Corozal Town was long known for its peaceful, calm and close-knit way of life. Escobar’s murder is just the latest incident in a municipality now facing a worrying surge in violent crime. Much of it is believed to be tied to activity spilling over the northern border. With shootings and executions on the rise, Mayor Rigo Vellos is speaking out and acknowledging the change. And while the town council is committed to doing its part to restore citizen security, Mayor Vellos is urging residents to play their part at home.
Rigo Vellos
Rigo Vellos, Mayor, Corozal Town
“It is unfortunate situations that we are facing here in Corozal now. I can tell you Corozal is not known for one of those hotspots for crime. So it’s a bit surprising and unfortunate. We try our best as a town council to give support to the police department in any way possible that we can. I can inform you all that we are in talkings with the police department in ensuring that we put cameras strategically at different hotspots within our town. We want to maintain Corozal Town as one of the safest municipalities that we can. That’s one of our major goals. The message I want to leave for every home is, because we all know everything starts at home, to parents and to all the adults within your house, talk to your kids. There are other ways we can go by solving issues. It doesn’t have to be using weapons. Let’s communicate amongst one another. Let’s teach our children how to solve different issues the right way. Like I said I really don’t want Corozal and I’m sure my Corozalenos have the same mentality – we don’t want to turn Corozal into one of those hot areas for crime. We are happy that we’re seeing consistently flow of tourism flowing into our town and we want to ensure that maintains, because we all know that it affects that, and it gives a negative picture on our beautiful town.”
The Government of Belize is also paying keen attention to the increase in violence in the Corozal District and each security force has deployed additional boots and resources toward the northern district.
Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.
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