And one of the main reasons Loria hopes they can increase their troop strength is because no matter how much they patrol and eject encroaching Guatemalans, they keep coming back. He explained more.
Brigadier Gen. Azariel Loria, Commander, BDF
"The OAS, because we are in the confidence building measures that was signed between Belize on what Guatemala in 2003 there about, we must be respectful of that. And, what we have been told is that, whenever we discover per se a farm it has to be verified if it is within a kilometer to the east. Once that is verified, we update the Ministry of National Defense that it has been verified, through foreign affairs and the OAS. And then we asked for for the directions for further guidance. And usually the guidance is to go and, destroy, dismantle, whatever there is a landing along the adjacency zone that one kilometer to the east. Such are the protocols and it is something that we signed with them and we must follow, follow the directives. Unless there is anything provided by the ministry of national defense then we will continue with that but that is the the series of activities that we conduct."
REPORTER-
"But if it falls just outside of it do you immediately destroy?"
Brigadier Gen. Azariel Loria, Commander, BDF
"Oh yes, outside of the 1km yes no questions asked we lift up and we destroy and dismantle whatever needs to be dismantled and destroyed."
"We have we have done numerous destructions. But then they keep coming back. The Guatemalans, they persevere and I don't want to assume but, don't know if it is poverty or necessity, but they keep coming back there. They keep coming back to destroy and dismantle their fences because they have cattle ranching and they keep coming back."
REPORTER-
"Do you suspect it's just poverty though or are they being egged on by monied people or maybe even the cartels? Because as a farmer, if your crops are destroyed, where do you find the money to keep coming back?"
Brigadier Gen. Azariel Loria, Commander, BDF
"As I said, I don't want to assume, at this point in time. But we conduct our assessments, and the assessment is based on intelligence and information gathering, but such are the assumptions."
"The Guatemalans, they have, a number of villages, strategically located along the border. From Cayo all the way up to PG And, there are new ones. I heard that there is a new one that is coming up, it's Barra El Limon And they continue, they continue. So the tasking for us is getting a bit more complex, a bit more challenging. We need to strategize, we need to coordinate and plan on what we are going to do."
