August 19, 2015

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Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5, LOVETV, PGTV, West Vision (Cayo) and CTV 3
Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, Rise and Shine Morning Show, and the Dickie Bradley Specials

The San Pedro Sun

Signing of Tax Information Exchange Agreement between Belize and Switzerland
The Belize High Commission is pleased to announce that the Government of Belize and the Swiss Federal Council signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) on Monday, August 10th, 2015 at the Embassy of Switzerland in London. The Agreement was signed by H.E. Ms. Perla Perdomo, High Commissioner of Belize to the United Kingdom and Mr. Frank Gruetter, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Switzerland in London. The Agreement will allow for the exchange of information that is relevant to the determination, assessment and collection of such taxes, the recovery and enforcement of tax claims or the investigation or prosecution of tax matters.

Belize participate in UNCAF Pre-Olympic Tournament
Belize participated in the Central American Football Union (UNCAF) Pre-Olympic Tournament held in Guatemala from Saturday, August 8th to Saturday, August 15th. The tournament will decide the three teams that will represent UNCAF at the 2015 Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship. Among the players forming the Belize National Under 23 football team is island athlete Rugerri Orvin Trejo. Participating in the UNCAF Pre-Olympic Tournament are National selections from Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. They were divided into two groups with each team playing two matches. Belize was drafted in Group B along with Honduras and Guatemala, while Group A consists of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama.

Saga observes International Homeless Animal Day
On Saturday, August 15th, Saga Humane Society celebrated the first ever International Homeless Animal Day in San Pedro. Saga highlighted homeless animals from around the world with an adoption campaign for their animals. The event kicked off at noon and went on until 5PM with the showcasing of adoptable pets for the general public while at the same time introducing the San Pedro residents to the work done by Saga. Dawn LoCascio, one of the organizers stated that the event was fun and they had a good turnout. “It was big day for us especially in view of the Dog Act being enforced and the new pet adoption. We are on such a great track. We got some lookers and I am happy to say that we also had five adoptions which are in process. The animals loved all the attention and the most interesting part is that there were people visiting Fort Dog who had never been there before,” said LoCascio.

Ambergris Today

Plenty of Horsing Around at Banana Bank Lodge Summer Camp
Summer camps in Belize are aplenty – some hit the beach, some hit the sea, while others hit the jungles of the countryside. But this one camp is centering its activities on horseback riding. The Summer Horse Camp at Banana Bank Lodge and Jungle Horseback Adventures stands out as the only program in the country that has its young participants handling, riding and taking care of horses. It’s a fun-filled summer camp that is packed with adventure, but at the same time teaches young children how to ride horses, communicate with them, train them and also teaches them responsibilities as they care, clean and saddle their own horse assigned to them throughout the entire camp session. “Horsing around is allowed,” says Leisa Carr of Banana Bank Lodge who runs the camp and is in full contact with the children throughout the week-long camp. It’s all about the horses and even those who are not experienced riders or familiar with horses find themselves thinking about horses all day long – even dreaming about them.

San Pedro Lions Club Spearheads Countrywide Eye Screening
It was the San Pedro Lions Club that spearheaded a drive to conduct free eye screening for children on the island of Ambergris Caye, Belize that lead to the Lions Club International Foundation of the International Association of Lions Clubs to offer a grant that enabled all the Lions Clubs in the country to use Special Portable Eye Screeners to conduct a LIONS- Belize National Children Eye Screening Program. The program kicked off in San Pedro this weekend as Lions and Leo members were trained to use the Eye Screeners by Lion Dr. Edward Cordes, Lions Clubs International Past International Director and Head of the Lions Kid Sight USA, which is a Lions Clubs International USA Eye Screening Program, and Ms. Cyd McDowell, who is the President of Plus Optix, the company from which the Eye Screeners were bought. On Saturday, August 15, 2015, the trainers overlooked the screening process as children visited the Lions Den to have their vision checked. Screening only took place for a couple hours in the morning as the machines had to be taken to other clubs to train their members. Outgoing San Pedro Lions President Rigoberto Kumul informed Ambergris Today that the club has secured a donation which will have the island club acquiring its own portable eye screeners so that the San Pedro Lions Club can conduct regular eye screening for children.

Saga Humane Society Conducts Adoption Drive
On Saturday afternoon, August 15, 2015, volunteers, friends and staff of Saga Humane Society hosted the first ever International Homeless Animals Day at Saga Humane Society Fort Dog on Sea Grape Street in San Pedro. To honor homeless dogs, Saga showcased all of their dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens that are available for adoption. Saga Humane Society Chairman Kevin Smith commented, “Saturday’s adoption event was a great way to celebrate International Homeless Animals Days.” Potential adopters visited Saga’s shelter ‘Fort Dog’, see all of the dogs, talk with Saga staff. Adoption councilors and Saga volunteers were on hand to interview potential adopters. The adopters were able to interact with the dogs and cats, ask questions about the animals, learn about activity levels and behavior and get matched with the perfect best friend.

Misc Belizean Sources

Paint N Splash "seahorse sparkle"2
Thursday, August 20at 2:00am. Belizean Melody Art Galley, San Pedro, Belize

New Town Foreman in San Pedro
The San Pedro Town Council would like to extend a warm welcome and at the same time introduce you all to Mr. Armando Badillo, our new Town Foreman. Mr. Badillo will ensure that workers are organized and that our town is maintained clean and well-kept. Mr. Badillo is a very hard working man with nothing but the town's best interest at heart. Welcome Mr. Armando Badillo!

Calla Creek Community Center Project
4 the World is helping out, big time, with the Calla Creek Community Center. That's some serious work they have going on. It's great to see the community come together for a great cause. Thanks, 4 the World! Pictures here, and here. "Our Belize volunteers along with volunteers from our partner S.O.S.( Students Offering Support) unload lumber to carry across the swinging bridge for the community center project in Calla Creek Village. Next we will take rock, cement, sand and everything else we need across the bridge to the project site."

Seasonal Precipitation Outlook (August September October 2015)
Rainfall amounts that are expected across districts stations during ASO 2015 are as follows. Accumulated rainfall totals for the ASO season are likely to range from 200mm to 800mm over northern (Corozal &Orange; Walk), inland(Cayo & Belmopan) and central coastal areas Belize District). Accumulated rainfall totals over southern Belize (Stann Creek and Toledo) are likely to be between 900 mm and 1800 mm. What influences the next season? El Niño Southern Oscillation: A moderate El Niño exists ; sea surface temperatures (SSTs) 11.5° C above average and rising in equatorial eastern Pacific (NINO3.4).

Tall Guy (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) and former Laker in Belize
This tall fella #33 is visiting Belize. He is here on vacation while looking at real estate.

Art Lovers!
Make it out to Belize City September 11th for the Silence of Emotion Exhibit by Rony Israel Jovel

BOLEDO DRAWING for Tuesday, August 18, 2015: 08. PICK 3: 5 4 5. FANTASY 5: 12 27 21 8 35 O

NICH looking for Communications and Marketing Officer
The National Institute of Culture and History (NICH) is seeking a suitable applicant to fill the post of Communications and Marketing Officer. To find out more information see vacancy posting or call Stephanie at 822-3302.

Channel 7

Hon. Sedi Says He Doesn't Believe The Media, He'll Wait For The OAS Report
Since Sunday, the Sarstoon showdown between the Belize Territorial Volunteers and the Guatemalan Navy has dominated the headlines. As we showed you yesterday, the Guatemalans blockaded the 5 boats carrying 160 persons who wanted to tour the entire circumference of Sarstoon island, which remains the flashpoint for the territorial dispute. All accounts from those on the boat, and our video footage clearly show that it was the Guatemalans who approached first, and they were the ones who moved into positions which caused a dangerous game of bumper boats on the water. But, Belize's Foreign Minister doesn't believe it. That's what Amandala readers saw on page 3 of the mid-week issue. The Foreign Minister scolded Sunday's participants, and simply doesn't believe the footage which shows aggressive engagement by the Guatemalans. In fact, he says, Sunday's encounter between the territorial volunteers and the Guat Navy officials was polite and civil.

Guatemalans Give Another Version Of Sarstoon Showdown
And, while the territorial volunteers gets a tongue lashing from the Foreign Minister, right now the expeditioners are also getting blasted in the Guatemalan media. We've seen news stories from 3 different media outlets from Guatemala, all of which slant against the volunteers. We'll get to the newspaper articles, but first, to that report we told you about last night from the Guatemalan news station, Canal Antigua TV. They got an interview with one of the most senior officers who tried to stop the volunteers from going to Sarstoon island. He's Guat Navy's Vice Admiral Carlos Thomas who also said that the Belizeans were the ones who were being abusive and aggressive. Here are his comments, which have been translated: Carlos Thomas, Vice Admiral "This is a manifestation of a lack of knowledge of some Belizean citizens, by attempting to lodge themselves or a Belizean flag in Guatemalan territory. This historically, the Sarstoon River, the waters of the Sarstoon River, are internal waters which belong to the Guatemalan state. We acknowledged it as such, and the Navy recognizes its sovereignty and it is an important mission which we are carrying out here. Simply, we did a containment movement of this civilian population, which was poorly oriented, I would say, because of their aggressive and abusive approach. They intended to take possession of property which belongs to the Guatemalan state."

It Happened Before...
And one man who knows too well the grip of Guatemalan military is Greg Choc. In October of 2007, the former SATIIM Executive Director was on patrol in the Sarstoon when he and his rangers were stopped and prevented from doing their work. IT caused a huge incident at the time - and on Sunday he was there again. He compared that 2007 experience to what he saw on Sunday on the Sarstoon River: Greg Ch'oc, Former Executive Director, SATIIM "For over almost 2 decades I have work in this area, both accompanying my rangers and board members, with the exception of one incident in October of 2007 where we encounter hostile navy of Guatemala, but we have generally patrol the island incomprehensible that Guatemala now have initiated asserting its sovereignty over the island. The communities on the other side, about 5-6 of them in proximity to each other recognize that the island is Belize. Our boat was intercepted, they came in front of us and we had to stop to avoid a collision and at that time like what they have been doing, from what I have heard from the news that they ask the boat captain and boat to give them the reason for being in the area and when the Belizeans that were on the boat refused, they ask for the rope to be handed over or to accompany them to the base.

PUP: Playing Politics On Sarstoon Or Stealing Volunteers' Thunder?
And while the issue is nationalistic for the volunteers, for the PUP, it is political. The opposition has jumped on the BTV Bandwagon to run roughshod over the foreign minister and the Barrow Administration. Today, Opposition Leader stressed that at this time, they are both proud and ashamed: Hon. Francis Fonseca, Leader of the Opposition "My friends today we are filled with two distinctly opposite emotions; pride and shame. Pride in our Belizean citizens who on Sunday August 16th, gathered in the beautiful community of Barranco in the southern Belize and embarked on a journey of courage and determination in support of Belize's territorial integrity and sovereign dignity. Pride in those who stood up to Guatemalan aggression in defense of our homeland. At the same time we experienced shame. Shame in our Belize government that failed in its most fundamental of duties. Most fundamental of its obligations, the protection of its citizens and the protection and preservation of our nation state. Shame on this UDP government. Shame on Prime Minister Barrow. Shame on Foreign Minister Elrington. Shame on the Minister of National Security John Saldivar. If this UDP government cannot stand up for and protect its citizens - Belizean citizens. If they refused to protect and defend our territory, then they are useless. We want peace with Guatemala and we must always work together to achieve that peace, but it must be based on respect. Not on fear. Not on intimidation and certainly not on appeasement. We demand that our Belize government seek a full and unequivocal apology from the Guatemalan government by way of a diplomat note for their military's actions on Sunday - a full explanation of why they acted in the manner in which they did. A formal commitment that such actions and behavior will not be repeated."

Min. Of Agriculture: There Is A Northern Drought (Duh...)
Last week - we showed you the grain farmers of the Orange Walk district - who told their story of losing hundreds of acres of corn fields to drought. Here's what the CEO of the Indian Creek Co-Op told us last week about drought conditions in three of the last 4 years:.. Jacob Harms, CEO - Indian Creek Co-Op "From 2012 we had a serious loss on that. We lost about 90% of our corn fields and then in 2013, we did good. We had a yield about 134,000 bags. Then 2014, we lost almost everything. We were expecting about 250,000 bags of corn. We only received 48,000 bags. So we had a huge loss and this year it looks like we will go the same way or even worse." "We need the corm for food, for our own to make our corn tortillas and for animal feed, both. We must survive. We must go on. We are looking at the corn field to see what is happening here and we see that the drought is affecting us a lot and we don't know what to do anymore because we are just down. We need any support for something."

Social Security Workers Vex With Management
Collective bargaining negotiations have started between the Social Security Board and its Staff. But things took a sour note this weekend when the staff shot one across the bow at management and the Board of Directors. The occasion was a staff day at Royal Palm Resort - which should have been for light and lively recreation. Management had everyone outfitted in t-shirts which were emblazoned with the theme "Set to Go", a reference to the SSB's ongoing management transformation process. But workers had their own message for management, which they printed on the backs of their shirts; it said, "United For A Raise." Apparently, workers are upset because they submitted their collective bargaining proposals and the Board of Directors shot down almost every proposal. The staff is asking for a 12% annual raise for three years, an increase in the weeks of leave to 7 for senior staff, and 6 for junior staff, and an increase in sick days leave from 17 to 29, among many other proposals. The management has rejected almost every single proposal made by staff. Both sides were to meet today, but the meeting was postponed.

PUP Leader Avoids Confrontation With G-11
The PUP's press conference today was to talk about the Sarstoon Showdown, but we did manage to get in a question about Dr. Francis Smith's incendiary remarks against how own party. On Sunday morning - the PUP candidate for Pickstock called the media to his office at Belize Medical Associates to explain why he and the G-11 would not be attending the party's rally in Big Falls later that day. Smith insisted that the party must hold true to its constitution and have a convention where the leader can be challenged. Today, that Leader Francis Fonseca didn't want to talk about it too much - and would only say that both sides are working on a compromise:.. Hon. Francis Fonseca, Leader of the PUP "I have met with the 11 standard bearers. We have agreed upon a process which I believe will lead to a resolution of whatever differences we have between and among us. So, I am not going to attack or criticized Dr. Smith or anyone else. We are, as he said, we are free thinkers in the People's United Party. He has every right to his views. But at the end of the day we are one party and we must respect the decisions of our party. So we will have a dialogue, we will have a discussion and we will certainly try to resolve whatever differences exist among us and between us. But at the end of the day when our final decisions are made, we ask and we expect that everyone will respect and abide by those decisions."

Dr. Smith Praises Fonseca, But Says "Mistakes Were Made"
So party leader Fonseca took the high road today - and right that he should; the G-11 while insisting that he face a convention - have not disparaged the man personally. In fact, on Sunday, Dr. Francis Smith repeatedly referred to Fonseca as virtuous. We challenged that - here's how the exchange went:. Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock "Honorable Francis Fonseca, I believe this to be true, is a noble man. He is a good man. He is an educated man and it the mark of an educated mind to tolerate diversity of thought without accepting it. So he is free to choose. He should be able to listen to my views without getting upset, stay calm, just listen. You don't need to agree, but listen. Because that's the way you learn." Jules Vasquez "Sir, this hospital where you work and you have work for many years, is actually an example of how a private sector hospital with commercial loans in the normal course can survive. Universal Healthcare when it started out didn't operate in that model. It operated on another model which was that to receive a commercial loan and government made a guarantee for that. Where was the goodness, the nobility of Francis Fonseca, your party leader when he signed the guarantees we believe in secret, certainly not before the national assembly for that hospital Universal Healthcare?"

Fonseca Sounds Caution On Commercial Banks De-Risking
Recently, there's been a lot of news about the difficulties that 2 banks in Belize have been having after their correspondent banking relationship was severed by the Bank of America. The Prime Minister has commented that it's a situation that is lamentable, but inevitable. Not surprisingly, Opposition Leader Francis Fonseca disagrees. While he had the media's attention today, he took the opportunity to discuss why this issue needs urgent attention: Hon. Francis Fonseca, Leader of the PUP "We have heard about offshore banks and correspondent banks. These are terms that have become very familiar to the Belizean people, but the reality is that offshore banks with no corresponding banks, means no offshore banking sector and the essence of offshore banking is the free flow of foreign currency, primarily US dollars through the banks without any exchange control. This is a kin to conducting banking business in the US, but doing it outside of the US. Without these corresponding banks that we have been hearing about then you are forced to do banking essentially back in the United States, which means that Belize offshore banks are no longer attractive and ultimately leads to a loss skilled labor jobs."

Sarstoon, Imagine There's No Showdown...
Last night, in our coverage of the trip to the Sarstoon, we focused on the confrontation on the River between the Guatemala Navy, and the Belize Territorial Volunteers. But, there is a completely different angle that we've yet to present. That's a look at the lighter side of the expedition, and how it would have unfolded, if there hadn't been a confrontation. Tonight, we've have that story for you: Daniel Ortiz reporting At around 10 a.m. yesterday, approximately 200+ persons gathered onto this pier in Barranco Village. They came from the Orange Walk and Belize Districts, spending anywhere between 3 and a half to 6 hours on the road. On this Sunday, they were there to travel to Sarstoon Island and see for themselves a spit of land in a wide river that has become ground zero for the Belize Guatemala territorial dispute. In Barranco, they were pleasantly surprised to find police officers Coast Guard personnel on site. They were there to ensure the safety of those boarding the boats heading to the landing zone, a sand bar with waist deep water, right before the mouth of the Sarstoon River.

Under 18 Volleyballers Score Successive Wins In Costa Rica
The female under 18 volleyball selection is in San Jose Costa Rica tonight playing in the Central American Championship. The news is that after a disappointing opening game against Salvador on Sunday, the team cruised past Nicaragua last night: 25:20, 25-21, 25-17. Belize's Mya Musa and Kori Diego scored 12pts each, each hammering 10 kills at the net; while Mya also served 2 aces and Kori had 2 blocks. The good play continues at this hour where Belize beat Panama, three sets to nil, 25 - 8, 25 - 14, and 25 to 10 - in a match that was concluded 15 minutes ago. But it gets tougher after this when they play Honduras on Thursday and the defending champs Costa Rica on Friday. We'll keep you posted.

High Times In The New Hilux
For the past few weeks you've been seeing the ads for the new 2016 Hilux on the news. Well it just came into the country last week - and since we love to play with what we cannot purchase, we thought we'd take it for a spin, or a hundred. Jules Vasquez pulled up at Belize Diesel today for a whirl:.. Jules Vasquez reporting The 2016 Toyota Hilux has long been the standard in third world pickups - but this year it's been re-designed. Ryan Marin, Sales - Belize Diesel and Equipment Company "This is the all-new 2016 Hilux. So, we have changes to the engine, new body style, it's a wider, longer wheel-base, new chassis, new suspension, new interior, new features inside." Indeed, the Hilux has the heft and feel of a first world pickup or a full size SUV - still it's surprisingly quiet inside and the ride comfort is comparable to an SUV. The redesigned grille and other touches, give it a more aero-dynamic look, but still, for better or worse, has that unmistakable third world profile.

Alpuche On Acquittal
Last week Friday, we told you how Efrain Alpuche, the security guard of PUP politician Ramon "Monchie" Cervantes, was acquitted of arson along with his co-defendant, Saulito Vasquez. At that time, we tried to get an interview with him, but he was unavailable. Well, as you saw before the break, he was one of the people who went on the trip to Sarstoon Island. While we had the opportunity, we asked him about the acquittal from the accusation that he burnt BSI's cane fields, and here's what he had to say: Efrain Alpuche, Acquitted of Arson "To be honest I must say that it's a relief to be having that, even though I maintained my innocence. To have had that hanging was heavy. From last Friday we went to court and a memorandum was handed down from the DPP's office withdrawing the case. We were not disclosed, nor was m lawyer able to get a copy of the disclosure as to why, but it was withdrawn so I am quite relief and it's good to be out and I don't have that hanging over my head anymore." Daniel Ortiz "Was there any doubt?" Efrain Alpuche, Acquitted of Arson "About my innocence, no. That was purely political mischief on their part and I guess it didn't work out. My speculation is that they didn't have a case, so it fell apart on them."

Channel 5

“Shame on U.D.P. Government!” - Francis Fonseca on Sarstoon Confrontation
Following an incident in the Sarstoon between the Guatemalan military and a group led by the Belize Territorial Volunteers on Sunday, the People’s United Party has condemned the actions of [...]

P.U.P. Deputy Leader and Senator Recount Sarstoon Island Expedition
The People’s United Party did not form a part of the expedition, but former P.U.P. Foreign Minister and current Senator Lisa Shoman was present and accounted for…as was P.U.P. Deputy [...]

BTV Doesn’t Need O.A.S. Report to Prove They Didn’t Enter Guatemalan Waters
Immediately after BTV’s trek to the Sarstoon, the government of Belize, through the National Security Council, announced that they had been on top of things, monitoring the entire expedition - [...]

G.O.B. Needs to Clarify NSC Statement on Sarstoon Island Expedition
The release from the National Security Council has been met with disbelief and outrage in certain quarters, largely because it does not even acknowledge that there was any incident at [...]

