Posted: Friday, May 2, 2025. 4:09 pm CST.
The views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not necessarily those of Breaking Belize News.
By Nuri Mohammad: Is Belize Ready for Bukele-Style Policing? Why We Must Think Twice Before Following El Salvador’s Model.
In recent months, there has been increasing chatter in Belizean political and public circles suggesting that our nation should take a page from El Salvador’s playbook in its fight against gang violence. The argument is simple: drastic problems require drastic solutions. But as the old Belizean saying goes, “You noh kill fly with hammer.” Or, more precisely, using a shotgun to kill a mosquito.
Following the precedent set by U.S. President Donald Trump, who branded Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, regional leaders such as Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness have adopted similar language—declaring Jamaica’s criminal gangs as terrorist entities. This shift in rhetoric carries significant implications. Once a group is classified as “terrorist,” a country can justify the use of extra-judicial methods that suspend civil and constitutional rights, similar to practices at Guantanamo Bay.
Notably, neither Mexico’s current President Claudia Sheinbaum nor her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has labeled the cartels as terrorist organizations. They understand the slippery slope such labels create—essentially opening the door to unchecked state power and the erosion of democratic norms.
Here in Belize, I must commend Prime Minister Johnny Briceño, Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa, former Commissioner of Police Chester Williams, and the current Commissioner, Dr. Richard Rosado, for maintaining a principled approach. They have resisted the temptation of authoritarian shortcuts and instead opted for a more balanced, rights-based approach to citizen security.
To understand why El Salvador’s approach cannot be blindly applied to Belize, we need to examine its context.
Population Size: El Salvador has a population of over 6.3 million, while Belize’s population hovers just above 430,000.
History of Violence: El Salvador’s gang problem is deeply rooted in the country’s civil war, which lasted from 1979 to 1992 and left over 75,000 people dead.
Migration and Deportation: After the war, many Salvadorans migrated to the United States. In the late 1980s and ’90s, inner-city gangs flourished in cities like Los Angeles and New York. Gangs such as Crips and the Bloods and others were indigenous African American gangs, but the period also saw the rise of gangs from the children of foreign nationals such as the Jamaican Posse, the Mexican Barrio 18 and the infamous MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) all born in that environment. As a part of the War on Drugs campaign the MS 13 were later deported back to El Salvador, where they evolved into sophisticated transnational criminal organization.
These gangs didn’t just occupy turf—they penetrated government, infiltrated law enforcement, and built billion-dollar drug trafficking and extortion networks. At its peak, MS-13 operated like a parallel state, controlling neighborhoods and executing dissenters with impunity.
When President Nayib Bukele assumed office in 2019, El Salvador was, by some measures, a country at war. San Salvador had one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Thousands in innocent civilians were killed by crossfire between rival gangs and security forces. Bukele’s response? Declare a state of exception, suspend constitutional protections, and incarcerate tens of thousands of alleged gang members—often without trial.
Most Salvadorans applauded the move. For a society plagued by violence, Bukele’s iron-fisted approach seemed like a divine intervention. But at what cost?
Now, let’s bring that lens to Belize.
Where is the organized, transnational gang network equivalent to MS-13? in Belize? Where are the shell companies, corrupt military officers, and international money laundering schemes? Where are the daily massacres of innocent civilians?
Belize’s gang violence is a serious concern, yes. It affects lives, disrupts communities, and demands sustained attention. But our gangs, for the most part, are under-resourced, poorly organized, and localized. They are not running criminal empires worth billions. Many of these young men wear slippers, not suits; they carry phones, not ledgers. They come from poor communities where survival is often a “catch n kill” reality.
Moreover, we’ve already seen some progress through proactive community policing, rehabilitation programs, social investment, and intelligence-based interventions. These may not offer dramatic headlines, but they work in preserving both security and democracy. Is it enough, no, but they can’t be replaced by draconian strategies at the sacrifice of human rights protections.
Adopting Bukele’s methods in Belize would not only be disproportionate—it would be dangerous. It would mean opening the door to widespread human rights violations, political repression, and the erosion of legal protections for all citizens. Today it’s the gang member; tomorrow, it could be the activist, journalist, or anyone who dissents.
Let us not be seduced by simplistic solutions to complex problems. Belize’s social fabric, history, and scale require a tailored approach. We must strengthen our institutions, invest in our youth, and tackle crime at its roots—not just its symptoms.
Let us not drop the bone for the shadow, or shoot at the mosquito with a shotgun.
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The post Bukele’s Plan is like using a shotgun to kill a mosquito appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
Posted: Friday, May 2, 2025. 4:09 pm CST. The views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not necessarily those of Breaking Belize
The post Bukele’s Plan is like using a shotgun to kill a mosquito appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.