Belize Ends Military Deployments to Haiti Amid CARICOM Shift

Belize’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that there will be no more military deployments to Haiti.  Minister Francis Fonseca gave confirmation this week following the return of two Belize Defence Force soldiers from the impoverished and embattled island nation.  Love News understands that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is working at providing support to Haiti through other avenues.  According to Minister Fonseca, Belize’s participation in the United Nations-backed mission is now limited, and the situation in Haiti is fluid and is under continuous review. 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Culture and Immigration: “Those two soldiers returned to Belize I think last week or the week before, yeah that was always programmed. They were only going to be there for a specific defined period. That period expired and so they returned to Belize. Yeah in terms of any future deployments that is on pause for now. And really it’s all across CARICOM because you know there are a number of concerns with the conditions in Haiti plus we’re also engaging with the new US administration to see what level of support they all provide. Again that is an issue that Secretary Rubio raised with the Prime Minister this morning, Haiti as well was discussed. So you know we’re hopeful that we as a region can get clarity because Belize’s involvement in Haiti is through CARICOM. We’re hopeful that as a region we can get a greater sense of clarity in terms of what the US policy is in Haiti with this new US administration. If they are committed to providing the resources needed and the support needed then I think CARICOM will be prepared to engage further. Once CARICOM is prepared to engage further then Belize of course as a proud member of CARICOM will be very happy to participate along with CARICOM in that effort to do whatever we can to support our brothers and sisters in Haiti.”

BDF soldiers, Major Ermil Coh and Captain Claudio Quiroz, spent over six months as part of a Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti. Their deployment came after Belize had sent men of the Belize Defence Force and the Belize Coast Guard to Jamaica for training.  The 31 soldiers and 20 Coast Guard personnel were sent to the Jamaica Defence Force Training Camp, for the training, dubbed, ‘Exercise Trogon Shield’, led by the Canadian Armed Forces.  The training included peacekeeping operations, combat first aid, and validation/integration exercises in preparation of lending support to the Haitian National Police Force.  As recent as last week, an official of the United Nations, reported that Haiti is approaching a point of no return as the violence continues unabated./