What’s the Opposition’s Take on Local Banking Sector?
Fonseca says that while all eyes are on Guatemala and the threat to the Sarstoon, there is another critical issue on the front-burner which has potentially devastating consequences on Belize’s [...]

P.U.P. Party Leader Meets with G-Eleven
A group of P.U.P. standard, informally dubbed the G-eleven, continues to boycott party functions. On Sunday, when a consultation was held in Big Falls, they were not there. The eleven, [...]

Hit & Run Victim Hilton Conorquie Clings to Life at K.H.M.H.
A Belize City man is clinging to life at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital after being hit by a vehicle and left for dead on the George Price Highway over [...]

Still No Arrests in Murder of Joel Bishop
Police are nowhere closer to determining who was responsible for the murder of twenty-eight-year-old Joel Bishop. Bishop, a resident of Oleander Street in Belize City, was along with a group [...]

BPOs and Employment in Belize
Employment in Belize has been a hot-button issue for the public and private sector. Approximately forty percent of the country is poor and the unemployment rate is just as dismal. [...]

Men Accused of Burning Cane Fields Are Acquitted of Arson
In May, Efrain Alpuche and Saulito Vasquez were arrested by Orange Walk Police and charged for allegedly burning cane fields in San Lorenzo belonging to Belize Sugar Industries Limited. But [...]

Accused Murderer of Well-Known Conch Shell Bay Fisherman Rearrested
Forty-two-year-old James Rhaburn, accused of killing Michael Richard Ysaguirre by beating him to death in June 2014, remains in police custody tonight pending a charge of murder.  Ysaguirre is the [...]

One of Two Accused Robbers Acquitted of Murder of Mennonite Businessman
Tonight, one of two men accused of the murder of businessman Wendelin Reimer, who was shot and killed during a robbery at Eagle One Hardware in October 2011, is home [...]

Dismantling Criminal Firearms Trafficking Organizations
Seventy percent of the population of SICA member countries identify crime as the main threat to sustainable human development and one of the biggest contributors is the trafficking of illegal [...]

CTV3

26 Females Workers Released After 69 Hours Behind Bars
Late this evening at the Corozal Magistrates court, several illegal immigrants and alleged bar workers from Orange Walk Town were slapped with a charge of failure to comply with recommendations of a visiting permit. This charge comes after a sweep from Immigration officials from Belmopan and Belize City on Friday night. As we reported last night, the immigration teams rounded up a total of 26 women, mostly workers, who were found inside popular bars around town. The women comprised of Guatemalans, Hondurans and Belizeans were detained on Friday night around 10:00 and were not permitted to leave after the police’s 48 hour detention period. We understand also that around 4:15 yesterday evening, Immigration Officials arrived at the station and took away eleven of the girls in a white van. We understand these women, who were not charged, were taken to the Benque Border where they will be deported back to their country. Attorney for the 3 Belizeans, Marcel Cardona, told us today that his clients were released from 7:30 last night without any charge. That is after they spent 69 and a half hours behind bars. We tried on several attempts to get official information from the Immigration authorities but we were told no one is authorized to give comment except for Maria Marin, the Director of Immigration. Our messages and calls to her desk are yet to be returned.

Leaked Memo Reveals Why DPP Dropped Case Against Monchie' Driver
Last night we told you about the charge for arson which was withdrawn against Efrain Alpuche, security guard for PUP Orange Walk North standard bearer Ramon Cervantes Jr., and Saulito Vasquez. The duo was charged with arson of sugar cane fields belonging to Belize Sugar Industries Limited (BSI) on the San Lorenzo Road in May 2015 but then the DPP advised the police to withdraw the charge due to lack of evidence. The reasons behind the DPP’s decision was not known when the news broke out that the charge had been dropped against both men. But tonight we can give you that information thanks to a leaked Memo obtained by the media from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and sent to the Officer Commanding the Orange Walk formation, Assistant Superintendent Selvin Tillett.

Campaign To Raise Awarness Against Dengue And Malaria Continues In Corozal
On August 7th Kim Bautista, the Chief Operations Officer for the Vector Control Unit of the Ministry of Health, revealed that at week 31, 1638 persons were tested for dengue and out of that amount, 261 cases were confirmed by laboratory testing. That’s 36 more cases or a 16 percent increase when compared to data from last year during the same period. Bautista also reiterated that health officials are keeping a close eye on the Corozal, Cayo and Toledo Districts for the disease. Bearing in mind that the best way to get rid of the mosquito that transmits dengue and to have the disease under control is by practicing civic pride, the Corozal Health services embarked on clean-up campaign this past Saturday. The aim was to destroy not only the vector that causes Dengue, but also malaria and Chik V.

Dr. Francis Smith Discusses PUP G11's Position In The Party
Yesterday we told you about the P.U.P G-11’s proposals for reforming and strengthening the democracy within the People’s United Party. As previously reported 11 standard bearers have not yet returned to the fold and are now locked in negotiation with the PUP’s sub-committee of two, appointed by party leader Francis Fonseca. The sub-committee which is made up of standard bearer for Caribbean Shores, Kareem Musa, and, Area representative for the Cayo South, Hon. Julius Espat, met with two members of the eleven including Dr. Francis Smith, standard bearer for Pickstock constituency, and Paul Thompson, standard bearer for the Albert constituency. In a lengthy press meeting on Sunday, Smith told reporters about the intentions of the group and their resolve to change the way P.U.P carries out its business. Smith stressed that the group is not fighting to take over the leadership of the party, but is only pushing for “quality assurance to make the party better.”

Wilfred Elrington Says he Does Not Believe Belize Media
An article from the Amandala Newspaper is tonight raising eyebrows and causing great concern in the public domain. That is because the article entitled “I don’t believe the Belize Media” quotes the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Attorney General Hon. Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington stating that there is no evidence to suggest that the Guatemalan navy harassed Belizeans in our territorial waters on Sunday’s expedition. As you might recall those heading the expedition have stated that Guatemalan authorities entered Belizean waters and tried to block them from reaching closer to the Sarstoon Island. All this was witnessed by representatives of the OAS and captured by the cameras of various media houses including ours.

Carolyn Trench Sandiford Verifies Medias' Version Of Sarstoon Trip
So Belize’s Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington does not believe the Belize media or anyone who was on the excursion to the Sarstoon Island on Sunday. While the Minister says he awaits a report from the Organization of American States so that government can take a decision as to its next move, he did keep in his usual stance, which is that the Belizean people basically have no business at the Sarstoon as it agitates the so called “good relations” with Guatemala. He even asserted that the Guatemalans extended courtesy to the Belizean visitors. The Minister’s remarks have without a doubt stirred different levels of emotions not only within Belizeans who were part of the group at the Island but others who have been following the story closely.

LOVE FM

New Public Service Union President speaks of way forward
Eldred Neal is the recently elected president of Public Service Union. Neal told us that under his leadership the executive will continue following a strategic plan of action and will start on a campaign to get more members. Eldred Neal – President, PSU “As an individual holding the office my personal priority is to ensure […]

Training continues in the fight against illicit firearms trade
A specialized course was held for Judicial Officers in Belize by the Central American program on Small arms and Light weapons control (CASAC). Its aim is to dismantle illicit trade of firearms. Director of CASAC, Hefer Morataya, told us what the workshop is about. Hefer Morataya – Director, CASAC ““We are conducting the first course […]

Banking sector in crisis says Opposition Leader
During the press conference this morning, PUP Leader, Francis Fonseca, spoke about the banking sector in Belize, specifically what Fonseca describes as a “crisis in the banking sector” in Belize. Recently, Bank of America terminated its correspondent banking relationship with Atlantic Bank International. And previous to that, Bank of America terminated has also terminated is […]

PUP leader expresses confidence after meeting with disgruntled standard bearers
On Sunday, PUP standard bearer, Francis Smith, summoned the media to share his opinion on the internal rumblings within the party. Smith spoke on several topics especially the position of G11- the group of Standard Bearers within the PUP seeking major reforms within the party. Today, Fonseca was asked to respond to Smith’s comments. Francis […]

Female cross country champion picks up prizes
The annual Female Cross Country Cycling Classic was held on May 17. The race which had eight participants, started from San Ignacio and ended in Belize City. Today a ceremony was held for the winners including first place winner Alicia Thompson, who spoke to Love New about her win and minor complications she had on […]

Man freed of murder charge in trial without a jury
Twenty-five year old Ernest Staine, one of two men charged with the murder of 36 year old Wendelin Reimer, was acquitted of the charge today by Justice Adolph Lucas in a trial that was without jury. Reimer who was the owner of Eagle One hardware Store, located at mile four and a half on Phillip […]

Belize takes on Mexico in Scotia bank CONCACAF champion’s league
The FFB Stadium will be abuzz with action later tonight as Belize’s national Champions Verdes FC Belize will be hosting Gallos Blancos de Queretaro in the Scotia bank CONCACAF champion’s league. Belize has not been a part of the competition since 2008. Earlier today Love News caught up with the community manager for the Mexican […]

Organizations salute work of the Belize Territorial Volunteers
Mayor of Orange Walk, Kevin Bernard issued a release on behalf of the Orange Walk Town Council saluting the Belizeans who journeyed to the Sarstoon River on Sunday to take a stand and send a message. Mayor Bernard says quote “As a Belizean, and as a patriot, I am proud and humbled by the tremendous […]

Opposition says Guatemalan official’s statements need to be rectified
As we mentioned, Guatemala media were present at Sarstoon River and yesterday one of the first news report of that country on the expedition was published online. It came from Canal Antigua and the reporter reported that Belizeans had entered into Guatemalan waters in order to position a flag on Sarstoon Island. In his news […]

Role of OAS clarified
Media from Guatemala recorded the entire confrontation between Belizeans and Guatemalan armed forces and like the armed forces, they too were in Belizean waters. They, as expected, put their own spin on the situation, reporting that Belizeans were abusive and unmannerly. Reports from several Guatemalan media houses stated that Belizeans were trying to lodge a […]

PlusTV

PUP rally in Toledo well attended
The People’s United Party held a rally in the Toledo district this past Sunday and it has been one of the largest they have seen in a while. Some 4000 persons attended the Power to the People Rally; the second in a series of rallies the PUP is putting off to create some momentum after several rec...

PUP reform movement demands voice in leadership choices
And while the PUP were in Toledo District, conspicuous by their absence were those standard bearers who have demanded a greater voice in party affairs. They have called for a National Convention to be held soon, for more national consultations on party policy and a restructuring of the National Exec...

Brawl outside Club in City leaves man dead
The North side of Belize City is relatively low on crime. What crime there is tends to occur in the high traffic areas ranging from Marine Parade along Newtown Barracks and up to St. Thomas Street. However, the area between BTL Park in Belize City and MCC Grounds was on Saturday night the scene of ...

Accident claims lives of two children, several others injured
A traffic accident claimed the life of a minor on the Hummingbird Highway. On Sunday, August 17th, Marvin Zuniga, Claudia O’Brien and nine minors; Lizeth Martinez, Amir Rodriguez, Gabriel Martinez, Stephanie Rodriquez, Manuel Martinez, Graciela Martinez, Leonela Rodriguez, Tirelly Martinez and...

Former SolGen Gian Ghandi dies
Gian Ghandi passed away today August 18 at 82 years old after battling with a long illness. Mr. Gandhi has had a long and distinguished career in the Service of the Government of Belize having served for over 37 years in various capacities such as Crown Counsel, Director of Public Prosecutions, Soli...

Parked Car slammed while waiting for accident scene to clear
When the Police were combing the scene of the Hummingbird Highway accident that claimed the life of a two children, they made oncoming vehicles pull off to the side of the road so that no one could interfere with the investigation. While the vehicles were pulled off to the side of road, a White Pi...

American National Died in car crash
There was another fatal traffic accident on Saturday August 15 at about 7:00pm, between miles 68 & 69 on the George Price Highway, Cayo District. 68 year old US National Davis Turner of Calla Creek Village, was driving a Dodge Ram 2 door pickup heading from San Ignacio to Benque Viejo Town. Tr...

Amandala

“I don’t believe the Belize media”
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Attorney General Hon. Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington told Amandala this morning that the government is “very satisfied” with how the Belize Territorial Volunteers’ expedition went yesterday on the Sarstoon River, despite widespread reports that the Guatemalan navy harassed Belizeans in our territorial waters. “There was clear evidence that the Guatemalan navy boats were trespassing in Belize territorial waters yesterday; in that case, will your Ministry of Foreign Affairs send a diplomatic note of protest to the Guatemalan authorities?” Amandala asked Elrington. “Fortunately, we had taken the precaution of having the OAS people present, and they are going to do a report on it, and as soon as we get the report, depending on what it consists of, we are going to take a decision,” Elrington replied. Elrington admitted that the Belize Government will not act on the assertions by the BTV that Guatemalan naval boats accosted them in Belize territorial waters.

Sarstoon confrontation!
The government of Prime Minister Dean Barrow upheld its threat not to send the Belize Defence Force (BDF) to ensure that an expedition led by founder and leader of the Belize Territorial Volunteers (BTV), Wil Maheia, and Orlando De La Fuente, leader of the Northern Territorial Volunteers, had safe passage yesterday, Sunday, to Sarstoon Island, the southernmost island in Belize, nestled inside the mouth of the river by the same name, whose southern branch forms the border between Guatemala and Belize. Foreign Minister, Wilfred Elrington, who had to have taken his cue from PM Barrow, had repeatedly said that the expedition did not have Government’s blessing. Last Tuesday, the BTV had sent a letter to the Minister of National Security, John Saldivar, informing him about the planned expedition, but there was no reply from Saldivar. When Opposition Senator Lisa Shoman, who is also a member of the Negotiating Team on the Bipartisan Committee on Guatemala’s unfounded claim to Belize, announced she was joining the expedition to the Sarstoon, Government’s indifference took a sharp turn – Government then expressed “great consternation” over the announcement.

What really killed Joel Bishop?
A man who was walking home along with his friends from the BTL Park on Newtown Barracks, at about 3:10 a.m. on Saturday, August 15, died in the hospital after he was attacked by about 10 men, who beat him severely, and then ran a vehicle over him and sped away. The victim, identified as Joel Bishop, 29, of Belize City, suffered massive internal injuries and also injuries to his head. He died about 9 hours later at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. His three friends, who also fell victim to the attack that caused Bishop’s fatal injuries, were declared to be in stable condition. One of them has been released from the hospital. Bishop’s body has since been taken to the morgue, where it will undergo a post-mortem exam to determine the cause of his death. Police reports are that they went to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) and saw some men who had suffered various degrees of injuries after they were attacked by a group of men.

Talks with 11 PUP standard bearers challenging status quo
Today, as the Opposition People’s United Party (PUP) headed to Big Falls, Toledo District, for its Power to the People consultation rally with 21 standard bearers, 11 standard bearers who have not yet returned to the fold are now locked in negotiation with a sub-committee of two, appointed by party leader Francis Fonseca, to hear their proposals for reforming and strengthening the democracy within the PUP. The sub-committee, made up of Kareem Musa, standard bearer for Caribbean Shores, and Hon. Julius Espat, area representative for the Cayo South, met with two members of the group of 11: Dr. Francis Smith, standard bearer for Pickstock constituency, and Paul Thompson, standard bearer for the Albert constituency. Dr. Smith took time out today on Sunday to brief reporters about the objectives of the group, who are insisting on changing the way the PUP goes about its business.

Editorial: Colonialism and patriotism
There are many good and honest Belizeans who will consider any criticism of Centenary as an attack upon their heritage in the Settlement of Belize. We understand this reaction, and we are sympathetic to it. The reality is, nonetheless, that in 2015 Centenary has been transformed from celebrations couched in a patriotic framework to almost a whole month of predominantly hedonistic events driven by the tourism powerhouse of the Belizean economy. Until the year 1964, Belize was British Honduras, a total British colony. After the settlement had become a Crown Colony, there had been the rebellions of 1894, 1919, 1934, and finally there came the extended anti-colonial push of the People’s United Party (PUP). No matter, until 1964, patriotism in British Honduras definitely meant allegiance to the exploitative rule of British colonialism. It is possible to identify certain families in Belize which were and generally remain, Anglophile. These families were privileged, prestigious and successful during British colonial rule. Most of these families were various hues of brown, but a few were black, black enough. Before 1964, British Honduras was not an incorrigibly divided society where the majority Creole population was concerned.

Drums, not guns!
Roughly 15 young persons from Belize City got a rare chance this week to reconnect with their roots through the art of making and playing drums, as a part of a diverse summer program being offered by the Museum of Belize, which engaged the very talented sambai master, Emmeth Young, of Gales Point Manatee to share his skills with these aspiring drummers. Among those youth were boys and girls, the youngest being only 5. Young said that although the minimum age limit was 8 years, in the culture, they don’t believe in turning people back who show an interest in learning. When the classes began on Monday, Young took 15 shells, mainly of mahogany and cedar, to be used in the making of djembe and sambai drums, to the Museum of Belize, where the children converged for sessions running from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. By Wednesday, some of them had already completed making their drums, and all were complete by Thursday.

From the Publisher
It seems to me that no one can pinpoint when exactly it was that we Belizeans (then British Hondurans) decided that we were worthy of being a nation and that that’s what we wanted to be. Personally, I think that Belizeans were doing an amount of travelling in the first half of the twentieth century apart from the World War I and World War II experiences. Individual Belizeans were coming home and telling our people what they had seen and heard in foreign lands. Our people got to thinking we could have a better life if we did some agitating. Amongst my relatives back then, I had a maternal uncle, Buck Belisle, who worked in Panama from 1941 to 1946. A second cousin, Jerry Belisle (Buck’s first cousin), joined the United States Merchant Marine before I even knew myself. My paternal grandfather’s nephew, Wallace Hyde, travelled all over the world working in the Merchant Marine. So did one of my maternal granduncles, Gilbert Belisle. My paternal grandfather, James Bartlett Hyde, did a lot of travelling along the Gulf Coast of the United States – Corpus Christi and Galveston, Texas; New Orleans and Westwego, Louisiana; Biloxi, Mississippi; Tampa, Florida; Mobile, Alabama; Savannah, Georgia, and up the Carolina coast. To reach these ports, he had to travel along Mexico’s Gulf of Mexico coast – Isla Mujeres, Cozumel, Vera Cruz, Tampico, etc.

Breaking Belize News

Real Verdes goalkeeper named best player in tonight’s game against Gallos Blancos
Tonight, Real Verdes makes history as the first football team in Belize to play in the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League against Gallos Blancos from Queretaro, Mexico. Goal keeper, Benito Moreira, was named the best player in tonight’s game as he held his grounds and vigorously defended the goal post for […]

Happy birthday weed?
The sister of a woman accused last week of attempting to smuggle marijuana into the Central Prison in Hattieville is accused this week of attempting the same. 33 year old Shelmadine Garbutt is charged with drug trafficking for taking three grams of the drug into the prison on […]

One of two accused beats robbery-murder
It is officially out of session but the Supreme Court issued a decision in a trial without jury today. 25 year old Ernest Staine, charged with the murder of 36 year old Wendelin Reimer, the owner of Eagle One Hardware Store at Mile 4 1/2 Philip Goldson Highway, […]

Why DPP dropped cane field arson charges
Last week, Efrain Alpuche, a security guard for PUP standard bearer Ramon Cervantes Jr., and Saulito Vasquez, jointly charged with arson of sugar cane fields belonging to Belize Sugar Industries Limited (BSI) on the San Lorenzo Road in May 2015, had their charges dropped for lack of evidence. The […]

Search for 10 years old Jason Pau has been suspended
It has now been eighteen days since 10 years old Jason Pau, resident of the Cuxlin Ha community was last seen alive. On July 31st, Pau was with a group of American volunteers on a field trip to Blue Creek Village, when he mysteriously disappeared. The group reported […]

Over 20 arrested during bar raids in Orange Walk
Earlier, we told you about several female bar workers who were detained after Immigration Officials carried out a raid, sweeping across popular entertainment establishment and bars in Orange Walk Town. A total of 26 women from Honduras, Guatemala and Belize were detained pending investigation into their involvement in a human […]

The Belize People’s Front speaks out
The Belize Territorial Volunteers excursion to the Sarstoon Island on Sunday August 16th, 2015, have spark The Belize People’s Front to take a stand. The Belize People’s Front have issued a press release congratulating the Belize Territorial Volunteers and all Belizeans who partook in this expedition. They stated that Guatemala […]

Update: Home invasion reported in Hattieville
A husband and wife living on the Burrell Boom-Hattieville road were targeted by armed robbers pretending to be police officers over the weekend. Police responded but were not able to get the robbers on time. Officer Commanding Eastern Division (Rural) Senior Superintendent Edward Broaster told BMG that the […]

Police faulted for response to brawl
The North side of Belize City is relatively low on crime. What crime there is tends to occur in the high traffic areas ranging from Marine Parade along Newtown Barracks and up to St. Thomas Street. However, the area between BTL Park in Belize City and MCC Grounds […]

Man charged for firearm
32 year old Daniel Meighan pleaded not guilty to charges of keeping a firearm and ammunition without a gun license when he was arraigned yesterday, August 17th, by Magistrate Patricia Arana. Meighan was taken in custody by police, hours after the home invasion was reported in the Hattieville […]

PUP reform movement demands voice in leadership choices
On Sunday the People’s United Party (PUP) held the second stage of its national tour in the Toledo District. Conspicuous by their absence were those standard bearers who have demanded a greater voice in party affairs. They have called for a National Convention to be held soon, for […]

Over 20 arrested during bar raids in Orange Walk
The Belmopan Immigration Department conducted a special operations, a little over 66 hours ago that resulted in the detention of over twenty female bar workers in Orange Walk Town. Belize Media Group understands that on Friday around 10pm, several teams compromising of members from the Belmopan Immigration and Nationality Department […]

Blogs

So…You Wanna Ship A Boat To Belize?
From Lisa and Ronnie of the very good blog: First World Refugee. Super information about the planning and the first year of living on Ambergris Caye at Grand Caribe. From selling almost everything you own to getting boat captain licenses. They are on the accelerated Belize program. Thank you SO much for guest blogging while I’m in Michigan. Current temp? About 63 degrees. Brrrr…. We finally decided the time had come to buy our own boat….sounds like a fun and easy task….right? The first step was to decide what brand of boat to get…we knew we wanted a center console boat that could be used for fishing….and that we wanted a boat that was US made… After hours and hours and weeks and weeks of research and talking to friends we decided that the perfect boat was a Sea Hunt Triton – great hull design, “dry boat” has fishing stuff on it and all of the comfortable seating Lisa wanted….and the most important feature our boat had to have…shade! For months we’d find the exact boat we’d want in the price range we could afford online…but every time we’d call it was…Oh, sorry – no longer available…..apparently Sea Hunts are very desirable boats…which is a great thing…unless you’re trying to buy a used one.

