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As we told you last night, the highest ranking Officer responsible for US Military operations south of Texas and Miami arrived in Belize on Wednesday - which also happened to be referendum day.

Admiral Craig Faller left the country today after meeting with Prime Minister Dean Barrow.  The Prime Minister had said, he planned to discuss Guatemala’s aggressive military maneuvers on the Sarstoon with Admiral Faller.  They met at the PM’s Belize City office at the Laing Building where an official release says, quote, “Prime Minister Barrow and Admiral Faller also discussed areas of concern including Belize-Guatemala relations and regional efforts to counter narco-trafficking and other illicit transnational criminal activities.â€￾ End quote.  

The independent media wasn’t invited but Admiral Faller did answer two questions from the Government Press Office.

Admiral Craig Faller - Commander, US Southcom
"I've always wanted to come to Belize, Belize is a jewel. Since a young boy I've wanted to come here, heard stories of the warm people, friendly people, the great climate and since coming into this job, I've really learned of the importance of Belize to the security of our neighbourhood, our hemisphere, our region. The professional defence forces, the coast guard is very capable and does a great job and so it was important for me very early in my tour, I've only been in my job for 5 months - to come here to build on the already outstanding relationships that we have and really build on that and to build trust, to get to know the leaders and all those objectives have been achieved. We had the opportunity to go to the coast guard, meet with the team there, we watched a demonstration, we had the opportunity to meet with the Belize Defence Force to discuss all the opportunities and the challengers and they're many challenges across the region that we can work on together."

The release says, Â quote, “Admiral Faller congratulated the Prime Minister for the impressive execution of the recent referendum and extended his commitment to continue to strengthen the cooperative relationship that SOUTHCOM enjoys with the Belizean Armed Forces….Admiral Faller pledged participation in the continued mutual support of U.S. SOUTHCOM and Belizean Armed Forces through training, capacity building and knowledge exchange programs.â€￾