So, back to the Western Border where yesterday's shooting incident happened. The BDF soldiers may have to be deployed to the area of the Cebada and surrounding locations to try to contain any type of retaliation for the fatal shooting. For NICH that could mean that the soldiers stationed at the Valentin Conservation Post, which are stationed there to provide military Defence for the Caracol Archaeological Site, might be exposed in the short term. We caught up with the Director of Archaeology in Belize City this morning, and he shared his concerns with us following this incident:
Dr. John Morris, Director of Archaeology
"Those kinds of things are a major concern to us. In fact, I'm beginning to have sleepless nights over these kinds of things because like Rafael Manzanero from FCD said 'it's a hot bed of activity out there for illegal activity' and our people are on the front line."
Daniel Ortiz
"The suggestion is that the Valentin Patrol may have to move to that location to try to get it under control to ensure that there's no retaliation. Does that expose your people for the time being with the temporary period?"
Dr. John Morris, Director of Archaeology
"Well, it certainly does, when you have these kinds of activities there's always the issue of retaliation. In fact, if you can recall, the young man Conorquie who died a couple of years ago, we feel that was a retaliation for some of the activities that were fine out in that area there. The Xateros and the Guatemalans who come across knows the area really well, they have been to Caracol, and they know that area. In fact in the last couple of years we've had a number of thefts from our warehouses out there. We have people who come in to get water, because some 
of the only water areas are at the side of Caracol. So we are very much concerned, we've mobilized to ensure that our people could be evacuated rapidly, if the need arises and also too, we are in discussions with the commander with the BDF contingents out there to ensure that our people are safe. A number of my staff are out there and then you also people who come to visit the archeological reserve of Caracol. Any incursions in that area is of major concern to us. In fact that is the reason why we built the conservations posts at Caracol to house the BDF that are contingent there. From there they do patrols in and around the site. Any incursions there is a major concern to the institute of archaeology for the safety of its staff, and also for the safety of visitors who go to tour Caracol. In fact just two days ago, members of the IDB were out there looking at how we can improve the road access to the site of Caracol."
Of course, since he spoke to us, the Guatemalans have dramatically stepped up their military operations. As we told you at the top, on the orders of their president, they are tonight amassing troops and weaponry at the southern border. We'll have more on this developing story later on in our newscast.
Email
Print