Economic co-operation and trade and Belize-Guatemala Issue
Economic co-operation and trade between Belize and Guatemala is hard to manage, risky in the undertaking, and doubtful of success in making Guatemala relinquish its claim over Belize. The difficulties are even multiplied when we look at a state as Belize, which is culturally and politically different from the Republic of Guatemala. Perhaps even more important is Guatemala’s reluctance to make possible the kind of legislative measures to recognize Belize as a sovereign entity. Public speeches by Guatemala’s Foreign Minister, Carlos Raul Morales, are great, but they are only partial viewpoints that are subject to expansion and revision. In fact, they do nothing but to satisfy Guatemala’s constitutional obligation to integrate Belize. Guatemala, no doubt, is very clever in its approach to use economics, namely bilateral trade and commerce, as a scheme for ensuring the political integration of Belize within a Central American framework. Once conquered economically, Belize would be easy picking for Guatemala to hold politically. For a long time I have thought carefully and seriously about these matters, and with so much talk going around these days about the Belize-Guatemala issue, I have decided to condense my views on the subject. Setting aside the historical circumstances that formed the Belize-Guatemala dispute, about which others have spoken or written elsewhere, I shall concern myself more with the major point of making economics the wisdom of settling the dispute and less so with the legal issues surrounding the Anglo-Guatemalan claim.

Response to my friend Elroy Johnson
By: Wellington C. Ramos. The Guatemalan claim to Belize like all the claims that exist among the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, has their roots in the Treaty of Tordesillas that was signed between Spain and Portugal in 1493 and approved by the then Catholic Pope Alexander the VI of Spain. Neither Spain, Portugal or the Catholic Pope, had the right to come all the way to this part of the world to take away the land of the indigenous people of this planet. Such action is deemed as genocide committed by all those who were involved in this inhumane act. All territories taken by these individuals, must be returned back to those who were there at the time they came to use force to wage and unjustified war against these people’s nation state. In addition all titles to land obtained by these Europeans must be voided and the lands must be handed back to the true owners the indigenous people who live in these countries today.

The People have the Power not Politicians
By: Wellington C. Ramos. In my study and teachings of political science it is always made clear that in a democracy, it is the people that have the power and not the politicians. This is very important for all aspiring politicians to keep in mind before they seek public office. I would also advise them not only to keep this basic fundamental principle in their minds but to use it as guide when thinking and formulating policies on behalf of their people. People who enter politics with this principle and practice, very seldom lose elections. On the other hand, people who enter politics without this philosophy, have a difficult time getting elected and if elected get voted out shortly thereafter. Any person who is seeking political office without accepting and making this clear to the people, is coming to office with his or her own hidden agendas and if elected the people will suffer some consequences. In a democracy people elect politicians to office to promote and advocate for their best interest. Politicians must come to the people and ask them what are some of the issues, they would like him or her to address in parliament on their behalf if he or she was to be elected. Then, the politician will campaign with those issues and start planning strategies to get them passed through parliament so that his or her people can benefit from the programs that are generated.

International Sources

Mesoamerican Race to Protect Parrotfish and the Reef
In a dramatic twist to the typical fishing tournament, this friendly competition among the four countries sharing the Mesoamerican reef (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico) rewards international players who catch less fish and protect more coral reefs. The countries are closing in on the goal of becoming the world’s first ecoregion to achieve full protection of parrotfish, and results published this year show that their efforts are working. New assessments from the 2015 report card for the Mesoamerican Reef show that parrotfish are increasing, along with the overall reef health. This is good news contrasting some dire predictions that Caribbean reefs might disappear within 20 years. In April, Guatemala became the region’s newest country to implement a ban on fishing parrotfish, following the example of Belize, which created the first nationwide ban in 2009, and Honduras with a ban in the Bay Islands since 2010.

Tropical Storm Danny forms
Tropical Storm Danny has formed about 1600 miles east of the Windward Islands. That's 3300 miles from Southeast Texas. Maximum-sustained winds are at 45 mph. Danny is expected to strengthen into a hurricane Thursday Afternoon and continue strengthening to a 100 mph, Category 2 storm by Sunday. The European Model takes this system towards the Yucatan near Belize a week from this Saturday.

Tropical depression east of Windward Islands expected to become storm today
A tropical depression has formed in the eastern Atlantic, about 1,665 miles east of the Windward Islands, and forecasters say it will become a tropical storm soon and a hurricane later this week. Tropical Depression Four is expected to become Tropical Storm Danny later today and then develop into a hurricane by late Thursday or Friday. The system is carrying maximum sustained winds of about 35 miles per hour, and is moving west at about 13 miles per hour, according to the advisory issued at 11 a. m. by the National Hurricane Centre in Miami. It is expected to move slowly to the west-northwest later tonight or tomorrow and computer model forecasts indicate it may reach near the Caribbean Sea in a week. Tropical Storm Danny would be the fourth storm of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season but the only one to threaten the Caribbean. Previous tropical storms – Ana, Bill and Claudette – took aim at the United States coast.

The Guatemalan Claim Pt. 9
THE 21st CENTURY 14th January, 2000 Jose Portillio inaugurated as President of Guatemala attended by Prime Minister Musa. In his inaugural speech he assures the intention of his Government to do everything possible to find a definitive solution 24th January, 2000 Guatemalan national shot and killed by BDF return fire in Sapote area of the Caracol Archaeological Reserve, a major marijuana cultivating area 16th January, 2000 Prime Minister Musa informas a Press Conference that he had written Guatemalan Foreign Minister Gabriel Orellana expressing regret over the incident, providing an official report, and inviting participation in a joint investigation Prime Minister Musa also announces the holding of a Belize/Guatemala technical meeting to be held in Miami on 25th february The Press Conference is informed of the appointment of a new National Advisory Council on the Guatemalan claim

Videos

August 18, 2015

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Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5, LOVETV, PGTV, West Vision (Cayo) and CTV 3
Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, Rise and Shine Morning Show, and the Dickie Bradley Specials

The San Pedro Sun

Island Invasion: the party you don’t want to miss!
San Pedro Town is without a doubt the party capital of Belize. Hundreds upon hundreds flock to the island every holiday/festival weekends. From Easter to Costa Maya and even New Year’s, everyone wants to party like an islander! And one of the most anticipated parties has to be Island Invasion! Organized by King of the Island Promotions- aka Brian Halliday- and held under the largest palapa in San Pedro, Fido’s Courtyard, this is a party of epic proportion. For the past several years, Island Invasion has been the leading event for dancing until the wee hours of the morning. Brain certainly does a superb job at having the hottest line up of DJs at every event. The high energy party atmosphere keeps crowds of over 800 dancing till their feet hurt to the best tunes of old and new school soca, dancehall, club, house, reggae and pop. With cocktails and cold beers flowing courtesy of the talented bartenders at Fido’s, the energy level never falters.

Statement by the Caribbean Tourism Organization on the influx of sargassum seaweed
The seasonal influx of Sargassum seaweed on Caribbean beaches has got the attention of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and tourism policymakers and practitioners across the region. Sargassum is a natural occurrence believed to originate in the Sargasso Sea, a two million-square-mile body of warm water in the north Atlantic near Bermuda, although some scientists believe the current influx was brought into the Eastern Caribbean through the North Brazil Current and because it thrives in warm, nutrient-rich water, the Sargassum simply spreads throughout the region

Sancas Realty breaks ground for San Cas Plaza commercial project on Ambergris Caye
“We are extremely excited to bring this project to San Pedro,” said Gil Castillo, President, SANCAS Realty. “The growth of Ambergris Caye has been amazing. As our community expands, we need to invest in additional retail and office space to help support local business. San Cas Plaza will provide essential commercial real estate inventory for marquee tenants.” SANCAS Realty, the exclusive Christie’s International Real Estate affiliate for Belize, will serve as the anchor tenant for the building. Founded in London in 1766, Christie’s is the world’s most exclusive real estate brand, encompassing a network of top luxury brokers and agents from around the globe. The San Cas Plaza project will provide solid employment for workers on Ambergris Caye, according to Castillo. He expects the building to be completed within 10 months, Orange Walk based AM Construction is serving as the general contractor.

Let’s Build-A-Beach!
A group of dedicated San Pedro volunteers have embarked on a one- of- a- kind project that involves turning the unsightly and smelly Sargassum (seaweed) into a beach. The group of volunteers is led by Dimas Guerrero via a movement called “Build-A-Beach Campaign.” The activity takes place every Sunday at 10AM with everyone convening at the Sir Barry Bowen Bridge before heading to Northern Ambergris Caye. The Sargassum seaweed creates an unsightly and smelly situation, which has been making it very inconvenient for a swim near the beach. However, Guerrero came up with a great idea to get rid of that unpleasant experience while making good use of the Sargassum. “The Sargassum is gathered, spread out on the beach to dry and then buried in holes which are dug along the beach. The Sargassum actually stabilizes the beach, bringing minerals to it while we use it as a landfill. The holes dug on the beach are then filled with Sargassum and covered with white sand, thus building the beach,” explained Guerrero.

Ambergris Today

25 Years Ago: Remembering when WE USED TO… in San Pedro Village
SEA GRAPES: A long time ago going to pick sea grapes was a source of great enthusiasm and fun. We used to plan for the day and the village folks used to share information about the places where the grapes were plentiful and where they were the largest and even where they were the sweetest. Don't laugh but plastic bags were not available yet, so we used to tie our T-shirts and made bags. SELLING LOBSTERS: Many years ago the big thing was not the opening of the lobster season or Lobster Fest but rather the selling of lobsters door to door. We USED TO boil whole lobsters and offered red juicy whole lobsters door to door to the village folks. Again don't laugh but the selling price was of five cents per whole lobsters. COMIC BOOKS: I think most of the kids in the 1950's USED TO learn to read Spanish with these comic books. Then you have to remember that there was no television at that time, therefore reading comic books was extremely popular. We used to rent them for five cents from a lady in the village whose name was Mrs. Manny Manrique.

Sargasso Situation Causes Tourism Cancellations in Caribbean, Is Belize Next?
Belize is lucky that is has not been hit hard with the influx of unwanted and unsightly Sargasso; other Caribbean and Central American countries are feeling the pressure with tons of seaweed posing a threat to their tourism industry. It stinks and takes away from the beach experience of visitors. Mexico is pledging $1.9Mil towards cleanup campaigns of the massive amounts of Sargasso that has piled up along its Caribbean shores, affecting the popular tourist hotspots like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel. The Caribbean nation of Tobago has deemed the Sargasso invasion a natural disaster, having injected $3Mil into cleanup efforts already. The seasonal influx of Sargassum seaweed on Caribbean beaches has even gotten the attention of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and tourism policymakers and practitioners across the region.

Local Belizean Cast in American Movie Filming in Belize
Filming commences this week for an American movie that is being called the ‘Jungle Move” by director/filmmaker Christopher Coppola in which a Belizean actor has been cast in a supporting actor role. Local San Pedro, Ambergris Caye resident Horacio Luis Guerrero and star in the La Isla Bonita Telenovela, will be acting alongside Hollywood celebrities Debra Unger, John Savage and Vincent Spano in the film directed by Christopher Coppola, brother to A-list actor Nicolas Cage. Coppola is nephew of Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire and cousin of director Sofia Coppola. He began his filmmaking at an early age by creating super 8 films that starred his brother, Nicolas Cage. Horacio Guerrero told Ambergris Today that he was made aware of the movie role during his participation at the Belize International Film Festival, “Belize’s Film Commissioner, Mr. Nigel Miguel saw the novela at this year’s film festival for the first time and he was impressed with what he saw,” commented Horacio. “He had just been informed about the Coppola movie and how they were looking to cast a local Belizean, he immediately thought about me.”

Misc Belizean Sources

Paint 'N Splash Seahorse
Thursday, August 20 at 2:00pm, Crazy Canucks Beach Bar in San Pedro, Belize

Mr. Gian Chand Gandhi, S. C. passes away
It is with deep regret that the Office of the Prime Minister announces the passing of Mr. Gian Chand Gandhi, Senior Counsel and Legal Counsel in the Ministry of Finance. Mr. Gandhi passed away in Belmopan City on Monday, 17th August, 2015 after a long illness. He was 82 years of age. Mr. Gandhi has had a long and distinguished career in the Service of the Government of Belize having served for over 37 years in various capacities such as Crown Counsel, Director of Public Prosecutions, Solicitor General, and most recently as Legal Counsel in the Ministry of Finance. Mr. Gandhi also served as Director-General of the International Financial Services Commission since 1999. Prior to coming to Belize, Mr. Gandhi worked as a legal officer in the British Public Service in the Departments of Trade and Health and Social Services. He is survived by one sister and two brothers. Funeral services will be announced at a later date.

BOLEDO DRAWING for Monday, August 17, 2015: 19. PICK 3: 9 9 5

Rotaract Paints Mount Carmel
The Rotaract Club of Benque visited Mount Carmel Primary School, where they painted some of the classrooms as part of their ongoing community service project. Looks good. Thanks, Rotaract! "Today, Sunday, August 16, 2015, our members painted an Infant 2 classroom at Mount Carmel Primary School. Another classroom will be painted in the coming week. We express our sincere gratitude to the Lincoln Woodstock Rotary Interact Club for their generous donation of three buckets of paint. Thank you to our members and Ms. Rosita Silva, Vice Principal at Mount Carmel Primary School, for taking the time to assist us today."

FCD Karst Rangers exploring the Solitaire Valley
Along the Chiquibul River for caves and sink holes.

Channel 7

Showdown Sunday in The Sarstoon
Sunday may be the slowest day of the week - but yesterday, Belizeans all across the country were on high alert: would there be a showdown in the Sarstoon between the Guatemalan Navy and the Belize Territorial volunteers? Well, there was - and the media captured it up close. Daniel Ortiz was on the ground, and chest high in the waters of the Sarstoon - here's his story:.. Daniel Ortiz reporting The 4 Belizean boats moved off. The intention was to give everyone a tour of this now infamous Sarstoon Island that has become a flashpoint for the Belize/Guatemalan Territorial Dispute. There was no sign that the Guatemalan Navy had changed their sentinel mode, and so the Belizean vessels slowly made their way into the Belizean side of the river. About 10 minutes in, this leisurely throttle in the river became instantly pressurized when 2 Guatemalan Navy boats made a direct path to the lead vessel, cutting off it off from any further movement. There, the most senior officers of the Navy, who had been watching in the distance for about 3 hours, spoke to the leaders for the first time that day and gave them a stern warning that they had entered Guatemalan territorial Waters.

Rage On the River
As you saw in the story, at the height of the confrontation, Orlando De la Fuente captained the lead boat, and he tried to out-maneuver the Guatemalan Navy vessel which kept chasing after him. While most of the cameras were focused on that showdown, the biggest Belizean vessel, Dore, was forced to hang back while the other 4 smaller boats managed to escape the Guatemalan blockade. Well, that's the boat Audrey Matura-Shepherd and Wil Maheia were in. When the trip was finished, they also spoke on how, from their perspective, the Guatemalans rammed their boat as a justification to use force. Here's their account: Audrey Matura-Shepherd - Participant, Sarstoon Expedition "Well I say what happened when they realize that the other smaller vessels took away and break away because we saw when they were trying to push the other smaller vessels into their waters to try and bully them. But the problem is our vessel was bigger, so Wil said well we are moving ahead. But we told them when they came, we are going in Belizean waters. They came and brought their vessels as to come and jammed us. But of course we can't afford for them to jam us, so we kept going more to the side, but then we had to stop because the water would have been too shallow. So what we told them then is that you are in Belizean waters. You need to move. We made 7 attempts right Wil? The last one we did it in front of the OAS for them to see that these people are in our waters and refuse to give us passage. Every time their intention is to jam our boat. Three times we almost made contact and different one of us push the boat."

Seeing Sounds In The Jungle
On Wednesday we told you about the echolocation workshop held at the Belize Council for the Visually Impaired. That was phase 1, just an introductory session for the kids. But this weekend the group took it to the Caves at Tiger Sandy Bay to refine their skills in the real world. We traveled along with the group on Saturday and found out just how life changing the exercise was for the kids and their families. Courtney Weatherburne reporting An adventure: that's what these kids were ready for. With a trekking pole and a cane they started down this grassy trail - leaping, swiping and prodding the earth to find their way. But they weren't limited to these two canes. They also had to use their ears and make tongue clicks to be able to traverse this dense forest. That method is known as echolocation: the ability to see through sound. These blind and visually impaired kids are practicing this technique outdoors for the first time. It took a while for them to orient themselves to this new environment. But with a few tips from the instructor, Juan was able to make it under the log.

Brawl Leads to Murder In City
After cresting in May and June, violence in the city had been on a downswing recently - that was until this weekend when there was a murderous gang brawl on Newtown Barracks near the BTL Park - the spillover from a misunderstanding that had happened at a nearby bar. After all the fists were thrown - two men lay unconscious - one of them would be dead within hours while the other is still clinging to life tonight. Monica Bodden found out more:.. Desiree Phillips, Assistant Commissioner of Police "It has to do with an incident that occurred on Saturday August 15th. Shortly after 3am, police responded to a call with regards to a fight in the Newtown Barracks area where several persons were observed with varied degrees of injuries. One person was lying on the ground as a result of that fight. Reportedly a vehicle sped off from the area and ran over this person that was lying on the ground. Of the 5 persons that were injured, one is Joel Bishop, 28 years old and he suffered head and body injuries. All persons were transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.

Teenager Shot In City
And while police were responding to the early morning brawl, there was a shooting at the corner of Mapp and Cran Streets. After a concert at ITVET, 17 year old LYNDON ST. CLAIR was walking on Mapp Street heading towards North Front Street when a car pulled up and a gunman opened fire. Desiree Phillips, Assistant Commissioner of Police "The second incident has to do with a seventeen year old male who was walking at the corner of Mapp and Cran Street Sunday morning August 16th, sometime after 3a.m. and heading towards North Front Street, he reported that he heard shots that came from a moving vehicle that passed him and realized that he was hit to the left leg. He is presently at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital receiving treatment. He is in a stable condition and the police are seeking two persons for questioning." The shooting is believed to be gang related. So far no one has been detained.

Infant Killed In Violent Vehicle Flip
An infant was killed yesterday in a traffic accident. Ariani Rodriquez was flung from this 2006 Mitsubishi Endeavor when it flipped between miles 50 and 51 on the Hummingbird Highway. She was one of 10 people in the very over loaded SUV. Driver 25-year-old Marvin Zuniga, a Honduran from Salvapan was driving and lost control while driving from Armenia Village towards Belmopan. His ten passengers included owner of the vehicle 32-year-old Claudia O'Brien who received head and body injuries, 12-year-old Lizeth Martinez, who received two fractured legs and a large cut wound to the head, Amir Rodriguez who received a large cut wound to his head and a fractured arm, 9-year-old Gabriel Martinez who received a cut wound on the right side of his face, bruises to his forehead, Stephanie Rodriguez who received head and body injuries and a fractured right leg, 14-year-old Manuel Martinez, who received a fractured left arm, facial injuries, cut wounds and bruises to both legs, Graciela Martinez who received a cut wound on the right side of her head, Leonela Rodriguez who received head and body injuries, and 15-year-old Tirelly Martinez who received abrasion to her legs.

