At the top of the news, we told you about the quick official visit by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
His arrival also coincided with the opening ceremony of Exercise Tradewinds 2022, which both Belize and Mexico are hosting. Tradewinds is a joint security force and interagency exercise it's now in its 37th year sponsored by the United States Southern Command - a kind of fraternal flexing over its region of eminent domain.
The opening ceremony took place about 2 hours before the Mexican President arrived in Belize, and our news team was there. Daniel Ortiz has that story:
For the next two weeks, soldiers from 22 nations will participate in Exercise Tradewinds 2022, which is taking place in Belize.
At this annual military summit, they will share best practices and learning experiences on interoperability, riverine operations, maritime security, air operations, ground operations, cyber defense, dive operations, medical operations, and the integration of women in peace and security missions.
This year's Tradewinds marks the fifth time that Belize is acting as host to the exercise. It is also Mexico's first time as a co-host since the first Tradewinds was launched in 1984.
The geographical ties between these neighboring countries are undoubtedly one of the reasons for their selection.
Hon. John Briceno - Prime Minister of Belize
"So, we are co-hosting - Mexico is co-hosting with us, and for us, that is very important Mexico is one of our largest countries in the region, and certainly one with a lot of influence in the region. Since we share borders, a common border -to us it is very important now that Mexico is taking a more active role in participating in exercises like Tradewinds."
Kevin Bostick - Director of Exercises & Coalition Affairs, US SouthCom.
"Belize volunteered to host it, and it's a different type this time because Mexico is co-hosting. That's significant, when you're thinking about the location of Belize and Mexico together. With Mexico being right next door to Belize, let's say, if there's a threat that starts off the Coast of Belize, and moves through Belize, where are they going? They're going into Mexico. Or if they're coming from Mexico going into Belize, that last step between those 2 countries, to have this exercise working together, simultaneously, lets everybody know each other, and helps to counter those threats, no matter which direction they may come from."
Partner militaries like the Canadian Armed Forces get to listen to their allies and get an honest assessment of the region's might and whatever critical gaps that can be filled.
Lt. Colonel Steven Hale - Contingent Commander, Canadian Armed Force
"For the last number of year, Tradewinds has hosted the training of the combined Caribbean Taskforce. This organization enables us to partner with the Caribbean nations, train a number of officers regionally, to ensure that they're able to conduct their on operational planning and preparation, in the event of a crisis or disaster in the region. So, we use our methodologies and bring them to the Caribbean Basi, and hopefully create interoperability, in case we need to be called upon to to work to work together as a team. The one thing that we bring back every year is we bring back an increased awareness amongst our own officers and NCOs as to what resources exists in the region, so that we know that when we're doing our own planning to respond to a hurricane or a disaster, what we're gonna meet when we get into the region. That's very important to know who our friends and allies are, and more importantly, I would call it increasing the size of our rolodex, so that if something does happen, we can reach down and immediately, grab somebody on what's that most favored program? WhatsApp, and have a chat with them about what we need before we arrive."
As Exercise Tradewinds continue to deepen ties between partner military organizations in the region, new countries are starting to show interest in participation.
Kevin Bostick
"Out of those 22 that we have participating, now, you have folks like Colombia, which for the first time, being a part of observing. We have people from France, Netherlands, doing the same kind of thing. So, it's we're just using those 3 as examples if you look at when people know that people are doing good things, and they want to be a part of. Then, they find a way to say, hey, can we come and observe? Can we come and join? And it starts with a crawl, walk, run. So, you'll have them coming and observing like this time. One of them has like 2 or 3 people here. One of them has 10. It next time, they may have 25 and participate more, rather than just observing. You observe what's going on, you take that back to your country, lay out, hey, we can do this. We can join that. We can help them with what they're doing, and they can help us, which then, in turn makes them wanna come back and be a part of Tradewinds wherever it may be in the future."
Brigadier General Asariel Loria - Commander, BDF
"To the participating nations on Exercise Tradewinds 2022, we got this. Drive on to the objective, and enhance your multi-dimensional skills in the land, air, sea, and cube domains with confidence and high moral ground, for you are well prepared for this duty."
We are told that Exercise Tradewinds usually last for a month, but due to reasons beyond the organizers' control, this year's exercise will only last for 2 weeks.
The US law enforcement agencies that will participate include the US Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Coast Guard, special operations personnel, and several chapters of the National Guard.
