When Will Belizean Soldiers Deploy to Haiti?

What’s the latest on Belize’s role in the Kenya-led mission to restore peace and order in Haiti? Recently, two Belize Defense Force soldiers flew to Port-au-Prince to join international military personnel in helping the violence-stricken country regain stability. While a larger team of B.D.F. soldiers is set to be deployed, the exact date is still up in the air. We caught up with Brigadier General Azariel Loria at the annual Christmas luncheon on Wednesday, and he shared an update on the initial deployment of the two B.D.F. soldiers. Here’s what he had to say.

 

Reporter

“What can you tell us about the soldiers that were deployed for the Kenyan-led mission in Haiti, we understand that they, we know two are in Haiti. Will the rest be deployed next month?”

 

Brig. Gen. Azariel Loria, Commander, B.D.F.

“Yes, the two of them, they were deployed.  It was like a mini-advanced party, just two showed up, just two soldiers, two officers, and they are currently serving as staff officers in the CARICOM Joint Taskforce.  It’s a headquarters that is led by Jamaica.  There are some countries that have said that they will be sending their troops, like the Bahamas, Barbados under the RSS is coordinating something to that effect and us.  So we have two and they are feeding us information on what is going on on the ground.  And based on that, if we manage to get our kit and equipment, because we are still procuring kit and equipment, we will deploy until the conditions are favorable for us to do so.  And that is a signal that I would need to provide the Ministry of National Defense, the minister, of course, will be telling Cabinet, yes, we are ready, and we deploy.”