Two Men In Pickup Died
On Friday's newscast we showed you the late evening traffic fatality that claimed two lives between miles 6 and 7 on the Phillip Godson Highway. Well, police say that 24-year-old Eaton Belisle of Saint Paul Village was driving the Mercedes Benz Car when crashed into a pickup truck driven by 51-year-old Yaun Sheng He. Two of the three passengers in the pickup, Rudolph Locke and Shane Goff were fatally injured from the collision.

Man Dies In Pickup/Car Collision
And while that accident happened on Sunday - 24 hours earlier, on Saturday night at 7:00, the George Price Highway was the scene of another fatal accident. It happened between miles 68 and 69 where a Dodge Ram pickup and a Toyota corolla Car had a head on collision. 68-year-old Davis Turner was driving the pickup and he died from the impact. The Corolla was driven by 40-year-old cab driver Carlos Chanek, from Benque Viejo Town. His passengers, 34-year-old Barry Gongora, 30-year-old Kevaun Gillett, 31-year-old Allan Gongora and 31-year-old Randy Andrews all of Ontario Village, received varying degrees of injuries.

PUP Draws Thousands In Big Falls
2 weeks ago, we told you about the Opposition Party's Power to the People Rally, an effort to energize the electorate and excite some ardor for the PUP before general elections are called. The first rally took place in San Ignacio Town, and yesterday evening, it moved on to Big Falls in the Toledo District. Our information says that 46 buses were mobilized to get the communities to the event, which had an attendance of more than 3,000 persons. That's a much higher turn out from they Cayo rally, and we stopped in to see how it went: Hon. Julius Espat, Deputy Party Leader - PUP "Numbers is not really that important to us, it's the participation of the people in the different zones and we had full participation of the south which is a good thing. It was a vibrant event and when you walked in you felt cold seed and all. It was a good thing I must say for the People's United Party." Daniel Ortiz "What was the topic which was of highest priority of persons who attended?" Hon. Julius Espat, Deputy Party Leader - PUP "The topic is where were you and what you were doing today? That was the topic in reality: the Sarstoon. People wanted to know how you guys were being treated by the Guatemalans.

Francis, The Doctor Says No Time For PUP Show
And while the PUP rallied in Big Falls, again, the G-11 didn't show up. And this time none of them showed up - whereas in San Ignacio, Cayo Central's Dan Silva and Belize rural South's Elito Arceo were there. But in Punta Gorda, it was zero for 11. It's a sign that the party remains divided - and yesterday instead of filling up a bus with supporters headed for the south - the ad hoc spokesman for the group, Dr. Francis Smith, called the media to his office at Belize Medical Associates to explain that he didn't go to Punta Gorda because he has political work to do, rather than being in what he calls a show:... Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock "I am not here to be a show pony in a circus. This is not a show. My business is to make sure I bring in Pickstock, that I beat Sedi Elrington and in July and August my business is to be on the ground house to house looking for new registrations and transfers. We are cash strap. I am not getting any money from Ashcroft. I am not getting any money at all. I am getting it from my business at Belize Medical Associates. So I am free. I am a standard bearer for the People's United Party. My leader is Francis Fonseca, but I am a free thinker and my view is that I cannot be in PG at this time." Jules Vasquez "Sir, will you face a sanction for not attending today's meeting?" Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock "I couldn't care less. As I said, I am fearless."

Deputy Julius Reacts
Those are strong words - and Smith has voiced them before - most recently at that meeting of the Standard Bearers and the National Executive - where insiders tell us Deputy Leader Julius Espat called him "crazy". And while that was said behind closed doors, what did the PUP's unofficial director of discipline Espat have to say about the absences yesterday? Here's what he had to say about the issue of Francis Fonseca's leadership remaining unchallenged due to an endorsement convention: Hon. Julius Espat, Deputy Leader - PUP "What and why is Francis Fonseca our leader and he is not going up for an elected convention? Well we have a very peculiar situation where the UDP infiltrated our party in 2012 and because of that made us lose and we made a decision that we will now allow the UDP to do that once again and so it is a decision. It's a strategic and a tactical decision on our part, to not have the other side infiltrate us and that is what politics is all about. It is our responsibility to put our best players out, so that we can have a better chance of winning the election - so that we can have a better chance of serving our people."

The End Of an Era: Gian Chand Ghandi Passes
The Legal Counsel in the Ministry of Finance and Director-General of the International Financial Services Commission, Gian Ghandi died early this morning at the Western Regional Hospital after a long illness. Ghandi, who was the consigliore to the most powerful men in Belmopan for the past two decades, was 82. Ghandi worked in the Government Service for 37 years and was considered virtually indispensible in the Esquivel, Musa and Barrow administrations between 1995 and 2015. Ghandi first came to Belize as a Crown Counsel in the late 1970's from the British Public Service and worked his way from Crown Counsel, to Director of Public Prosecutions, to Solicitor General, and in his final posting, as the one of Prime Minister Dean Barrow's must trusted advisors in the job of Legal Counsel in the Ministry of Finance.

Couple Recovering From Home Invasion
There was a home invasion last night in Hattieville. It's the kind of thing no one wants to ever experience - but today Augustine and Irma Ramos told Monica Bodden how they survived it:..

Cops Catch 16 Gauge
And while Hattieivlle police look for that burglar, around 12:30 on Saturday morning the rural response team received information of a man carrying an unlicensed firearm. Police set out on a search intercepted 32 year old Daniel Maine. We found out more. Sr. Supt. Edward Broaster, Commander, Eastern Division Rural "On Saturday 12am, the Rural Rapid Response Team received information of an individual in possession of a firearm. They were dispatch and they intercepted one, Daniel Maine, thirty-two years, who was dressed in camouflage having in his possession a 16 gauge shotgun along with 4 cartridges of 16 gauge and 20 gauge. He was taken to the station where he was processed and charge for kept firearm without a license." Maine was charged with keeping a firearm without license.

Teenaged Girl Missing For 4 Days
Police are asking for the public's help in finding this girl: 15-year-old NETHANIA ACOSTA, a Palotti student of 7 Poinsettia Street in Belize City. She was last seen at 7:30 on Friday morning. That's almost four days ago, and NETHANIA hasn't been seen since. She is 5 feet four inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. Anyone seeing her is asked to contact the nearest police station.

Mother of 8 Year Old Disappears
25 year old mother MARIA ZELAYA AGUILAR is also missing. Her common law husband Rufino Reina came to our office today to say that she left home last week and has not returned - but she left after a public quarrell:.. Anyone with information can call Rufino at 651-0-5-7-2.

Mayor Says Market Wholesalers Made Their Own Bed Hard
On Friday's news, you saw all the drama and hard talk at the Michael Finnegan Market when the wholesale vendors were moved form in front of the market. The city Council says that the wholesalers are retailing - and in so doing are underselling the market vendors - who are their main customs. But the wholesalers say the mayor is pushing them all the way to the back of the market - where there's no light and many criminals lurking. On Saturday, the mayor told us he doesn't know about all that:... Darrell Bradley, Mayor - Belize City "The fact that that had to be relocated, meant that they broke that bargain with the city that they engaged in retail businesses which they are not supposed to do and that relocation was precipitated because we had complaints from market vendors. The area in which they were relocated I am not very familiar with the space. This is not something that comes to my desk. It is something that it's dealt with from the technical side and so their relocation is as a result of that. I am not familiar as I said in relation to the space they they've relocated, but we would not have a problem if they be in the original location if they just stop with wholesaling."

Indian Ethos in Belize
We caught up with Bradley at the celebration of Indian Independence Day on Saturday in Belize City. It is the 68th anniversary of the independence of the largest democratic country on earth. And the Indians in Belize say their Indian roots make them better Belizeans:..

Sing a New Song
On Friday night, the finals of the 2015 National Song competition was broadcasted on national television and right here on Channel 7. There were 2 songs performed in the Belize Song Junior category 9 in the Belize Song Senior Category, and 7 songs performed in the Carnival Song category. 19 artists who took the stage for 18 performances, but in the end there could be only 3 winners, one in each category. Well, in the Belize Senior category, Cecil Jenkins Jr., last year's winner in the Junior's category, stepped up and proved that last year's victory was not a fluke. We spoke with him shortly after he had learned that he won yet again: Carnival Song veteran Ernestine Carballo took the stage for the last time as a competitor in National Song Competition, and managed to win with her song "Til Di Sun Come Up". We discussed the win with her:

Channel 5

Guatemalan Military Attempts to Thwart BTV Mission in Belizean Waters
On Sunday, Guatemalan military personnel attempted to turn back five Belizean vessels carrying members of an expedition led by the Belize Territorial Volunteers. The incident occurred in the early afternoon [...]

Territorial Volunteers Successfully Complete Expedition to Sarstoon Island
The incident with the Guatemalan military occurred in the early afternoon…actually close to the end of the expedition to the Sarstoon. The morning was spent further north, where about one [...]

What Role Did O.A.S. Play in Weekend Trek to Remote Island?
The National Security Council release issued Sunday evening states that the O.A.S. confirmed that the vessels which transited Sarstoon Island did so from the north and the south. The NSC [...]

Guatemala’s Skewed Version of Events Reported
The National Security Council reiterates that, “assertion and maintenance of sovereignty over the Sarstoon Island and our half of the river is best left to the Belizean military and Belizean [...]

Joel Bishop Stomped and Ran Over in Deadly Melee, Three Others Injured
Just before three o’clock on Saturday morning, there was an all-out brawl near the entrance to the MCC Grounds across from the Ramada Belize City Princess. Four residents from the [...]

Seventeen-year-old Victim of Drive-by Shooting
Exactly twenty-four hours later, on Sunday morning, shots rang out at the corner of Mapp and Cran streets in the city. A seventeen-year-old was targeted by gunmen in a vehicle; [...]

Trio of Fake Cops Pulls Off Home Invasion Near Boom Cutoff
A scary home invasion took place on Sunday night around ten on the Boom Road near its junction with the George Price Highway. A family was inside their home when [...]

Double Fatality in Road Traffic Accident
On Friday night, we showed you the fatal traffic accident that took two lives between miles six and seven on the Philip Goldson Highway, earlier that evening around five thirty. [...]

Motorists Escape Grave Injuries in RTA at Scotland Half Moon
An accident in Scotland Halfmoon Village on Saturday night left several people nursing injuries. While no one was fatally injured at least eight people, including children, received cuts and bruises [...]

Minor Perishes in Traffic Mishap on Hummingbird Highway
A terrible accident on Sunday evening on the Hummingbird Highway has left one child dead at the scene, another reportedly succumbing to injuries today, the driver missing and seven other [...]

Police Intercept Daniel Meighan with Unlicensed Firearm
The Rural Rapid Response Team was out in the Hattieville Area when they intercepted Daniel Meighan with an unlicensed firearm and cartridges. Police shared details of the discovery.   Sr. [...]

P.U.P. National Tour Heads South
The People’s United Party gathered en masse in Big Falls on Sunday where the leadership of the country’s oldest political organization met with its rank and file.  The southern leg [...]

Pickstock Standard Bearer Francis Smith a No-show in Big Falls
While Smith attests to not having the means to shuttle supporters from his constituency to Toledo, he maintains that the true idea of public consultation is to have those in [...]

Former SolGen Gian Ghandi Passes Away
Senior Counsel Gian Ghandi, a career public officer who has served extensively with the Government of Belize, passed away in Belmopan earlier today.  Gandhi has had a long and distinguished [...]

Belizean Artists Take 2015 National Song Competition
The National Song Competition 2015 took place this past Friday at the Memorial Park in Belize City. A total of two juniors, nine Belize Song seniors and seven Carnival song [...]

Football and Cycling Over the Weekend
Good evening, I’m James Adderley and this is Sports Monday.   Verdes FC begins its sojourn into the 2015 CONCACAF Champions Tournament tomorrow, Tuesday, with a home stand against the [...]

CTV3

Mendez's Case Adjourned Again
This morning, the People’s United Party Orange Walk East Area Representative Dr. Marco Tulio Mendez was back in court following his arraignment on six charges stemming from allegations made by a pair of minors in February of this year. But there was no court case as the matter was once again adjourned this time to August 31st, 2015.

PUP Approved Trip To Sarstoon Island
And sticking to the topic of the trip to the Sarstoon Island, today the People's United Party weighed in on the issue as it expressed its solidarity with and pride in those 200 Belizeans who travelled to Barranco and to the southernmost boundary of Belize. According to the P.U.P, these Belizeans quote “Demonstrated in a clear and unambiguous manner that we have every right to travel to any part of Belizean sovereign territory and that the independent spirit of Belizeans is alive and assertively proud, even in the face of foreign aggression. Those Belizeans who travelled to the Sarstoon demonstrated, by their peaceful presence, the ineffectiveness of the current administration in asserting our national rights and upholding our sovereign dignity.” End quote.

NSC Says Belizeans Navigated Into Guatemalan Waters
While the group awaits a response from GOB as it pertains to the behavior of the Guatemalan Military and their incursion in Belizean waters, they have heard from the National Security Council of Belize who was totally against the trip. While that position has not changed, the council issued a release yesterday afternoon after learning that all those that took par ton the expedition had arrived safe in Barranco Village. The release states and we quote “The welfare of Belizean citizens, no matter what the circumstances, is always of paramount concern to the Council and the Government of Belize. Thus, nothing can take away from the Council's pleasure that no misadventure overtook the hundred plus Belizean men, women and children that journeyed to the Sarstoon.” End of quote.

Alpuche Discusses Withdrawal Of Case Against Him
Last week we told you about the case that was dismissed against Efrain Alpuche and Saulito Vasquez who were accused of burning BSI sugar cane fields. Over the weekend, we spoke with Alpuche who told us more about that welcomed news. He said they had gone to court last Friday which was where they first heard of the dismissal. “We were informed that a memorandum came on the DPP’s office withdrawing the case against us, we were not given the details of the memorandum and I think my attorney will query that and will find out but we weren’t given the detail why it was withdrawn.”

Special Operations Leads To Detention Of More Than Twenty Females Employees
Several bar raids on Friday night in Orange Walk Town resulted in over twenty female workers being detained and tonight, they are still spending time behind bars. According to their attorney, Marcel Cardona, at 4:00pm today, a little over 66 hours have elapsed since a special operation carried out by Belmopan Immigration Department resulted in the detention of twenty six female bar workers. From what we have been able to gather, on Friday around 10:00pm, teams descended to popular entertainment spots around Orange Walk Town resulting in the detention of the 20 female workers. Attorney for the detainees Marcel Cardona says, authorities are limited to a 48 hour detention period and after that time has elapsed, if there is no evidence of charge that the arrestees deserve to be free. Here’s what he told us outside the police station today…. “Simultaneously they started raiding all bars in Orange Walk in particular I understand it was Mexically Bar, Picame Bar, Copa Cabana Bar, and at each of these bars they picked a number of females that may have been around the place or inside people that they believe may have been associated with these bars it is my understanding that at Mexicaly bar two young ladies of Guatemalan nationality were detained as well as two from Honduran nationality, at Copa Cabana Bar one of the three young ladies detained were of Guatemalan nationality whilst two were Honduran nationality, ...

Taxi Driver Involved In Traffic Accident
At dawn on Sunday morning, authorities in Orange Walk Town responded to traffic mishap on the Belize-Corozal Road that left one taxi operator injured. Twenty eight year old Julio Castillo reported to police that around 4:00 Sunday morning, he made a taxi run to Enramada Hotel then decided to head home. Upon reaching the pedestrian ramp in front of Home Protector Insurance Company, Castillo says he noticed a vehicle behind him that was blinding him with his lights. Castillo reported that upon reaching the junction to Liberty Avenue, the vehicle in question drove up beside him and cut him off causing him to swerve to the extreme right and onto the sidewalk, then slamming into the cement fence on the property of Ernesto Reyes. Authorities say the impact caused the vehicle to swerve back onto the road in an East to West position activating the air bag which flung Castillo through the windshield onto the ground. The grey and white Sephia car’s front portion was extensively damaged. Castillo complained of pain to the body but was treated and released from the NRH. He was charged for driving a motor vehicle without due care and attention

O/W Calls On Government To Heed The Message Sent By BTV
Today the Mayor of Orange Walk Kevin Bernard also saluted all the Belizeans who made the journey to the Sarstoon River on Sunday and took a stand and send a strong message. At the end of the release issued today, Mayor Bernard called on the government to heed the message sent by the Territorial Volunteers and to act with all dispatch to actively maintain our sovereignty and territorial integrity. If Guatemala senses weakness, it will utilize that weakness to its advantage. That is natural. Belize cannot afford to show weakness. We cannot cede even one inch of Belizean territory. It is our right, and our obligation to hold our ground, notwithstanding any unfounded claim, says the release.

Guatemalan Marine Says Sarstoon River Belongs To Guatemala
While the trip to Sarstoon headed by the Belize Territorial Volunteer, now forms part of Belize’s history, there is no doubt that it is an issue that will be widely discussed both here in Belize and in Guatemala. And of course, as expected, when it comes to the Guatemala they will have their own version of the happenings that took place during the trip especially when the group arrived close to the Sarstoon Island. While the group is stating that their pathway to the island was blocked by Guatemalan armed forces, a report emitted today by Canal Antigua of Guatemala is saying otherwise. In fact, that part of the story relayed by the group and clearly shown in the various footage captured by Belizean media houses, was not even mentioned in the report. What was stated though, is that Belizeans are misinformed and misguided and that the Sarstoon River historically belongs to Guatemala. This statement was made by the Vice Admiral of the Guatemalan Marine, Carlos Thomas who further me mentioned that the group pretended to take possession of a property belonging to Guatemala. Here is that report.

Dr. Francis Smith Talks About PUP Moving Forward
The Pickstock constituency is one of the smallest areas in Belize City. At the last election the P.U.P. stronghold went red in the tidal wave that swept across the country. But Doctor Francis Smith hopes to change that and return the division to the blue corner. Over the weekend, the P.U.P Standard Bearer gave the media a fifty minute interview where he spoke on several issues of national importance including the party’s strategies and vision for the upcoming General Elections. Smith says the only way the PUP can gain legitimacy is to propose a reform movement to the people with their intention to serve the people. “We need to demonstrate to the people that we can practice these things while in government so there are concerns, we have to face our concerns of our constituents, our people how do we engage persons, how do we do best practices that are enshrined with the People’s United Party.

LOVE FM

Early morning brawl leaves one man dead and another hospitalized
Joel Bishop and Mark Benguche, were reportedly socializing at the BTL Park when upon leaving, they were attacked by several men. Twenty two year old Mark Benguche, received a cut wound to the left cheek and Joel Bishop was seen lying on the street wounded. Assistant Commissioner of Police Deseree Phillips updated the media. ACP […]

Lawyer says women detained illegally
26 women are detained at the Orange Walk police station since Friday night and until news time no reason has been given for their detention. LOVE NEWS has credible information that Friday night around 10, several raids were carried out simultaneously at bars in Orange Walk Town. The operation, we understand, was carried out by […]

Fire destroys home in Hopkins Village
Harry Arzu reporting… “The lower flat of the inside and contents of a two story concrete building located on the Southside of Hopkins Village were destroyed by fire last Saturday night. Love News spoke with the owner of the house, Joy Nunez and a witness Francis Flores who was at the scene. Joy Nunez – […]

Teenage girl reported missing
Fifteen year old Nethania Acosta, a student of Poinsettia Street in Belize City, is reported missing by her mother Karen Acosta. She left home last seen last Friday, and has not returned since. Nethania Acosta is of Creole descent has brown almond shaped eyes, medium built, shoulder length black, straight hair , round face, medium […]

Minor recovering from gunshot wounds
On Sunday morning at around three o’clock, a minor was shot at the corner of Cran and Mapp Street, while heading towards North Front Street. The 17 year old minor said that, while walking, he was approached by a car driving slowly and a male person fired shots from inside the car. Police are investigating.

