By Belize Live News Staff: The Belize Defence Force bought 1,320 pounds of baby back ribs a year. The man who runs the Belize Defence Force has never tasted a single one. Welcome to the most Belizean accountability question of the season.
The figure comes from fiscal year 2023-2024 purchase records, as reported by 7News, part of the ongoing public examination of Ministry of National Defence spending. And when the station put the rib records to Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez, the Commander’s opening answer only deepened the intrigue: in 32 years of army life, the ribs have never crossed his plate.
So where did more than half a ton of ribs a year end up? Velasquez laid out the BDF’s account to 7News. The force, he said, requests items like baby back ribs, conch, shrimp, and lobster from the Ministry of Defense for special events, citing last week’s recruit passing out ceremony and change of responsibility as a recent example. Leftovers are stocked, he explained, then distributed to the battalions in Punta Gorda and Belizario for soldiers to enjoy.
Though, by his own telling, not many soldiers. “Few soldiers get to enjoy these because the ones on camp get to enjoy it, not the ones being deployed. So it’s a small number of soldiers that actually get to enjoy these things,” the general admitted, adding that extra supplies also feed culinary courses where trainee army cooks prepare spreads for sampling at Price Barracks.
Then came the exchange destined for the highlight reel. Asked directly by 7News’ Jaleeza Roberts whether he had ever personally witnessed anyone at his table enjoying the famous ribs, the Commander answered with disarming honesty: “I have never seen. Yes, I have heard.” Unit and battalion commanders, he said, have told him they received the ribs, the conch, and everything else, and passed them to their soldiers.
The rib trail is one strand of the wider procurement controversy at the ministry, allegations currently under a government-ordered audit that has produced no findings so far. Velasquez’s explanation is the BDF’s side of the story, purchases requested, events catered, leftovers shared, and it deserves its fair hearing.
Still, the image lingers: a force buying premium ribs by the thousand-pound, a commander who only ever heard about them, and a public left to wonder how much of the special menu ever reached an ordinary soldier’s plate.
So over to you, Belize: does the general’s explanation settle it, or does the rib mystery deserve a deeper look? Let us know in the comments.
