles cannot easily travel, while the radios should improve communication between teams. The portable stoves will also support soldiers during extended deployments.  Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez explained what the BDF received and how the equipment will help soldiers carry out their duties.

Anthony Velasquez, Brigadier General, Belize Defence Force: “The equipment is, I don’t want to say a word game changer, but it certainly will helps us out a lot. Especially if you look behind me, the ATV here, we’ll be using this in the Chiquibul Forest in the area of Caracol to help soldiers taking equipment such as gas tanks and rations; rice, flour, sugar, etc. This will help them to take it into the areas of Cebada and Caballo. Those areas are miles and miles through the jungle, through rugged terrain, through mud, through water, over hills. So this all-terrain vehicle here will definitely help us a lot and it will change the way we operate. We’ll be able to move in faster, move out faster, we’ll be able to extract casualties and so we’ll have a lot of flexibility in the way how we operate in the Chiquibul. It feels great. We need a lot of help. And we work with our partners. And it’s a symbiotic relationship, right? So they help us and we help them.”

The donation forms part of a wider project supported by the European Union and the International Organization for Migration. The work is meant to improve coordination among the agencies responsible for Belize’s borders and provide them with better technology, training and equipment.  The project covers personnel working at both land and marine entry points. This is only the first delivery, with a second batch of equipment expected next month.