PUP standard bearer speaks of plans for reform
PUP’S standard bearer, Francis Smith, held a press briefing on Sunday morning. Smith covered several topics including the movement of the G10 and their agenda. Dr Francis Smith – PUP Pickstock standard bearer “We see ourselves more or less as a reform movement. I want to be careful saying that because again I don’t want […]

Two persons die in road traffic accident
Angelica Cruz reporting… “On Sunday evening August 16 sometime around 5:37pm, Belmopan police responded to a traffic accident on the Hummingbird Highway between miles 50 and 51. Upon arrival at the scene, they saw a grey 2006 Mitsubishi Endeavour SUV overturned on its left side on the right hand side of the highway extensively damaged. […]

Former Solicitor General dies after long illness
Former Solicitor General, Gian Ghandi died earlier today in Belmopan after a long illness. 82-year-old Ghandi has served the Government of Belize in various capacities for over 37 years including Crown Counsel, Director of Public Prosecutions and most recently as Legal Counsel in the Ministry of Finance. Gandhi also served as Director-General of the International […]

National Security Council no major incident reported on Sunday’s expedition
Yesterday the National Security Council of Belize expressed its satisfaction that the expedition ended without major incident. The release from the NSC says the welfare of Belizean citizens, no matter what the circumstances, is always of paramount concern to the Council and the Government of Belize. It goes on to say there is confirmation by […]

Guatemalan official says Belizeans were trespassing
Guatemalan media was present as well. Today Canal Antigue published their version of the situation. Their title of their story is “They try to put a Belizean flag in Guatemalan territory”. “They” is referring to Belizeans and “territory” is in reference to Sarstoon Island. The report features a statement of Vice Admiral Carlos Thomas of […]

Breaking Belize News

PUP salutes “brave” BTV
A statement by the People’s United Party expresses its solidarity with and pride in those 200 Belizeans who travelled to Barranco and to the southernmost boundary of Belize. They demonstrated in a clear and unambiguous manner that we have every right to travel to any part of Belizean sovereign territory […]

Belizean attorney Gian Ghandi dies at 82
Former Director of Public Prosecutions, Solicitor General and legal counsel in the Ministry of Finance Gian Chand Ghandi, Senior Counsel, died today, Monday, in Belmopan at 82 after a long illness. Ghandi started as a a legal officer in the British Public Service in the Departments of Trade and […]

Childrearing dispute leads to stabbing
A couple’s dispute over discipline of their child turned violent, resulting in the child’s father recovering in hospital and her mother facing court charges. 21 year old Chelsea Mackay, originally from Ladyville but presently residing in Belize City, is accused of dangerous harm and deadly means of harm […]

Company charged over GST
Komal Bhowjani, the legal representative for Icon Belize, a company located on Newtown Barracks in Belize City, appeared today before Acting Chief Magistrate Patricia Arana in relation to charges of 6 counts of failure to file General Sales Tax returns for the period December 2014 to May 2015. […]

Child killed in accident on Hummingbird
A traffic accident between miles 50 and 51 on the Hummingbird Highway yesterday evening, August 16, resulted in one fatality and nine people needing medical attention. Belmopan Police arrived on the scene around 5:37 p.m. where they saw an overturned grey Mitsubishi Endeavor SUV and a female child identified as […]

Minor shot in Belize City
A 17 year old Belize City resident was hospitalized after being shot in the leg yesterday morning, August 16, while walking towards North Front Street. He reported that at the corner of Mapp and Cran Streets, a car drove up slowly beside him and a male occupant fired several shots […]

Student, 15, reported missing
Nethania Acosta, a 15 year old student of Poinsettia Street, Belize City, has been reported missing by her mother, Karen Acosta since Friday, August 14th, when the minor left home around 7:30 a.m and never returned. Nathania is of creole descent and is described as having brown skin, brown eyes, […]

Late night brawl leaves one dead, three injured
Belize City Police has detained several persons and impounded a vehicle in connection to a Saturday night, August 15, brawl that took the life of a 28 year old city resident and injured 3 others. The 4 men – 28 year old Austin Rowland, 22 year old Mark Benguche, 21 […]

Lucky to be alive
A taxi operator from Orange Walk Town is lucky to be alive today after he was involved in a traffic mishap that extensively damaged his vehicle. According to the official report, 28 year old Julio Castillo of a Mahogany Street address reported to police that around 4am on Sunday morning, […]

17 year old shot in Belize City
A 17 year old resident of Belize City is recuperating from a single gunshot wound to the leg. According to police report, the young adolescent was walking towards North Front Street in Belize City and upon reaching the corner of Mapp and Cran Street, a car drove up […]

Attorney and former Public Officer Gian Ghandi passes
Reports reaching our newsroom are that attorney and former public officer Gian Ghandi passed away in Belmopan this morning. This is a developing story and we will be updating it as more information becomes available.

Garinagu face fight to hold land in Honduras
The Garinagu people of Atlantic Honduras have banded together to fight the continued encroachment and expropriation of their land. Independent journalist Jeff Abbott, writing for Portside, says projects funded by the U.S. Government for investment in Central America are just a cover for multinational corporations to invest […]

Fair and warm weather expected to prevail
The National Meteorological Service of Belize is predicting sunny skies with a few cloudy spells today and partly cloudy skies tonight. Showers or thunderstorms will be isolated. Winds will be blowing from the East at 5-15 knots and the sea state will be choppy. High temperatures today are expected around […]

Home Invasion in Hattieville
Reports reaching our newsroom is that shortly after 9:00pm last night, there was a home invasion in Hattieville. According to the report, three men dressed as Belize Defense Force soldiers and pretending to be police officers, forced their way into the home of Augustine Ramos. Mr. Ramos managed to escape […]

Blogs

The Guatemalan Claim Pt. 8
The following is a continuation of the timeline between 1994 – 1999 from part 7. 1994 – 1999: Belize Foreign Minister Dean Barrow responds to the letter on 22nd March 1994, strongly asserting that Belize stand by its rights to a 12 mile territorial sea based on the equidistance principle. “Protests have and are hereby lodged against any and all Guatemalan claims and or acts past present and future, in violation of international law…” At the UN 49th General Assembly on 24th october 1994, Belize’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Edward Laing, rebuts statement by Guatemala’s representative who reiterates Guatemalan non recognition of Belize land border and territorial sea. he expresses dissatisfaction that Guatemala should question the universal recognition of the inviolability of Belize borders (reflected in the numerous Resolutions of the United States General Assembly)

The Guatemalan Claim Pt. 9
THE 21st CENTURY 14th January, 2000 Jose Portillio inaugurated as President of Guatemala attended by Prime Minister Musa. In his inaugural speech he assures the intention of his Government to do everything possible to find a definitive solution 24th January, 2000 Guatemalan national shot and killed by BDF return fire in Sapote area of the Caracol Archaeological Reserve, a major marijuana cultivating area 16th January, 2000 Prime Minister Musa informas a Press Conference that he had written Guatemalan Foreign Minister Gabriel Orellana expressing regret over the incident, providing an official report, and inviting participation in a joint investigation Prime Minister Musa also announces the holding of a Belize/Guatemala technical meeting to be held in Miami on 25th february The Press Conference is informed of the appointment of a new National Advisory Council on the Guatemalan claim 24th February, 2000 Guatemalan armed forces abduct 4 member BDF/Police patrol in the Tree Tops area of San Vicente Belize 25th February, 2000 Belize protests Guatemalan incursion, demanding release of its security personnel Belize withdraws from Miami technical meeting

Caye Caulker Vacation: Take the Chance to Go Slow
A Caye Caulker vacation is something that anyone would want to have. If you are planning to spend your days in Caye Caulker beaches and bars, here is a short guide to help you make the most of your stay. A Caye Caulker vacation is the epitome ofCaye Caulker Vacation relaxation. Lining the sandy streets of this island village are guesthouses, grocery shops, internet cafes, restaurants, artisans selling crafts, and a few bars. At the end of the village, you will find the legendary split where you can take a dip or grab a drink at the Lazy Lizard bar. Caye Caulker is all about relaxing in a small and quaint environment. You can read a book, chill in a hammock, talk to some local islanders, eat lots of lobster, enjoy some drinks, go for a swim, or just do nothing at all, whatever you like. Located 21 miles northeast of Belize City, Caye Caulker is just south of Ambergris Caye. A few of the Mestizo refugees who landed on Ambergris Caye after the Caste Wars in Mexico moved and inhabited this island. There are several theories on the origin of the name ‘Caulker,’ but the most convincing is an anglicized version of ‘Hicao,’ which is the island’s Spanish name for coco plum. Today, tourism and fishing form the base of their local economy. They supply most of the lobster food for Red Lobster as well as for Ambergris Caye.

Sweet Potato Coconut Bunt Trifle
I do a spin on our Belizean Trifle and use sweet potato to replace evaporated milk. The cake was very dense, but oddly delicious. This would go well with coffee or tea.

7 Awesome Reasons Why You Should Visit Belize Now!
The little known country of Belize has a wealth of activities to offer every traveller. The sun is hot, the beaches beautiful and the sea warm. The reef is teeming with sea life, the land is awash in jungle and colourful wildlife. You can choose to sit back and relax with a cold beer, feel a breeze against your skin while sailing, jump into a cool pool during a hot hike, head underground for some cave tubing, wander around Mayan ruins, and so much more. Belize may be small, nestled by Mexico and Guatemala, but it sure is a country that packs a lot in! This is definitely the reason most people visit Belize, and why not. With such unusual dive sites, such as the Blue Hole, which regularly makes it onto lists of top dive sites, and the notoriously inhabited Shark and Ray Alley proving to be the main draws. Admittedly I did neither, but I did learn to dive while staying in Caye Caulker, and decided against the Blue Hole due to my lack of inexperience as this is a deep dive. However, even while learning to dive at the local reef we saw plenty of fish, coral, and a few Moray Eels. With warm waters a short wetsuit is all that’s required. The reef is the second largest in the world, after Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and there are a multitude of Caye and Island Atolls which are teeming with underwater wildlife. Many people venture to Utilla to learn to dive, as it’s slightly cheaper, but I think it’s better to pay a little bit more for a much better dive experience. Without a doubt Belize is one of the best places to dive or snorkel in Central America, and there are opportunities for both all along the coast. All I need now is a go pro to photograph my next dive and snorkel adventures!

International Sources

UNDER THE SHADE, I FLOURISH: THE ART REVOLUTION IN BELIZE
Jorge Landero is a painter. He likes to start working at three or four in the morning, after a cup of milk. His open-air studio is a concrete floor walled by a hedge of bamboo, and is frequented by his German shepherd, Max, who cannot be deterred from lapping water out of the paint cans. Landero says he started painting after years of hating his masonry work. “It was so fucking hard. Nobody bought me a brush…[But] my life was going to be doomed if I was not going to be an artist.” Now, he paints bright, beautiful canvases that hang in offices, banks, and resorts all over Belize. When Prince Harry visited the country in 2012, a resort owner touched down by helicopter to pick out a gift for him. I ask Landero, “How would you like to see Belize change?” “You cannot change Belize,” he says immediately. “The world is always going to be this way.” While he and I talk, Landero’s nine-year-old son Johan puts down his own painting on the table. It’s a beautiful waterfall scene. After we praise it, he grins and disappears back into the house on a secret errand.

CONCACAF Watch: Belize finally hosting CCL match
After years of disqualifications because of stadium issues, the nation of Belize finally will host a CONCACAF Champions League match, writes Jon Arnold. Despite direct entry into the competition, Verdes FC will become the first team to host a CONCACAF Champions League match in Belize when it faces Queretaro on Tuesday night. The first year of the CONCACAF Champions League, 2008-09, the Verdes were allowed in the tournament but played home matches at a neutral site. Since then, teams from the Central American nation have had to surrender their spot to another Central American team. Belize's FFB Stadium, the national ground, was deemed not to meet the confederation's standard. But after money from FIFA helped renovate the field, lights and dressing rooms, and after a false start last year when the Belmopan Bandits were set to play but ruled out after the tournament already had started, the CCL is finally coming to Belize.

Keller Williams set for overseas expansion in China, Belize and Colombia
Brand brings on former Re/Max exec Bill Soteroff to help lead its international growth. Keller Williams Realty has signed master franchise agreements for China, Belize and Colombia, continuing its rapid overseas growth. It’s also hired a new executive to help manage that growth. The Austin, Texas-based franchisor welcomed its first overseas affiliate in 2012 in Vietnam. With the three countries announced today, the firm now has franchise operations in 20 countries.

ETX nursing students plan medical trip to Belize
Kimberly Malone and Mara Poland are two East Texas nursing students who are planning a trip to Belize, but not for a vacation. They want to help provide health care to orphans in a country where quality medical care is a luxury. The two nurses-in-training are already hitting the books for their upcoming semester at UT Tyler Palestine and their trip. "We have a lot of nursing skills on our hands right now and we have this opportunity so that's what we're going with,” said Malone. With help from the International Service Learning program, Malone are Poland are heading to Belize to help the already struggling health clinics provide care for women and young children.

WKU's Johnson takes life experience from basketball mission trip to Belize
Western Kentucky's Justin Johnson is expanding his game this offseason, but he's also expanding his horizons off the court. The sophomore forward recently returned from a nine-day trip to Belize with the Sports Reach program, which takes groups of athletes to different countries to compete in games and complete mission work. Johnson was one of three current college players on the trip, along with a handful of other players - most of them former college athletes. Among the activities for the players during their journey was two trips to a children's home to deliver shoes and play with the kids. "It made you count your blessings," Johnson said. "The children's home was like 125 kids in one spot, no shoes. They showed us where some of the kids sleep and everything. The people that worked there told us they were better there than at some of the homes they live in, and you think, 'Man, this is still a rough place.' It was good to spend some time with some of those guys.

Roanokers lend a helping hand in paradise
Here’s one way to get to Placencia, Belize in Central America from Roanoke: You show up at Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport at about 5 a.m., to catch a 7 a.m. flight to Atlanta, where you hop another airliner to Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport outside Belize City. After your arrival, yet another flight awaits you. It’s about an hour long, in a single-engine, 12-seat airplane that’s more or less a 1975 minivan with wings. Before you say prayers as you hop aboard that vibrating, rattling contraption, visit the airport’s only watering hole, Jett’s Bar, owned and operated by a 4-foot-tall character named Jett. He looks like an aging Tattoo, the little guy in the old “Fantasy Island” television show. Jett may be the shortest bartender in the world. “Drink the rum punch,” a friend who made this journey last year had emphatically advised me. “Especially the stuff you get at the airport in Belize City waiting to get on the puddle jumper that flies you to Placencia. To survive that epic flight you need to be hammered!”

12 Stunning Overwater Bungalow Resorts (PHOTOS)
Located three miles from San Pedro in the calm waters of the Western Caribbean, off the coast of Belize, Cayo Espanto features butler-serviced villas with heated, private plunge pools and private docks. The resort's overwater bungalows, called "Casa Ventanas," are located the end of a dock that stretches over 150 feet off the island for the ultimate in privacy and surrounded by turquoise blue Caribbean Sea Guests can enjoy snorkeling, kayaking and fly-fishing.

Intentan colocar bandera beliceña en territorio guatemalteco
Civiles de Belice realizaron una incursión de abuso a la barra Sarstoon, Izabal, dando a conocer que es propiedad de Belice. El Comando Naval del Caribe les solicitaron documentación a los ciudadanos, pero estos indicaron que no tenían que entregar papeles ya que está en aguas beliceñas. Las autoridades hicieron un movimiento de contención para controlar la situación. Aún así, los vecinos se sienten atemorizados, especialmente los pescadores del lugar.

The Prime Minister of Belize - Dean O. Barrow: Commence building the Belize Coast Guard F.O.B. on Sarstoon Island!
Among the foremost of responsibilities of the Government of Belize (GOB) is to ensure that the: sovereignty, territorial integrity, security, safety and well-being of the nation of Belize is maintained. The nation of Guatemala remains steadfastly obstinate in its unfounded claim to virtually half of Belize's sovereign territory. The GOB, via its "4A Policy" of: APPEASEMENT, ACQUIESCENCE, ACCOMMODATION and ADHERENCE has bowed to the bullying tactics of Guatemala involving innumerable, related matters. Sarstoon Island which lies in the Sarstoon River that divides Belizean territory from that of Guatemala, was recognised by the 1859 Anglo-Guatemalan Treaty, which explains that which constitutes the border between the two nations. Hence the Constitution of Belize (1981), via Schedule 1, acknowledges Sarstoon Island as indisputably being Belizean territory.

Videos

August 17, 2015

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Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5, LOVETV, PGTV, West Vision (Cayo) and CTV 3
Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, Rise and Shine Morning Show, and the Dickie Bradley Specials

The San Pedro Sun

Letter to the Editor: San Pedro loosing it’s charm
To the Editor of the San Pedro Sun We had vacationed on the island some 6 years ago and are online readers of the San Pedro Sun. We came just back from our 2nd visit. Back then San Pedro town looked charming and had appeal with quite a unique Central American character. We visited town every day and loved the atmosphere of San Pedro. That was back then. Since, things have changed, unfortunately. San Pedro town has turned into a huge and unsightly parking lot. New buildings have the looks of ugly 2 or 3 story gas stations and it seems that every business –old and new– is completely relying on street parking. These unsightly structures are all destroying San Pedro’s past character and charm. The atmosphere and character San Pedro once had, seems all but gone. Central Plaza was once a charming center piece for San Pedro with gorgeous ocean views onto turquoise waters. Nowadays Central Plaza looks poor at best, like a camp for homeless people and filled with annoying hustlers, from time shares, jewelry to drugs.

Wolfe’s Woofer: Speak Your Mind
“I don’t think I’m ever getting married,” John said. “What’s wrong? You can’t find the right girl?” I asked. “Oh, I’ve found the right girl dozens of times,” he said. “I just don’t have any success with them after I meet them.” “Do you sweet talk them?” “I try,” he said. “I guess I don’t know how to do it right. Women want to know how you feel about things. I can’t do that with a complete stranger. I waste so much time with small talk that they soon get bored and we’re done.” “John, women do want to know your feelings. You have to break out and start speaking your mind.” “I’ll do it!” he said. “I’m going to Ladies Night tonight and if I get into a conversation with a woman I’m going to tell her exactly how I feel.”

Police Report
Found Drugs: *On Wednesday, August 5th at 8AM, acting on Special Branch Intelligence, a group of San Pedro Quick Response Team and San Pedro Special Branch Personnel along with Belize City Anti-Drug Unit personnel and K9 dogs conducted a joint anti-drugs operation within San Pedro Town.
Rape: *A 15-year-old student of San Pedro Town, along with her sister, visited the San Pedro Police Station about 6:35AM and reported that on Friday, August 7th about 3AM, while she was asleep in her bedroom, she was awaken by someone lying on top of her and covering her mouth telling her to shut up.

Doctor Love: Married Life
Dear Doctor Love, I have always considered myself to be a happily married woman. My husband and I have been together for sixteen years and married for fourteen of those years. I am very much in love with him. Six years ago along with a group of friends we began having a barbecue every month. The barbecues started with a group of seven married couples but there are no rules about who can attend. Because of invited guests becoming part of the group there are now as many as thirty people who show up. Last year my husband invited a friend from his job. He and I had this instant chemistry. Now he comes to every barbecue and we spend a lot of time together. We sing karaoke, flirt a lot and sometimes we dance to both fast and slow songs. My husband does not dance and he doesn’t seem to mind when the two of us dance. My husband never asks about this or even mentions it but I get the feeling that he does not really trust this guy. The man is unhappily married and always complains about how he and his wife are not compatible. They never have sex. I feel bad for him because he really is a nice guy and deserves to be happy

Misc Belizean Sources

Sarstoon Island expedition
he National Security Council of Belize, which was in teleconference session for the duration of the Territorial Volunteers Sarstoon Island expedition today, expresses its profound satisfaction that the expedition ended without major incident. The Council concluded its session after Admiral Borland of the Belize Coast Guard confirmed by early afternoon that all participants in the expedition had returned safely to their staging point at Barranco Village. The welfare of Belizean citizens, no matter what the circumstances, is always of paramount concern to the Council and the Government of Belize. Thus, nothing can take away from the Council's pleasure that no misadventure overtook the hundred plus Belizean men, women and children that journeyed to the Sarstoon. Nevertheless, there is confirmation by the Organization of American States (OAS) that four of the Belizean boats that approached the Sarstoon island did so by transiting not just the north, but the south channel of the river.

Sailing Programme for Special Needs Kids
On August 14, 2015, the San Pedro Sailing Club, with the help of equipment provided by the Belize Sailing Center, was proud and excited to host the first Special Needs Sail Training session with one of the Special Needs children here in San Pedro. Andy Milner, Director of Training for the Sailing Club said "when Lara Goldman from Camp Starfish approached us about starting such a programme, I was instantly 'on board' with this incredible initiative". The Belize Sailing Center grew out of the San Pedro Sailing Club's intention to help bring the world of Sailing to the children of San Pedro, which would normally be financially out of reach. The goal was to instill in the children the principles of sailing that will provide them with global opportunities not only within the sailing community but in life in general. "Sailing is universal, the skills transcend just sailing, and if we can help teach these kids some useful skills, well, then we have reached our goal".

Sarstoon Expedition: The first set off at 9:38am
Thanks for the Coast Guard for the on the ground presence. Thanks Admiral Borland for doing part of your job! But no thanks for not being around to ser two Guatemalan vessels illegally enter our waters and one Guatemalan civilian vessel filled with Guatemalan media Also entering illegally and shadowing our Belizean vessels as they circle around the a Sarstoon island.

Verdes Host Queretaro
The Versed host the Queretaro this Tuesday in Belmopan, starting at 8:00pm. Go Verdes!

Channel 5

SUNDAY AT SARSTOON
Over 100 Belizeans joined the Belize Territorial Volunteers on their expedition to Sarstoon Island this morning. Coast Gaurd personel are on standby near Barranco.

The Reporter

Traffic accidents claim more lives
A child is dead following a traffic accident on Sunday evening and two adults are left injured. Details of this ibcident are sketchy and we will have a full report in Thursday’s printed edition of The Reporter newspaper. Meanwhile, an American man is dead following a traffic accident on Saturday night between miles 68 and 69 on the George Price highway. The accident iccurred at around 7:00pm, and involved a green Dodge Ram pick-up truck and a blue Toyota Corolla car. The victim, Davis Turner, 68, who resided in Calla Creek Village, Cayo, was heading in the pick-up towards Benque Viejo and Carlos Chanek, 40, a taxi driver of Benque, was heading in the opposite direction.

