By Breaking Belize News Staff: Combating drug trafficking and improving public safety will be among the major priorities for newly arrived United States Ambassador to Belize André Bauer.
Bauer said Friday that President Donald Trump sent him to Belize with a message centered on “safety, security and opportunities” for both countries.
Asked specifically about narcotics trafficking through the region toward the United States, Bauer acknowledged that he is not a technical expert in drug interdiction.
However, he said preventing Belize from being used as a trafficking corridor would be a priority.
“I know that that is a conversation and that is going to be a priority to make sure that this is not a thoroughfare for that type of activity to run through,” Bauer said.
The U.S. State Department has long regarded Belize as vulnerable to transnational narcotics trafficking because of the country’s porous borders, extensive coastline, offshore islands and position between South America and Mexico.
A U.S. Mission strategy document updated in December 2024 described Belize as a “major transit corridor for cocaine from South America to the United States” and identified strengthening bilateral cooperation against narcotics and other transnational criminal threats as a U.S. objective.
Bauer also expressed concern about drug consumption within Belize itself, particularly among young people.
He argued that enforcement should be coupled with efforts to provide young people with education, apprenticeships, skills and opportunities that give them alternatives.
“If we can make it safer, if we can do all we can to rid ourselves [of] illegal drugs, if we can do all we can to lift people up, those are my real goals,” Bauer said.
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By Breaking Belize News Staff: Combating drug trafficking and improving public safety will be among the major priorities for newly arrived United States Ambassador to Belize André Bauer. Bauer said Friday that President Donald Trump sent him to Belize with a message centered on “safety, security and opportunities” for both countries. Asked specifically about narcotics
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