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But they never made the link up. That's because in the area of Sapote Two, the troop encountered a group of Guatemalans cutting wood with machetes. Seeing the BDF, all of them ran off - except one who stayed behind and made it clear he did not want to be bothered. The BDF's Chief Of Staff, Lt. Col. David Jones told us what happened next:..

Lt. Col. David Jones
"This guy that remained had a machete. He actually aggressed one of the members of the patrol with the machete with the intent to chop him. The soldier drifted back so that he would not be injured. After that, the patrol commander fired a warning shot over the guy to indicate to him that he would be wounded or fatally wounded if he continues his behavior. The guy didn't take heed to the warning shot; he again attempted to aggress another soldier and during this time one of the soldiers picked up a piece of stick that he had chopped and disarmed his with the machete. So he had to hit this civilian guy a few times and took away the machete from him and after they subdued him, they walked out of the area with him to the Caracol area. From there he was subsequently taken to the San Ignacio police station where he is now in custody. He was probably just clearing an area to plant later but he would not be deterred in what he wanted to do because he was going to defend the turf that he was clearing at any cost because he did state that he was there to work and he doesn't want anyone to disturb him. So he became aggressive to the patrol which is the reason why he was eventually subdued and taken in."

Jules Vasquez
"It seems counter intuitive - it makes no sense that someone with a machete would want to attack a group of armed soldiers - is that believable?"

Lt. Col. David Jones
"Yea, it's not something logical but it has happened in the past before where members of the patrol have been aggressed with machetes and there were warning shots - they did not heed to the warning and subsequently there were fatally wounded because of such behavior. This guy seems to have the same type of behavior. He is not fearful for his life."

Jules Vasquez
"Is it a concern of yours that the tension at some level is escalating - the hostility?"

Lt. Col. David Jones
"We don't believe it's much of a hostility increase. This something that will continue along our border line. This is something that is happening for years and we believe it will continue unless there is a political solution to this problem. The restraint that they showed in this incident and in other previous incidents I must say it's exemplary. I definitely commend our soldiers out there because it would have been easy to pull the trigger. After they warned this guy with a warning shot and he didn't take heed its evident that this guy is not afraid to lose his life but he is very much intent on harming Belizean soldiers and they could have pulled the trigger but they showed tremendous restraint they didn't pull the trigger."

Santos Lopez from Las Flores Guatemala is being held by San Ignacio Police pending immigration charges.