BTB taking steps to improve tourism experience
The Belize Tourism Board (BTB) has begun implementing a number of strategies and policies to ensure the sustainability of tourism in Belize City and improve the quality of service and tourist experience for visitors. According to Destination Planning and Cruise Director Valdemar Andrade, the steps have come as a result of consultations with cruise partners who have expressed the concerns based on feedback from the guests on their cruises. Andrade said the BTB in partnership with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has delivered business development training for all the groups of stakeholders in the Fort George Tourism Zone (FSTV), including hair braiders, tour guides, tour operators, food vendors and craft vendors. The training covered topics such as entrepreneurship, marketing products, customer service, understanding the customer, and sales techniques.

PUP standard bearer calls for “true” consultations in PG
Dr Francis Smith, a member of a faction of the People’s United Party (PUP) who have recently been advocating for changes within the party structure, is calling for supporters in Punta Gorda to be honest with the party’s leadership during the unity meeting held Sunday afternoon. “If the people in PG feel that ‘you know party leader we have a doubt, can you assure us that although your name is Fonseca, Ralph Fonseca will not be back in the saddle when you win’ then that is what we expect the people of PG to come out and say, without fear”, Smith said. Smith, who did not attend the unity meeting, also said he felt that attending the event or taking support from his constituency would not serve the party’s best interest, but rather it is up to the people of PG to actively engage the party’s leadership in meaningful consultation.

BTV to Sarstoon, despite warning
Despite several warnings from the Government of Belize, the Belize Territorial Volunteers (BTV) set out Sunday morning for Sarstoon Island. The Volunteers cast off from Barranco Village around 9 a.m., bearing Belizean flags symbolic of our nation’s sovereignty over this land. They are accompanied, as announced this week, by Senator Lisa Shoman. The BTV’s excursion is in commemoration of the 1859 Treaty between Great Britain and Guatemala, which established Belize’s borders, much of which is now subject to Guatemala’s unfounded claim. GOB issued several releases this week, emphasizing that it feels the BTVC’s mission is ill-advised and should have been cancelled. Minister of National Security, John Saldivar, also chimed in, both to the media and on social media, to register his disapproval, but said that his ministry will do what it can to avoid any incidents.

Breaking Belize News

Security Council chastises Belize Territorial Volunteers
In its post-mortem of today’s journey to Sarstoon Island in the Sarstoon River in the Toledo District, Belize’s National Security Council has confirmed that there was no “major incident” to report and that “no misadventure overtook the hundred-plus Belizean men, women and children that journeyed to the Sarstoon Island with the […]

One dead and several injured in accident
Police report indicates that on Saturday night 15th August, 2015 about 7:00 pm two vehicles were involved in a head on collision between Mile 68 and Mile 69 on the George Price Highway near Rumours Resort, Cayo District. Initial investigation revealed that a green, 2 door 1996 dodge ram pickup […]

Two injured and one dead in traffic accident
Reports have reached our newsroom that around 5:30 pm this evening, a fatal accident occurred on the Hummingbird Highway. The information reaching us indicates that a grey SUV with Cayo license plate was involved. A child has been confirmed dead and two adults have been transported to a medical facility […]

Man beaten during robbery
Reports reaching our newsroom today is that a young man was beaten in a robbery attempt in Santa Elena, Cayo. According to reports, on Friday night while out with some friends, a young man withdrew money from his bank account at the ATM machine at CP Gas Station on the […]

Fight in Belize City leaves one hospitalized
Unconfirmed reports is that after leaving the dance at Princess Ramada Hotel and Casino several persons were involved in an altercation that has resulted in one death and another seriously injured. Stones, cement blocks and other projectiles were thrown causing serious damage to vehicles and persons. During this fight […]

Premier League of Belize first game ended in a draw
The opening of the Premier League of Belize competition was officially launched last night at the Norman Broaster Football Stadium in San Ignacio, Cayo. Football fanatics came out in numbers to witness the first match of the competition. It was Real Verdes welcomed Placencia FC for its […]

Charges dropped in Belize Sugar Industries Limited cane field arson
Two Orange Walk men were told this week in court, that charges of arson against them have been withdrawn by the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for lack of evidence, 7 News reports. Efrain Alpuche, a security guard for PUP standard bearer Ramon Cervantes Jr., […]

Fight in Belize City leaves one hospitalized
Belize Media Group has confirmed that a late Friday evening fight took place near the Ramada Princess Hotel in Belize City. One person was injured and is in the hospital. Other details are sketchy at this time and we will continue to follow the story.

Blogs

Sustainable Seaweed Industry: A reality for Belize?
At a time when both fish and fishers face an uncertain future in my home country, Belize, I see hope. And it comes in the form of seaweed. Let me explain. As a child, I would hear the shouts of street vendors every day as they pushed their carts through the hot, busy streets of Belize City yelling “SEAWEED! GET YOUR ICE COLD SEAWEED!” It is a sweet, milky drink that’s made of red algae locally known as “seaweed” and it is believed to be an aphrodisiac. Fishers have traditionally harvested seaweed while on their fishing trips as supplemental income to their traditional catch of conch, lobster and fish. However, the fish are getting smaller, the conch harder to find and the lobsters have moved to deeper waters. But the seaweed remains. Fishers are struggling to make a living and seaweed is coming to the rescue! Belize’s fisheries, like so many around the world, are in decline. The combined impacts of increased fishing pressure, coastal development and invasive species have pushed Belizean fisheries to the precipice of overexploitation, but there is still hope for this little Caribbean country. And that hope is seaweed. Seaweed is a part of the solution for fishers and fish alike.

From San Pedro, Belize To The US of A: With a Belize City Sushi Stop
A gorgeous clear day…and quite the view of the rafts of sargassum coming in. Pretty good around Ambergris Caye but where the reef gets low…just before Caye Caulker…oh my. We were landing at Municipal Airport in down town Belize City to stop for lunch at a new Japanese spot…JAPANESE IN BELIZE CITY! and then make our way to the airport for the 3pm American Airlines flight to Dallas (Stop #1). In a taxi, we drove a short way on the Northern Highway to a new mall area JUST open…just across the street from Courts.

The Guatemalan Claim Pt. 7
Belize – Toward Independence! 11th November, 1980 UN resolution 35/20 declares that Belize should advance to a secure independence with all its territory before the conclusion of the next General Assembly and urges the British and Guatemalan governments to continue searching for a solution to the dispute 11th March, 1981 Belize, Guatemala and United Kingdom sign 16 point agreement that establishes the headings for future negotiations that would result in the peaceful termination of the territorial dispute There is a violent reaction by the citizens of Belize to these ‘Heads of Agreement’ with particular objection to a clause which gives Guatemala use and enjoyment to Southern cages and rights in maritime area adjacent thereto 2nd April, 1981 State of emergency with night time curfew declared by the Government of Belize 6th July, 1981 Belize rejects Guatemalan demands at New York meeting. There is broad disagreement over interpretation of “Heads”. Negotiation fail

Guatemala Military engages BTV at Sarstoon Island
The BTV (Belize Territorial Volunteers) make their trip to the Southern parts of Belize every year, and this year they decided to visit the Sarstoon Island that is well within Belizean territory. Guatemala however with it’s always on aggression mode, not only came into Belizean waters but assaulted Belizeans by blocking their passage and attempted ram and push boats into Guatemalan territory to engage even more. I am hearing words also that the Guatemalan military was apparently giving guided tours on the Island, what kind of shit is that? All this in front of the OAS observers, let’s see what happens from here. I’m not holding my breath tho as history proves that the people in position to act always take Guatemala’s side. Treason much anyone?

International Sources

ETX nursing students plan medical trip to Belize
Kimberly Malone and Mara Poland are two East Texas nursing students who are planning a trip to Belize, but not for a vacation. They want to help provide health care to orphans in a country where quality medical care is a luxury. The two nurses-in-training are already hitting the books for their upcoming semester at UT Tyler Palestine and their trip. "We have a lot of nursing skills on our hands right now and we have this opportunity so that's what we're going with,” said Malone. With help from the International Service Learning program, Malone are Poland are heading to Belize to help the already struggling health clinics provide care for women and young children. "We just drive anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes depending on where you are to get to a hospital,” explained Malone. “There, you could drive up to two hours and hopefully get to one."

Hanover youth completes service trip to Belize
Daniel Whelan of Hanover, a junior at Boston College High School, with 11 classmates and two BC High faculty members, Michael Clancy and Dr. John Sullivan, spent their April vacation building a house for Ms. Dawn in Belize, Central America. Dan and the BC High volunteers went to Belize to assist an organization called Hand in Hand Ministries build a home for a family in need, reflect on their place in the world and pray together. Hand in Hand provides simple yet stable housing for people in Appalachia and Central America. When they arrived the group received a visit from former mayor of Belize City, Frank Lizama O.B.E., a woodworking artist, from whom students purchased Christian themed wood art such as nativities and crosses.

A Reverend's Mission to Establish First Lutheran Churches in Belize
A reverend from Missouri was in Corpus Christi on Sunday to gain support for a special mission. Reverend Duane Meissner was a guest this morning at Trinity Lutheran Church on Louisiana Avenue. He and his family will be moving to Belize in Central America at the end of the year to establish the first Lutheran churches in that country. Something, he says he's been thinking about his entire life. Meissner said, "the people are wonderful and have a rich culture. I can't wait to bring them what I have to offer as a preacher of the good news of Jesus."

Cenote discovered under 1,000-year-old Mayan temple in Chichen Itza in Mexico
It is a towering testament to a long dead civilisation and has fascinated archaeologists for more than 150 years, but one of the most famous Mayan pyramids has been hiding a secret beneath its mighty steps. Researchers have discovered an enormous sinkhole beneath the 1,000-year-old Temple of Kukulkan, also known as El Castillo, which dominates the Mayan city of Chichen Itza in the northern Yucatan Peninusula of Mexico. And they fear the underground cavern, or cenote, which has a river running through it, may eventually cause the entire pyramid to collapse if its roof gives way. Experts believe the huge chamber may have had special significance for the Mayans, who worshipped at the pyramid, as it is thought to be connected to other sinkhole lakes that surround the pyramid by underground rivers. It may also be linked to another location known as the High Priest's Grave, or the Ossuary, a smaller pyramid with a sanctuary in the centre which was used as a communal graveyard.

What It’s Like to Stay With Francis Ford Coppola, Boutique Hotelier
Coppola never meant to be a hotelier. He just liked taking his family on vacation. After falling in love with the jungle while filming Apocalypse Now in the Philippines, he decided to get a little piece of it closer to the U.S. In the early 1980s, Coppola picked up a run-down lodge in the mountainous rainforest of newly independent Belize and outfitted it with four-wheel drives, good beds, and, perhaps apocryphally, the country’s first pizza oven and espresso machine to entertain his brood in style. “What I realized afterwards was that I was accidentally creating the infrastructure for a hotel,” he says over the phone from his Napa (Calif.) home. The 20-room Blancaneaux Lodge opened in 1993. Four more properties followed—another on the beach in Belize, and the rest in the seemingly disparate locations of Argentina, Guatemala, and, of course, Italy. A fifth, based out of a French Quarter mansion in New Orleans, has been in development limbo for years. What unites them?

Videos

August 16, 2015

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Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5, LOVETV, PGTV, West Vision (Cayo) and CTV 3
Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, Rise and Shine Morning Show, and the Dickie Bradley Specials

The San Pedro Sun

Brandon Santos participates in Triathlon Training Camp in Ecuador
Star island triathlete Brandon Santos recently returned from Ecuador after participating in a Triathlon Training Camp. From Saturday, June 25th to Sunday, August 9th, Santos was in Ibarra, Ecuador, testing his skills as a triathlete during two weeks of intense training. Santos was accompanied by Chris Ramirez from the Corozal Destruct. Both athletes represented Belize in this regional camp aimed at improving athletes’ skills in the discipline of running, swimming and cycling. The training camp was made possible through a collaboration between the Belize Olympic Committee, Triathlon Confederation of the Americas (CAMTRI), and the Triathlon Federation of Ecuador. Senior athletes Amed Figueroa and Kent “Bob” Gabourel have also previously participated in this camp.

Letter to the Editor: International Costa Maya Festival® Committee says thanks
Dear Editor: Please allow us space in your newspaper to extend our sincerest thanks to those who made this year’s International Costa Maya Festival® a success. It is thanks to these businesses and individuals’ generosity that we are able to put together the festival every year. Without the help of the community, the festival would not be possible. We encourage everyone to participate in next year’s event so we can bring a bigger, better festival for all. Once again, thank you to the following: Grand Sponsors: Belize Tourism Board, Honorable Manuel Heredia Jr., San Pedro Town Council, Ramon’s Village Resort, Heineken Diamond Sponsors: Jose Luis Zapata Photography (Official Photographer), Designing Solutions Platinum Sponsors: NICH, Reef Radio/Reef TV, Great Belize Productions, Love FM/Estereo Amor, Caribbean Rum Gold: Ambergris Today, The San Pedro Sun, Milo’s Center, Moon Dancer Boutique, Flowers Salazar & Associates Silver: San Pedro Belize Express, Tropic Air, Maya Island Air, Moncho’s Golf Cart Rentals, Grand Caribe Resort, Belize Border Management, Fiesta FM, Radio Oye, Cruise Solutions, Tabony’s, Wine de Vine, Krystal Shipping, Caribbean Depot, Belize Airport Authority Steel: ...

Alex Noralez completes FIFA Physical Fitness Coaching Course
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) recently conducted a Physical Fitness Coaching Course from Tuesday, August 4th to Saturday, August 8th. Aimed at enhancing the sport of football, the course saw the participation of football coaches from across the country. Among the participants that completed the course is San Pedro High School teacher and coach of the football team, Alex Noralez. The training was held at Football Federation of Belize (FFB) headquarters in Belmopan City. The five day training was led by FIFA Fitness Instructor Andre Waugh of Jamaica. Participants underwent strength, speed, agility, power and endurance training, as well as proper techniques for warming up and cooling down before and after matches. Each individual skill is essential to improve one’s ability during game time, but also to ensure safety during the matches and training regimens.

Island Invasion rocks San Pedro
Once again King of the Island Promotions brought the high energy party atmosphere to San Pedro Town. Anticipated by both island residents and visitors, Island Invasion brought the “Summer Heat” to Fido’s Courtyard on Saturday, August 8th. With a crowd of about 800 in attendance prepared to enjoy a night of dancing, this Island Invasion certainly was a huge success. With general admission of $15 before midnight and $20 after or $40 for VIP, the event featured a premier DJ line up and list of giveaways. Spinning the tracks until the wee hours of the morning were Fyah Statah Sounds, Evolution Sounds, Air Invasion Sounds, DJ Buggz, Richie Galvez, DJ Odyssey, DJ Jago and Tagg International. Everyone danced the night away to the best summer tunes, including old and new school soca, dancehall, club, house, reggae and pop. With cocktails and cold beers flowing courtesy of the talented bartenders at Fido’s, the energy level was always kept on high.

Misc Belizean Sources

Wildtracks Update
I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the dedication of all Wildtracks volunteers in caring for Ben - one of possibly only 1,000 manatees left in Belize. The calm, professional way in which they approach the situation, the respect they have for this injured manatee, and their willingness to put that extra effort into trying to ensure that he pulls through. We are still working hard to save Ben's life, dealing with propeller wounds, broken ribs, and a collapsed lung. This critically underweight animal still weighs in at between 700 and 800lbs, and every day, the Wildtracks Team have to ensure he is restrained for water change and feeding, to prevent harm to himself, and to team members. Thank you to all those at Wildtracks, both local staff and volunteers, who spend their last daylight hour of each day ensuring he is fed and his water changed, after a long day of caring for the other rehab animals. There is still a chance that we may lose the battle, but it won't be for lack of trying.

Placencia Lagoon Fieldtrip
Yesterday's science camp took us out to snorkel in the mangroves of the Placencia Lagoon. We found some amazing flora and fauna on the submerged mangrove roots. Everyone was amazed at the diversity of this important ecosystem!

San Ignacio Resort Hotel Wins 2 Tourism Awards
The San Ignacio Resort Hotel won 2 awards at the BTB's National Tourism Awards. They won the 'Hospitality Award,' and Miriam Roberson won the Minister's Award. Congratulations, SIRH, on the well deserve wins, and keep up the great work. "On August 1st, 2015 the San Ignacio Resort Hotel received the 'Hospitality Award' at the 13th National Tourism Awards ceremony held at the Holiday Hotel in Ambergris Caye, Belize. The Industry Awards honor businesses across the country for meeting industry expectations and providing exemplary hospitality standards."

Belizean Tamales recipe
This is the Belizean Tamales recipe made easy. It is broken down into steps for easy to follow instructions.

CTV3

Coast Guard Won't Form Part of Trip To Sarstoon
It appears that the Belize Territorial Volunteers stands alone and will not be getting any support from either the Belize Defense Force or the Coast Guard. Today, the Belize National Coast Guard Commander John Borlan told the media that they won’t escort the expedition as he stands by what his government decides and his government has discouraged the trip. "I've seen that latter and as you've said you were hoping that I would entertain you. Unfortunately I can't. The government of Belize has given its position on this matter, on this issue. I go with what my civilian leadership decides. As you know we are a discipline armed organization, we follow orders and we go by the policies of those that we have committed to support in our duty as a member of a military force."

Home Burglarized In Orange Walk
Thieves broke into the home of the late Leonel Guerra while his family was away. According to family members, Guerra’s wife was staying at another family member and while out, the perpetrators broke in. They report that on Wednesday night family members visited the residence to feed the dogs and at that time all was in order. By Thursday morning however, sometime between ten thirty and elven in the night, they went back to the house and discovered that it had been ransacked and several items stolen. Among these are one forty eight inch flat screen television, a radio system, DVD players, one Digicell cellular phone, one wheel barrow, at least three bottles of liquor and assorted jewelry. The burglars even broke one of the children’s piggy bank. It appears the men first jumped over the razor wires on the fence and made their way into the house through a small window in the kitchen. The rest of the windows are secured with burglar bars. Upon making further checks, the family found the burglars’ escape route.

NSC Say's Trip To Sarstoon Is Dangerous, BTV Should Stand Down
As mentioned at the top of the newscast Sunday’s trip to the Sarstoon Island planned by the Belize Territorial Volunteers is causing much controversy. Among those who believe that the trip should not go carried out is the National Security Council who meet this afternoon for a special session to discuss the security and citizen protection issues arising out of the trip. After the meeting the NSC issued a release reiterating the position already taken by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and National Security. They say that Sunday's expedition to the Sarstoon Island is ill-advised and downright dangerous. But since the NSC is most concerned about the safety of Belizean citizens, they have put in place a contingency plan to try to deal with all possible consequences of the action of the Territorial Volunteers, says the release.

Consultation Takes Place For Free Transportation ITVET Corozal
On Wednesday students attending Escuela Secundaria Tecnica Mexico, Corozal Community College and Cornerstone Presbyterian High schools received the good news that come the new school year they will be receiving free transportation to and from school. Economically this will surely prove to be a relief for parents even for those whose children are attending the Corozal ITVET. According to Corozal’s Education Manager Jahmore Lopez, the ministry is currently looking into partnering off with high schools in the Corozal District that do not provide technical subjects to their students. The idea is to offer the students an opportunity to learn a trade by providing them with free transportation to the ITVET. “We are also looking at trying to ensure that every student at the secondary level graduates with a skill and if you look at certain schools like Escuela who has a wonderful program as well in terms of agriculture and technical aspect and so we are looking to part with those schools that don’t have that track and their students then can come to the ITVET learn a skill and actually become qualified by sitting the Belize national qualification Exam and they can also do it for the Caribbean and we have started with Corner Stone hopefully maybe we can have others that will come on board and again what we did to facilitate this we provided the transportation for those students and so that continues.”

Fiesta Rama Earning To Be Used For Student Program And Other Projects
On Wednesday students attending Escuela Secundaria Tecnica Mexico, Corozal Community College and Cornerstone Presbyterian High schools received the good news that come the new school year they will be receiving free transportation to and from school. Economically this will surely prove to be a relief for parents even for those whose children are attending the Corozal ITVET. According to Corozal’s Education Manager Jahmore Lopez, the ministry is currently looking into partnering off with high schools in the Corozal District that do not provide technical subjects to their students. The idea is to offer the students an opportunity to learn a trade by providing them with free transportation to the ITVET. “We are also looking at trying to ensure that every student at the secondary level graduates with a skill and if you look at certain schools like Escuela who has a wonderful program as well in terms of agriculture and technical aspect and so we are looking to part with those schools that don’t have that track and their students then can come to the ITVET learn a skill and actually become qualified by sitting the Belize national qualification Exam and they can also do it for the Caribbean and we have started with Corner Stone hopefully maybe we can have others that will come on board and again what we did to facilitate this we provided the transportation for those students and so that continues.”

