The BDF is expected to come off the streets soon – and police sources say they might not be there for May. We’ve reported this before, in February when they were supposed to come off the streets at the end of that month.  It never happened because that’s right when gang violence started to jump off in precinct one.  They remained in precinct one – but with last week’s gang truce, the hope is that the soldiers can return to the jungles by May.
Last week, the commander of the BDF told us why it’s important, in the context of the shooting incidents and Guatemalan incursions:
General David Jones - Commander, BDF
"It's going to take a solution between two countries, or probably also international efforts to assist Guatemala to dissuade their people from coming over into Belize. That is a big part of the problem where we have these illegal farmers and peasants coming over into Belize. We want to stop these incursions coming over. My intention this year, and for the rest of my career while I'm in the BDF, is to maintain the territorial integrity and sovereignty of this country. So despite the shooting incidents that have been occurring along the border, I will continue to send soldiers there because, this in my view, is our country, and we're supposed to defend it. That's why I've been advocating to reduce the amount of people working in the streets and then go back along the border. So, that's what we're doing now. The patrols along the border has been stepped up, and it will continue along that path."
When we called the BDF today their public relations officer said the timeline on when to pull back the soldiers is a political, not military decision.  We tried to reach the politician in charge, Security Minister John Saldivar but he didn’t respond to our text request.
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