On Tuesday we told you about the Guatemalan vessel that incurred in Belize's waters. The Coast Guard maintains a steady presence in the area but will they be amping up their patrols or their numbers at that base?
The Admiral told us: negative! He explained that they are already operating at a high enough level to thwart any threat in that area, as evidenced by this latest incident.
Here's how he put it.
Admiral Elton Bennett, Commandant, Belize Coast Guard
"Our forward operating base is well manned, they performed very well in that specific operation. I applaud them for being able to recognize that vessel from a distance and got out there and performed our national defense duties to get that vessel out of Belizean waters, that was very well done. To ask if we would improve or increase operations would imply that we are not at the level that we should be and I can tell you that our continuous at sea presence at that location and beyond as far south as the Corona reef is the reason why we're so vigilant in identifying those threats that come across our sea spaces. So we are performing well at Hunting Caye and elsewhere as well."
Florencio Marin Jr., Minister of National Defense & Border Security
"I think gunboat is an outdated term, that is something from World War II so I don't know if the Guatemalans have a gunboat. But it wasn't a gunboat out there, it was a hydrography boat and my thoughts on it as I had mentioned in the speech is that our sailors, our seamen, whenever they see these threats or incursions into our territorial waters, they go out and they meet it and they defuse it. So those are my thoughts. And I promise you that whenever these things would occur, our seamen and the Coast Guard would be there to diffuse the situation every time." `
"I have all the faith in our seamen, under the able leadership of Admiral Bennett, they're professionally trained so they don't go out there like any aggressive manner, they go out there firm, they advise them professionally you're in Belizean waters and kindly leave and eventually the situation resolves. If you notice, every time we've managed to resolve it."
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