Armed Forces
The Belize Defence Force (BDF) is the military and is responsible for protecting the sovereignty of Belize. The BDF, with the Belize National Coast Guard and the Immigration Department, is a department of the Ministry of Defence and Immigration, which is currently headed by John Saldivar; the BDF itself is commanded by Brigadier General Dario Tapia. In 1997, the regular army numbered over 900, the reserve army 381, the air wing 45 and the maritime wing 36, amounting to an overall strength of approximately 1400. In 2005, the maritime wing became part of the Belizean Coast Guard. In the same year, the government spent $1.2 million on the military, constituting 1.87% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
After Belize achieved independence in 1981 the United Kingdom maintained a deterrent force in the country to protect it from invasion by Guatemala (see Guatemalan claim to Belizean territory). The main British force left in 1994, three years after Guatemala recognised Belizean independence, but the United Kingdom maintains a training presence via the British Army Training and Support Unit Belize (BATSUB) and 25 Flight Army Air Corps. In 2011 the base was reduced to a skeleton crew of under 10 soldiers due to British budget cuts, but it is hoped that the base will reopen.
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