Efrain Alpuche Gets Off The Hook
Efrain Alpuche and Saulito Vasquez have been released of all charges and accusations in the burning of BSI sugar cane fields. 20 acres, or about 700 tons, worth approximately $50,000 of the company’s sugar cane were set ablaze in a case of suspected arson on Monday May 18th at around 5:00 p.m. on the San Lorenzo Road. Velasquez and Alpuche were arrested almost immediately and appeared in court on May 22nd on a single count of arson. No plea was taken and the men were offered, and later met bail of $40,000 each. Today however, we understand that upon the directive of the Director of Public Prosecution, the case was dismissed in court for a lack of sufficient evidence. The men have been freed of all charges.

Bishop Dorick Wright Speaks On Belize/Guatemala Unfounded Claim
The unfounded Guatemalan claim is nothing new, and today while meeting with the media and members of the territorial volunteers, Bishop Dorick Wright gave his take on the matter. According to the Bishop, he has been hearing about the claim from since he was a boy. “From I was small I’ve been hearing about this Guatemalan claim, I don’t know if it was ever done to land before but they were claiming but this is something they enjoy hanging over their heads I don’t care for it, it is going to hurt us at the end.” Bishop Wright adds that he supports the move for Guatemala to leave Belize alone. Bishop Dorick Wright “I’ve heard so many thing about the ICJ and I am not certain I know which cause I’ve heard some say we go and we lose, some say if we go we will win so I am saying we shouldn’t go because they have no right to make decisions for us others say decisions have been already made so if all that is true then I don’t think we should go if that decision was made at Independence maybe we should not go but I leave it up to the government and I hope that in their prudence they make the right decision but I really wouldn’t like them to just run into this but just listen to everybody and see what can be sensible decision that can be made.

The Reporter

MOH staff trained in post-crash care
The Government of Belize, as a part of the Belize Road Safety Project, facilitated special training for Ministry of Health staff in post-crash care for road traffic accident victims. Twenty-one MOH staff attended the workshops, sponsored by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and facilitated by staff from the Belize Emergency Response Team (BERT). MOH staff were trained in two areas: Basic Life Support Training and the Medical First Responders (MFR) program, at sessions carried out at the George Price Centre for Peace and Development, in the City of Belmopan. According to GOB, the activities being implemented are in line with the Post-Crash Response Objectives identified within the Belize Road Safety Project and also identified in the draft long term strategic plan 2030.

Every little bit helps: community organizations hold
To assist needy families as well as the homeless with meals, the organization Together We Can Solve Hunger, and the Belize Volunteer’s Club are holding a dollar drive and food drive on Saturday at the Battlefield Park. The drive, held with the theme “Give what you can”, emphasizing the value each donation holds, no matter how small. Residents are asked to donate either a food item, be it bagged or canned goods, or a dollar to help support the organization’s activities. Geraldine Mai, co-founder of Together We Can Solve Hunger, explained that the organization was formed to address a serious, but solvable social needs. “I know what it’s like to not have anything to eat”, Mai said, “but people were there for me and now I want to give back.”

Two dead in evening RTA
Two people are dead and four more injured following a road traffic accident on the Phillip Goldson Highway. A white Mercedes car and a pickup truck had a head-on collision around mile 7 ½ at around 5:15 p.m. on Friday August 14, after the pickup, which was reportedly speeding, tried to overtake the line of traffic but failed to merge back into the correct lane in time. Alden Locke and Shane Goff, died as a result, while Eaton Belisle, Kimberly Myers, Kirk Broaster, Huang Sheng He, and Javaughn Loganwere injured. The four are undergoing treatment at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Rural Regional Commander of Police, Senior Superintendent Edward Broaster, told the media that speeding is a common problem along the area between the Haulover Bridge and Ladyville.

The Belize Times

UDP & Guatemala AGAINST Belize – GOB refuses to provide security to patriotic Belizeans travelling to Sarstoon Island
This UDP Government has completely sold out to Guatemala. For the first time in independent Belize’s history, the Government of Belize has openly surrendered control of Belizean territory to Guatemala. Sarstoon Island is located on the south end of Belize’s territorial map. “From proud Rio Hondo to old Sarstoon”, says the Belizean national anthem, but thanks to the UDP Government, Sarstoon is now controlled by Guatemala’s military. The UDP Government feels compelled to inform the Guatemalan military before it does anything on Sarstoon Island, even if it is just to carry out a coast guard visit. When the Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales visited two weeks ago and spoke lies and false excuses for his Government’s opposition to the building of a military base on Sarstoon Island, Belize’s Foreign Minister and main accomodationist, Sedi Elrington, just nodded in agreement and allowed the high-level propaganda to weaken Belize’s stance before international observers. It took Prime Minister Dean Barrow, who was once Belize’s Foreign Minister under the Esquivel regime, two weeks to speak out and agree with a powerful statement of clarification and strong rejection put out by all former People’s United Party Ministers of Foreign Affairs: former Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Said Musa, Eamon Courtenay, Godfrey Smith, Senator Lisa Shoman, and later Assad Shoman.

Did El Chapo Land in Belize? – Suspected drug cartel helicopter found near border with Mexico
Did fugitive Sinaloa drug cartel leader, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, land in Belize to continue his great escape from Mexican authorities? That’s the question in the minds of many Belizeans after a mysterious helicopter encroached into Belize’s airspace and landed in the north-west Mennonite community known as Blue Creek. This occurred on Wednesday, August 5th, but Police authorities did not make it public until two days after, on Friday August 7th, adding to the scepticism and controversy. Authorities report that they had received information that a helicopter had been circling Belizean airspace near the border on Wednesday. They immediately deployed security personnel, authorities said. When they arrived in the vicinity, they found the landed aircraft without occupants. Inside the aircraft, the Police found blue plastic containers for fuel. The seats had been removed to make space for extra containers. The aircraft, identified as a Bell 407 model Helicopter, was dark-tinted. It’s only marking was a serial number painted on the outside, spelling out “N607AZ”. But authorities believe the serial number may have been altered to conceal the proper identification.

“The ICJ is not the only option” – PUP Leader Francis Fonseca accuses UDP/Sedi Elrington of seriously damaging Belize’s territorial integrity
Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Francis Fonseca, has placed on record that the People’s United Party is now fully opposed to going to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to settle the unfounded claim over Belize’s territory by Guatemala. The PUP has taken this position, said Hon. Fonseca, because they no longer believe that Guatemala has been acting in good faith and has bullied the Barrow Administration into a weak position in which Belize’s integrity has been compromised. Hon. Fonseca said that the ICJ is not the only option to resolve the dispute with Guatemala. He explained that the PUP proposes to first pursue an internationalisation campaign in which it will seek from its partners a re-affirmation of their support for Belize’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Secondly, the PUP will pursue negotiations based on an economic development agenda for both countries.

Belizean family murdered in Florida, U.S.A
A Belizean woman and her pregnant daughter, 37 year old Dorla Pitts and 18 year old Starlette, and the teenagers’ 19 year old boyfriend, Myke Kelly Jr., were found dead inside their home located at 3500 block 21st Street Southwest in Lehigh Acres, Fort Myers, Florida. The triple homicide was discovered by Pitts’ co-workers who came by the house to check on her, after she had not reported to work at the hospital where she was employed. Once inside, they first discovered traces of blood and then the victims’ bodies. They found Starlette’s one year old daughter crying inside the house. Investigators have not revealed what was the cause of the deaths as they carry out their investigations. The Police have detained one person of interest. 19 year old Brian Hyde, a recent Belizean immigrant to the United States, was stopped by the Police in another located and detained for driving without a valid license. Upon further investigations, Police linked Hyde to the murdered family.

Think About It
The information that emerged last Monday night on the Channel 5 show is significant and deserves public discussion. During the conversation between Audrey Matura and Dickie Bradley on the Guatemala issue, mention was made of new alternative. The suggestion coming from Hon. Francis Fonseca is that Belize needs a new paradigm to the current impasse. The new approach is that Belize should now embark on a new internationalization of its problem from Guatemala’s claim. We were shown, on the show Monday night, quotations from the foreign media, principally the British Guardian newspaper and the Financial Times of London of September 1978. These excerpts were that whilst attending a Guatemala negotiation in London attended by the British, Guatemala, and the USA, George Price was so angry that he publicly exposed the extent of British and American treachery towards Belize. The Americans and the British proposed that Belize will give Guatemala two thousand acres of land in the South and the British would give financial aid to Guatemala which in turn would withdraw its claim to half of our country.

Early Elections
Despite the Prime Minister’s pledge that the general elections will not be held this year, few people believe that he will hold true to that promise. Of course, that would be nothing new, since the man has a well established track record of breaking promises. Popular speculations are that Mr. Barrow will announce the date for elections during his Independence Day speech on September 21st. By law, there has to be a thirty day period following the announcement leaving pundits to believe that the actual date will be sometime in November. There are several reasons why a November Snap Election would seem likely, the least not being a connection to the Petro Caribe monies. The Barrow government has been floating high, but almost exclusively on this Petro Caribe buoy. The waters ahead however, are churning wildly. On December 6th, the people of Venezuela will go to the polls to elect a new government and the outcome of that election will have huge implications for Belize. The Prime Minister knows this and if he wants to achieve that “third term” with which he is so obviously obsessed, he will need to attempt it before the results of the Venezuelan elections are announced.

Crisis After Crisis
Belize as a nation is at a cross-roads in its young history. Never before, since Independence, have there been so many crises upon crises facing our country. In all the major index/indices there is evidence a plenty of the steady decline and erosion that is taking place. Never in our history has a bank closed its doors. The Royal Bank of Canada was sold and became the Belize Bank. But the news last week that 1st Caribbean was packing up and leaving was not just unexpected, it was a shock. The news came against the disturbing development that Belize Bank and then Atlantic Bank had lost their correspondent banking network overseas. Meaning, no financial and international banking transactions can be done through those two banks. Now the closing of First Caribbean leads to another such loss of commercial and overseas financial activities. Heritage is like a village bank. Holy Redeemer Credit Union and St John’s Credit Union bigger than Heritage. It is no consolation to hear that tiny local Heritage Bank will buy some of the assets and take over some of the customers of First Caribbean Bank. Heritage has no correspondent banking contacts overseas.

Unitedville Rebels enters softball playoffs as #1
The Unitedville Rebels United have an 19 win – 1 loss record as they entered the Cayo Softball Association’s women’s softball playoffs as the top team. The Rebels will take on the No. 2 seed Roaring Creek Grace Kennedy (15 wins, 5 losses) when the playoffs kick off at the Joan Garbutt Stadium in Esperanza Village on Sunday. Camalote Spokane, the No 3 seed will take on the No.4 seed, Esperanza Wolverines, and since the playoffs will be according to the Paige system, the loser of this game will be eliminated, while the winner will then challenge the loser of the Rebels vs Roaring Creek game.

Atlantic Bank, Belikin & BWS make Firms basketball playoffs
Atlantic Bank, BWS Pressure and Belikin made the cut to the Belize City Firms basketball playoffs in games played at Birds Isle over the weekend. On Friday, Infotel posted a 55-43 over Central Bank. They were led by Stafford Young with 16 points, while Central Bank’s top shooter was Dave Apolonio with 16 points also. DigiCell got the easy bye to their 6th when Ready Call was a no show for their game. In Game 3, BWS posted a 67-63 win in overtime against Belikin. Akeem Trapp led the BWS team with 21 points, while Belikin’s Kadeem Olivera top-scored with 28pts.

Verdes FC Ready for CONCACAF Champions League
Team introduces new players: Belize’s Top Striker Deon McCaulay, Trinidadian Oswin Williams and Brazilians Yuras Silva and William Nascimento to boost their chances. Belize’s Hankook Verdes FC may not be considered as a powerhouse or favourite in the 2015 CONCACAF Champions League, but the champs hailing from the west who are representing Belize in the regional competition want to show a strong force. Verdes FC’s first match in the CONCACAF Champions League (SCCL) will be against Mexico’s Gallos Blancos de Querétaro, on Tuesday, August 18th at 8 p.m. at the FFB Stadium in Belmopan. Most Belizean football fans may know Querétaro for the Brazilian star forward Ronaldinho, and they had grown anxious to see the superstar play in Belize. Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for Belize, the star opted out of his contract with the team.

The Real Deal!!
There are more questions than answers surrounding the news that a bank has folded in Belize and that one of the smallest banks is positioning itself to buy its assets over. The first question that has to be answered is how did First Caribbean International Bank (FCIB) come to this? While the answers may never come out, the truth of the matter is that banking in Belize under the Barrow Administration has been bad for business, from the “small man” to the “big man” bankers. For months, proof that Belizeans have been suffering under this dreadful economy could be seen in the skyrocketing cost of basic goods and the many homes being sold for failure to pay loans. Now we can see that the banks have also been haemorrhaging. Just ask the Belize Bank who because of its financial ties to British Billionaire Michael Ashcroft suffered tightened regulatory controls. Today, both Belize Bank and Atlantic Bank have suffered cuts from foreign currency accounts due to a lack of proper financial due diligence by the Government-owned Financial Intelligence unit (FIU).

Belize’s Money = UDP’s Money?
It is now clear to be seen that the UDPs are quite comfortable using tax payer dollars to pay for their political work. Mayor Darrell Bradley gave his political runman in Caribbean Shores, Omar Burns, a nice, cushy job over at the City Council. Technically speaking then, Burns should answer to taxpayers since we are paying his salary right? Not so! For the last two months Omar Burns has been seen in and out of the elections and boundaries office on a daily basis taking in voters to transfer for his boss, the Mayor. That would be all fine, if, of course Burns was being paid from the personal account of the Mayor.

WOMAN IN THE HOUSE – BEAUTIFUL GRACIE ROCK
After Sunday lunch with my mother and other family members, we headed up the Philip Goldson Highway, through the Burrell Boom Road, and unto the George Price Highway towards the hills of Gracie Rock, one of the nine communities of Belize Rural Central. Earlier in the morning, it was Mass at Our Lady of the Way RC Church. It was excruciatingly hot and humid at the start of the service. I was sitting in my usual pew and perspiring. I wondered if it was only me or whether indeed the humidity was way up. I saw various persons wiping with small towels and fanning away with the hymn sheet or church bulletin. Almost as soon as Father Leslie started his sermon, a torrential downpour almost drowned out his words, even though there is a functioning public address system in the church. The roof of the church is of zinc, and the sound of the rain thereon was quite a sound to experience. We arrived at Gracie Rock near the Sibun River around 2:30 pm. It was clear that the Gracie Rock area had not had any rain at all, almost incredible, since it surely poured in the Eastern section earlier. The Sibun is still green and crystal clear, an early ‘mauger’ season, I think, before more rains come later this month and in September. Various families were enjoying the river, lounging around in the water, and watching the children play. There are many spots along the river where it is shallow enough for whole families to swim, and many people take advantage of nature’s bounty.

Of this and that….
FOR SALE Belize is gone. Far gone. Look at the road sides. There are more “for sale” signs than mangoes. There was a tourist from Mexico. He thought “for sale” was a kind of restaurant. Lawd. I ketch mi shame. PROOF Things bad. Look at the newspaper. Everybody and their granny are losing their house. It is a shame. The newspapers are full. Murders cannot even get space again. Amandala was full. It had 20 pages of families. Families and children who lose their home. Twenty. The whole newspaper was only 56 pages. This is too many people. Landless. Hopeless. Embarrassed. Where is the dignity? BANKRUPT Belize is doing bad. Nothing no di go on. Petro tiyad a gi wi now. Well, one more elections. One more bribe. CHESTER, BOY Chester Williams is a police. He loves uniform. He loves TV. He has to get respect. He is now a big time lawyer. He could be making big bucks. He chooses to be a cop instead. He wants to be the top cop. Compol, mi seh.

PUP Marshalls support PUP Leader Francis Fonseca
Members of the PUP Marshalls Service Corps from throughout the country met at the historic Independence Hall on Thursday August 6th 2015 to discuss some of the serious political issues affecting our country as well as our great Party. Concerns were raised and discussed over the recent actions of some of our area representatives and standard bearers. Those present strongly felt that at this time of the country’s political history, where our democratic fabric is so fragile, there should be unity among all arms and forces of the party to tackle some of the problems affecting Belizeans. Some of those problems including the ongoing attacks on our sovereignty by Guatemala and the UDP Government’s weak defense and security of our territorial sovereignty, the increase in poverty, homelessness, crime, the inability of many to access affordable health care, as well as the rise in domestic violence and violence against senior citizens and children.

Hon. Dolores visits Gracie Rock residents
On Sunday August 9th Hon. Dolores Balderamos Garcia was on the ground in Gracie Rock Village. She visited various families and distributed gifts to residents. The Hemmans family, in true community spirit and gratitude, gave Ms. Dolores avocados and breadfruit. We really had a great time and felt truly welcomed by the residents of the beautiful Gracie Rock. Everyone was all smiles.

Castro can’t help himself!! – His children are first in line for educational assistance in Belize Rural North
It is a known fact that UDP Representative Edmond Castro has been hustling while in office, using public funds for his personal use. The Belize Airport Authority scandal which exposed how thousands of dollars collected by the Government was used by Castro to pay for all sorts of personal things such as his mother’s funeral expenses and for bicycle repairs was just the tip of the iceberg apparently. Then came brave whistleblower Alvarine Burgess who unearthed a visa hustle involving senior ministers. Burgess said she had to pay Castro $2,000 for over 2,000 visa recommendations he willingly gave for unknown Chinese nationals. Castro now seems to be dipping into education funds. Last week an announcement published in the UDP newspaper listed out names of young people who will be getting “education assistance” for the next school year. As was expected, Castro couldn’t help himself. Among them were a handful of Castros, including the disgraced UDP politician’s own children, Wasani and Jafari Castro.

Grenade planted at Police HQ? – Is someone sending them a message?
Police officers were forced out of their own headquarters located on Racoon Street on Friday afternoon when a grenade was discovered inside a drawer in one of the offices on the third floor of the building. The Racoon Street Police Station serves as the headquarters for the Eastern Division (South of Belize City) which is now led by Senior Superintendent Chester Williams. The tear gas grenade was found inside a drawer in a general office on the third floor which is above the main offices occupied by senior police officers. Who placed the grenade there and why, are questions which the Police are still trying to determine.

Lions Clubs conduct special National Eye Screening for Children
Through a Grant from Lions Clubs International Foundation of the International Associations of Lions Clubs, along with local contributions from the FOUR Lions Clubs in Belize, Government Ministries, Non-Government Organizations, and the local Business Community, the Lions Clubs in Belize will use Special Portable Eye Screeners to conduct a LIONS- Belize National Children Eye Screening Programme. The target groups will be children between the ages of 3 – 14 years, throughout Belize. Lions Clubs members and non-Lions volunteers will conduct the Eye Screening. The Programme will commence in September, 2015. The Lions Clubs in Belize are committed to pay for the Eye Glasses for children who need them, and for whom it is determined that the Parents/ Guardians cannot afford to pay for the eye glasses.

Belize near bankruptcy, says new report
A report published this week by financial media, 24/7 Wall Street, has listed Belize among seven countries that are near bankruptcy. Belize is included in the list for its high debt and sluggish economy. Along with Belize are Jamaica, Argentina, Greece, Belarus, Venezuela and Ukraine. Puerto Rico would have been on this list, but this week they announced that they would default on their debt obligations. The report notes that Belize’s debt is 75.7% of its GDP. This debt does not include Petrocaribe loans nor the over $600 million owed for the Government’s ill-advised takeovers of the Belize Telemedia Limited and Belize Electricity Limited. In June, a report by Moody’s referred to the BTL and BEL liability as the gorilla in the room for Belize’s debt and economy. Moody’s held that Belize was possibly staring at “unsustainable public debt” and even perhaps the need for another costly debt restructuring in 2018, if its predictions that the Government will not be able to meet the step-up coupon payments for the restructured bond and added liabilities.

Breaking Belize News

Belize Territorial Volunteers set out to Sarstoon Island on Sunday with the support of the Church.
Sunday’s expedition by the Belize Territorial Volunteers (BTV) will go ahead despite official disapproval from the Government of Belize. The trip to Sarstoon Island, the last Belize-claimed landmass within our defined territory, is fraught with tension considering past encounters between the Belize Territorial Volunteers and Guatemalan military […]

Two dead and three injured in Friday evening accident.
Police confirmed that five persons were injured, two fatally, in a traffic accident that occurred on Friday evening around 5:30 P.M. near Mile 7 1/2 on the Philip Goldson Highway. According to Eastern Division (Rural) Commander Senior Superintendent Edward Broaster, two vehicles were overtaking the line of traffic; […]

Fair conditions to prevail for the next couple days
The National Meteorological Service of Belize is predicting Sunny with cloudy spells all throughout the weekend. The General Situations call for a slight increase in moisture and instability is expected over our area for the extended weekend. The 24hr Forecast is sunny with cloudy spells today and partly cloudy tonight. […]

Blogs

Belize Tourism Awards 2015
On Saturday, August 1st, the 2015 Belize Tourism Awards was held at the Holiday Hotel in beautiful Ambergris Caye (Belize’s most popular tourist destination). A better location couldn’t have been chosen since the reception venue was celebrating 50 years of being in business. This is a big deal in Belize because the travel industry is still very young and the tourism pioneers had to fight with tooth and nail to make things work. To this very day there is still not enough recognition by the government of tourisms important role in the economy. But enough about that, the 2015 award winners deserve the exposure and all the congratulations.

