Photo: Soldiers in El Salvador mobilize

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Dec. 8, 2022

A regional crackdown on gang activity has Belizean authorities on high alert.

There have been recent reports that in El Salvador, the government has reportedly deployed up to 10,000 troops in crime-ridden areas still controlled by organized gangs such as the Mara Salvatrucha-13 (MS-13) and is specifically targeting Soyapango, a municipality that is reportedly the third most populated area in the country. Some have commented that it is the police, and not the gangs, that are now an object of fear. And reportedly initiatives of a similar nature are now being undertaken in other parts of Central America—with the Honduran government reportedly announcing on Saturday that it was placing the cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula under a national security emergency (the equivalent of what Belizeans know as a state of emergency) and that some constitutional rights in those areas would be suspended while those measures are in place. Belize’s Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, even mentioned to reporters that he has been told that his law enforcement counterparts in Guatemala might be taking similar steps.

The concern is that gang members and criminals fleeing from such crackdowns might find their way into Belize, but Commissioner Williams told the media that he is aware that those persons might see Belize as a “safe haven”, and that it’s important that proactive measures be taken now to avert an influx of such persons.

“Certainly, Belize is right next door to Guatemala, not too far from Honduras, next door through the maritime domain and [El] Salvador is just an hour away, likewise. And so, as a nation, we have to look at what is happening around us very seriously and make sure we put things in place that is not going to have these gang members that may want to flee those jurisdictions see us as a safe haven. And with that, I can say that we monitoring our local gangs very closely and as much as we are working with them through the multi-sectoral approach and the LIU,” he said.

Williams said that the Police Department might also resort to more “draconian measures” if local gangs persist in causing unrest. “If it is that we should find that despite the efforts that we are doing through the multi-sectoral [approach] and the LIU, the propensity for violence among these gang members does not decrease, then we will have to look at draconian measures as well. We are hoping that we don’t have to get there, but as a department and a country, the government has a responsibility to ensure it safeguards the masses and we cannot allow ourselves to be held hostage or imprisoned by a few persons who just don’t want to behave themselves. So, it’s something that we are monitoring very closely and the minute we see that things are not going the way it should, then who needs to be locked down will be locked down,” he said.

For now, a close eye on the border crossings, legal and illegal, will be needed to ensure that gang members running from the law in the neighboring Latin American countries do not find their way to Belize.