Dean Barrow
In 2012, Belize was considered one of the top ten most dangerous countries in the world, with murders at an unprecedented high. In 2013, that turned around somewhat, with murders falling below the one hundred mark for the first time in five years. But 2014 isn’t looking quite that good, with gang tensions and the resulting bloodshed on the rise. One area in particular, surrounding Jane Usher Boulevard, has become a danger zone. Police have increased patrols, set up checkpoints and placed a mobile command center in that zone. That’s one way to deal with the problem, but authorities are also going the route of conflict resolution. Prime Minister Dean Barrow confirmed today that there is a meeting set today with gang personalities to try to get a handle on rising tensions.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“We’ve just bought additional equipment for the Police…additional weapons and additional radios as part of the extra effort now to try to tamp down that situation. There is a meeting taking place this afternoon between some of the principals from the Jane Usher Boulevard area and from other areas so that the carrot and stick approach or the effort to go at this thing from several different directions might be employed as a way of dealing with the situation. So even as the Police are stepping up their enforcement actions in the area, an effort is being made to talk through the situation with the gang leaders, with the principals to see if some kind of cease fire, if you will, might be mediated.”
The PM maintains that it isn’t another gang truce in the making, since the trouble is confined to one small area and it isn’t a city-wide problem.
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