The Guatemalan Claim Pt. 6
So far, Guatemala and Britain have been going on about Article 7 and its contents of the Treaty of 1859. Britain suggests strongly that the Convention that holds article 7 is void. Guatemala on the other hand is using Article 7 as the sole or at least the most important piece of their argument. Both sides have shown frustration and Guatemala in some instances seem to be running low on patience. 9th March 1948 United Kingdom refutes Guatemalan objection to inclusion of British Honduras in West Indies Federation talks because the status of the territory was under judicial consideration. The British point out that Guatemala has failed to avail itself over the past two years to submit its claim to the International Court of Justice April to June 1948 Guatemala threatens invasion United Kingdom dispatches 2 warships to patrol the coast, and a battalion of infantry to protect the border of British Honduras, the latter to remain until the termination of the dispute

In praise of sitting still in Belize
I sit in the red Adirondack chair, the only one with a cushion, albeit a thin cushion, and marvel at the well-practiced thievery of the frigate birds. I used to think that they were like a natural GPS tracking system for schools of sardines. Where ever five or more were gathered, soaring so gracefully on the breeze, dipping, swooping, gliding sideways — surely there were fish below. But while the frigates are doing their narcissistic act of effortlessly artful skywriting up above, it seems that kamikaze pelicans, low-cruising cormorants and the brisk business-like white terns are doing all the heavy lifting. Time and again, I watch these birds dive into the warm Caribbean waters for food, only to have a couple of frigates swoop down from on high and attempt to snatch wriggling fish from their beaks. A cormorant sitting on the water to the south of our dock pulls up a spectacular breakfast and lifts its beak to the sky in order to open the throat in anticipation of a delicious glistening fish slider … only to have a frigate swoop in and literally snatch the fish out of its throat, by the tail.

Cave Tubing in Belize
Coming from Boulder, CO I’m no stranger to tubing down a river, but Belize offered a new twist on that activity: Cave Tubing! Belize is known for having the largest cave systems in all of Central America, but the most popular cave tubing is found at a small part of the Caves Branch River at Nohoch Che’en Archaeological Reserve near Belmopan. Here you will goes through 5 different caves, weaving between sunlight and darkness for almost 5 miles! Our plan was to stop for cave tubing while on the drive from San Ignacio to Belize City before catching the last ferry out to Caye Caulker. While we started the day early, it was already hot and humid when we reached the Reserve. After putting on plenty of sunscreen we were outfitted with our inner-tubes, life jackets, and headlamps. (I highly recommend you wear shorts, shirt, and water shoes. Don’t forget a little spritz of bug spray and sunglasses as well. )

A step closer to life in the wild...Little Bean's group move on
In the past few months Bean’s group (a.k.a. the ‘big babies’) have made huge progress in their journey towards release – they have moved from their forest cage enclosure to the wilderness of the pre-pre-release enclosure! A few days after moving them across to the cage inside pre-pre-release, we opened the doors and let them explore the trees and hone their climbing skills. Some monkeys adapted slightly faster than others – as expected, Suri and Jessie were instantly at home high up in the trees and were so happy they had no intention of coming back down any time soon. On the other hand, Hobbes needed a little more practice in the trees, and was slightly disheartened after falling out a number of times, and so retreated back towards the cage. However after a few short days of practice, his climbing improved immensely and he too decided that he never wanted to come back into the cage (unless milk was on offer of course). J.W. and Bean followed suit, and shortly they were all sleeping outside in the trees, finally looking like real monkeys!

International Sources

Agroecology as a Tool for Liberation: Transforming Industrial Agribusiness in El Salvador
Excerpts from an interview with Miguel Ramirez, National Coordinator of the Organic Agriculture Movement of El Salvador. "We say that every square meter of land that is worked with agro-ecology is a liberated square meter. We see it as a tool to transform farmers' social and economic conditions. We see it as a tool of liberation from the unsustainable capitalist agricultural model that oppresses farmers. We in the Organic Agriculture Movement see the soil as Mother Earth, a living organism, which gives birth to all kinds of life. Mother Earth is agonizing, and needs to be rescued. Even a new small plot of land under organic management is part of the effort to revive her. We now have around 3,700 small local producers who are educated and working on organic agriculture in El Salvador. We're just about one percent of all small producers, but 15 or 20 years ago we had no organic agriculture. Our territory is made up of just 20,000 square kilometers, with 70 percent of the territory dedicated to agriculture. The challenge is to keep winning over new farmer families that will re-convert to organic farming and liberate the land.

Videos

August 15, 2015

FOR TODAY'S BELIZE WEATHER, CLICK HERE

Click for our Daily Tropical Weather Report.

Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5, LOVETV, PGTV, West Vision (Cayo) and CTV 3
Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, Rise and Shine Morning Show, and the Dickie Bradley Specials

The San Pedro Sun

Exploring the unchartered water on the western coast
Ambergris Caye is known for its beautiful coastlines overlooking the Belize Barrier Reef- longest living reef system in this side of the world. But if you are looking for untouched, pristine and isolated marine environments, then the leeward side is the place to be! Where the sun sets on crystal clear waters, the western coast of Ambergris Caye is truly glorious! Here you can find several sand bars that are only accessible through boat and appear only during low tide- the minute the high tide rolls in it disappears just like Atlantic City. Not to mention all the secret beaches! This prime beach spot is located at the western entrance of Grand Belize Estate and go you can get there through both land and sea. This place was once considered the top secret destination, as only a few local knew about it. But today, this white sand beach is no longer a secret! As hundreds of locals and visitors flock to the site every week to get their healthy dose of sun, sand and sea!

“Kick it off” U-15 Football camp is underway
The San Pedro Sports Committee (SPSC), through the sponsorship of the Government of Belize (GOB) is holding a football camp under the name “Kick it off” from August 3rd to August 14th. The camp is open for children ages 5 to 15 at the Santiago Castillo property on Blake Street. The training is being conducted by Brazilian “Profe” Jerson Voss along with Councilor Hector “Tito” Alamilla and Alex Sansorez. The camp concentrates on teaching the participants the fundamentals of football in order to further develop the sport in the country. As part of the camp, a local Under – 15 team will be trained in preparations for the National Tournament taking place from August 20th to the 24th in Belmopan City. Alamilla, Councilor in charge of Sports, indicated that the camp is a great way to discover and develop the skills of talented players, and so far the training has motivated many children. “These young players are the future players of our national selection. This is where it begins, and this is the foundation of the Belizean football sport. If we start training our future players from when they are very young, chances are that we will have a good yield of great players to represent us,” said Alamilla.

Blue Water Grill Donates to the San Pedro Polyclinic
The Dr. Otto Rodriguez San Pedro Polyclinic II was the recipient of the monthly donation program from the Blue Water Grill (BWG). Every month, BWG raises funds to support different organizations on the island. For the month of July, Dr. Otto Rodriguez San Pedro Polyclinic II was chosen as the beneficiary of a $1,630 contribution, which will assist the clinic with its daily needs. This month around, the donation not only came from BWG, but also from The Phoenix Resort, who has joined the initiative. The customers at the BWG donated $705 which they matched, while The Phoenix Resort collected $110 from their guests which they also matched. At first, the donation was intended to be for the acquisition of an EKG Machine for the clinic; however, there are major needs at the clinic presently, thus, the donation will be used to buy spirometers, pulse oximeters and thermometers among other needed supplies.

Heritage Bank Limited moves to purchase First Caribbean assets in Belize
On Monday, August 3rd it was officially announced that Heritage Bank Limited (HBL) is in the process of buying over all assets from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)’s First Caribbean International Bank (FCIB). While the deal is expected to take a few months to be completed, HBL believes that this move will secure their place in Belize’s banking industry. But the news sparked controversy, as approximately 60 workers face possible employment termination due to the transaction. Since the transaction is an asset sale only, HBL is not mandated to hold on to employees under the previous administration. “The bottom-line is that CIBC is leaving Belize and once all the statutory and regulatory obligations to effect the sale are finalized, all employees will become redundant. As Rik Parkhill, Chief Executive Officer of First Caribbean International Bank explained, all current employees will be terminated as this is an asset sale only.

Ambergris Today

Wildlife Conservation Education Workshop Offered for Tour Guides
The focus of the workshop will be wildlife natural history, education, and conservation, with a special emphasis on the species housed at the Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center. The goal of this workshop is to give the guides the opportunity to empower their knowledge base of Belize's iconic wildlife species, and to gain insight into some of the Zoo's most important wildlife conservation efforts. As a result, they may provide better naturalist tours for their visitors, and be inspired to help conserve Belize's natural heritage for future generations. Course Name: Wildlife Conservation Education Audience/Participants: Licensed tour guides (25 Guides per session) Instructor(s): Jamal Andrewin-Bohn Training Location: The Belize Zoo & Tropical Education Center Date/Hours: August 28th, 2015 (9:00 am - 4:30 pm) AND TENTATIVELY September 4th, 2015 - Based on Demand Pre-requisites: N/A Cost: $30.00 (Includes Lunch) Textbook and Course Materials: N/A Course Requirements: Laptop, project, animal artifacts, writing materials, classroom space.

Community Donations Help ACES Special Needs Program and School Repairs
During the summer break, Ambergris Caye Elementary School (A.C.E.S.) came across some unexpected repairs. When the school was in need, Grand Caribe Belize, a luxury resort specializing in condo rentals, came to the rescue. Grand Caribe Belize aided A.C.E.S. by donating almost 30 gallons of exterior paint and 15 gallons of acrylic and oil based paints. Earlier in June, Blue Water Grill presented a check of $1,484.00 towards Ambergris Caye Elementary School (ACES)'s scholarship program for children with disabilities. This was as part of the restaurant’s ‘Monthly Donation Program’. During the month of May, the restaurant’s customers donated $782.00 which BWG matched 100%. Blue Water Grill also announced that an anonymous donor from Houston made contact with them, pledging to donate an additional $3,000 to the ACES program for special needs children.

Misc Belizean Sources

BASICS OF LABOUR LAW Workshop provided by SBDCBelize
Workshop Date: August 20th, 2015 9am to 12pm. This session on Basics of Labour Law will cover various acts under Labour Legislation which includes: Chapter 287- SHOPS ACT Chapter 297- LABOUR ACT (including Amendment #3 of 2011) Chapter 298 - SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES IN ESSENTIAL SERVICES ACT Chapter 299 - TRADE DISPUTES (ARBITRATION AND INQUIRY) ACT Chapter 304 - TRADE UNIONS AND EMPLOYERS' ORGANIZATIONS (REGISTRATION, RECOGNITION AND STATUS) ACT The Labour Department's mandate, among many others, is enforcement and compliance with these legislation's. This will all be related to Belize's international obligations as a member of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Additionally, the session will provide an overview of as it relates to the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees. LOCATION: BTEC Building (Innovation Room) ITVet compound. Includes - Refreshments only

Placencia Lagoon Fieldtrip
Yesterday's science camp took us out to snorkel in the mangroves of the Placencia Lagoon. We found some amazing flora and fauna on the submerged mangrove roots. Everyone was amazed at the diversity of this important ecosystem!

Saga Humane Society's BBQ Blast at Estel's!
Come enjoy a huge plate full of Charles' world famous BBQ while helping the homeless animals of San Pedro. Your plate will include Estel's baked beans and vegetable kabobs, as well as a delectable dessert! We will have live music to listen to while enjoying your meal. As always, we will also have some great raffle prizes! Tickets are $60 BZ each, and will be pre-sold at Estel's, Pampered Paws, and the Saga clinic. These will go quickly, so come reserve your seat today!

SAGA HUMANE SOCIETY TO HOST FIRST EVER INTERNATIONAL HOMELESS ANIMALS DAY
Saga Humane Society Recognizes Homeless Animals Throughout The World With An Adoption Extravaganza on Saturday August 15th From Noon To 5p.m. At Ford Dog This Saturday afternoon from noon until 5p.m., volunteers, friends and staff will host the first ever International Homeless Animals Day at Saga Humane Society Fort Dog on Sea Grape Street in San Pedro. To honor homeless dogs, Saga will be showing all of their Dogs, Cats, Puppies, and Kittens who are available for adoption. Saga Humane Society Chairman Kevin Smith commented, “Saturday’s adoption event is a great way to celebrate International Homeless Animals Days. Potential adopters can come to Fort Dog, see all of the dogs, talk with Saga staff and volunteers and hopefully go home with their new Best Friend”. Adoption councilors and Saga volunteers will be on hand Saturday to interview potential adopters. The adopters can interact with the dogs and cats, ask questions about the animals, learn about activity levels and behavior and get matched with the perfect Best Friend.

H.E. Patrick Andrews Presents Credentials to the Organization of American States
H.E. Patrick Andrews presented his credentials today, August 14, as the Permanent Representative of Belize to the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C. H.E. Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the OAS, received the credentials as head of the Organization. In his remarks, H.E. Almagro commented that the organization was honored that Belize has selected such a distinguished ambassador who has had such an accomplished career. He emphasized the good relations with Belize and expressed warm wishes and congratulations on Ambassador Andrews' new post. In his remarks, Ambassador Andrews highlighted Belize's privileged position in the region as the link between the two sub regions of Central America and the Caribbean. He reiterated Belize's commitment to the OAS and its basic principles of supporting democracy, integral development, multidimensional security, and human rights in the Western Hemisphere.

Annual Traditional San Joaquin Fiesta
Aug 14 - Inauguration of the Annual Traditional San Joaquin Fiesta starts tonight at the San Joaquin Fair in Central Park with the Inaugural Ceremony along with the Coronation of Miss San Joaquin Fiesta 2015 and presentation of the Hogs Head dance(Mayan Dance) 7:30 PM 10:00 p.m. Dance with Techno Band. There is also great food, cultural events, and carnival rides and games for the children and adults to enjoy. So what are you waiting for, come show your Belizean Pride. Sat. Aug. 15th San Joaquin Fair Schedule: 3:00 PM - San Joaquin Vs. San Pedro Ambergis 7:30 PM -Noche de Talento con Estrellas de San Joaquin Talent Night 9:30 PM -Dance the night away with the music Gilharry Seven Gilharry. Sunday Aug. 16th End of the San Joaquin Fiesta 4:00 PM - Novena al Patron San Joaquin 5:00 PM- Misa al Patrono San Joaquin 7:30 PM- 9:00 PM- Surpassing Silence Rock Band Dance along with the music of Gilharry Seven Gilharry

National Security Council Meeting on BTV Excursion to Sarstoon Island
The National Security Council (NSC) of Belize met in a special session this afternoon to consider the security and citizen protection issues arising out of this Sunday's planned expedition by the civilian group Belize Territorial Volunteers (BTV) to the Sarstoon River Island in Southernmost Belize. Arising out of that meeting, the NSC makes the point that Belize's military has been asserting sovereignty over our side of the Sarstoon on a continuing basis. This is done operationally by the ferrying of our troops on a regular basis up the river to our outpost at Cadenas. The changing of the guard there occurs on a weekly basis, and soldiers going in and those coming out are transported by our military boats. This exercise gives rise to countless encounters with the Guatemalans since they dispute our ownership of the river and claim it to be a recognized part of their national territory, but we maintain and act upon our sovereign position.

PRESS RELEASE: THE BELIZE SHRIMP INDUSTRY PLOTS ITS WAY FORWARD
The shrimp industry in Belize is this week more certain of the way forward to addressing some of its challenges and how the Belize Bureau of Standards (BBS) can help producers, processers and distributors improve quality and possibly increase exports. This follows an intensive three-day CALIDENA Diagnostic workshop that was the result of collaboration on the shrimp industry between the BBS, its regional umbrella body – the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) and funders, the International Technical Cooperation Department of the German Metrology Institute (PTB). The CALIDENA methodology under the CROSQ-implemented and PTB-funded project – Establishment of a Demand-Oriented and Regionally Harmonized Quality Infrastructure in the Caribbean (RQI 4), has been focussed on improving the quality infrastructure in agriculture-related value chains among the CROSQ Member States. The term “value chain” is based on the concept that the value of a product is created at various stages in production, and looks at all the steps from creation to market, as well as the relationships behind the companies involved in developing the product.

Sarstoon situation
The National Security Council (NSC) of Belize met in a special session this afternoon to consider the security and citizen protection issues arising out of this Sunday's planned expedition by the civilian group Belize Territorial Volunteers (BTV) to the Sarstoon River Island in Southernmost Belize. Arising out of that meeting, the NSC makes the point that Belize's military has been asserting sovereignty over our side of the Sarstoon on a continuing basis. This is done operationally by the ferrying of our troops on a regular basis up the river to our outpost at Cadenas. The changing of the guard there occurs on a weekly basis, and soldiers going in and those coming out are transported by our military boats. This exercise gives rise to countless encounters with the Guatemalans since they dispute our ownership of the river and claim it to be a recognized part of their national territory, but we maintain and act upon our sovereign position. The incidents arising from this usually take the form of Guatemalan shadowing and sometimes attempted interceptions of our military boats, but the Belizean military have handled and will continue to handle all these encounters. They are trained and skilled in doing so. They have thus succeeded in maintaining our sovereign, operational use of our side of the river, and they have done so without having to fire a shot. They are the ones, and the only ones, to continue successfully to do this. Civilians for all the reasons that are so obvious and overpowering, have no business placing themselves in harm's way and complicating and endangering our military's accustomed, tried and true way of dealing with Guatemala's claimed ownership of all of the Sarstoon.

Channel 7

Sunday Sarstoon Showdown
The Belize Territorial Volunteers are heading to Sarstoon Island for a patriotic party on Sunday - but, the way things have been going, the Guatemalan Navy could just end up crashing that party - which could turn ugly. We say that because in the past few months the Guatemalans have given every indication that they consider the island to be disputed territory - even though it is recognized in Belize as the southern boundary of Belize. The Guatemalans recent hostility towards the Coast Guard and the volunteers suggest that Sunday could be another showdown in the Sarstoon - and, we gather, this is causing some anxiety in Belmopan. That's why the Prime Minister called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council this evening. The PM chairs the council and their statement issued half an hour ago says, quote, "The National Security Council (NSC) of Belize met in a special session this afternoon to consider the security and citizen protection issues arising out of this Sunday's planned expedition" It continues, quote, "Belize's military has been asserting sovereignty over our side of the Sarstoon on a continuing basis. This is done operationally by the ferrying of our troops on a regular basis up the river to our outpost at Cadenas. The changing of the guard there occurs on a weekly basis, and soldiers going in and those coming out are transported by our military boats. This exercise gives rise to countless encounters with the Guatemalans since they dispute our ownership of the river and claim it to be a recognized part of their national territory, but we maintain and act upon our sovereign position." End quote.

Coast Guard Will Stand Down, Advisedly
And so, now that the government has announced that it has, quote, "a contingency plan to try to deal with all possible consequences" - what does that mean for the Coast Guard? They're the ones tasked with keeping Belizeans safe on the sea - but as you just heard, it's the BDF that knows how to handle the Guatemalans in the Sarstoon. The Commander of the Belize Defence Force has already said that they cannot accompany these civilians because their presence could be an aggravating factor. And what about the Belize Coast Guard? That's what we asked the commander, Admiral John Borland today: Admiral John Borland, Commander, Belize National Coast Guard "I've seen that latter and as you've said you were hoping that I would entertain you. Unfortunately I can't. The government of Belize has given its position on this matter, on this issue. I go with what my civilian leadership decides. As you know we are a discipline armed organization, we follow orders and we go by the policies of those that we have committed to support in our duty as a member of a military force." Reporter "Sir, do you know whether or not the government had decided to send the coast guard along?" Admiral John Borland "The last I have heard when I saw the news last night, there hasn't been any decision to send the coast guard on any mission to support in escorting or providing cover for those people going in on that expedition. I believe that there may be a need to provide for maritime safety, as we saw the last time a expedition went where they went despite a small craft warning and those vessels were overloaded.

Bishop Blesses Expedition
Of course, that refers to earthly contingencies - the Bishop of the Catholic Church did his best to take care of the divine ones today. Bishop Dorick Wright, was invited to bless the expedition at the departure point in Barranco, but his health doesn't allow him to make such an arduous trek. So, instead of doing the blessing on site, he invited BTV member Orlando De La Fuente to his office in Belize City so that he could pray for the Belizeans going on the trip. We dropped by and spoke with the Bishop to see if he supports those going. Here's what he said: Orlando De La Fuente, member - BTV "Bishop Wright was once posted in Orange Walk and so he has spoken over the last few weeks, but I was not aware that his health was deteriorated so much and so he agreed that he will say a prayer for us and blessed this expedition that he will not be able to make the expedition himself physically. That's what we were here to do this morning. I was here to receive the Bishop blessing on behalf of the Belize Territorial Volunteers and it means a lot to us that he did this and he took the time to do it."

Bishop Speaks On Earthly Disputes
But, in his session today, the Bishop didn't confine his functions to the divine, he also commented on matters earthly. He gave the press his views on the territorial dispute: Bishop Dorick Wright - Leader, Catholic Churches In Belize "From I was small I've been hearing about this Guatemalan claim. I don't know if it was ever done to land before, but they were claiming. But its something I think they enjoy hanging over our heads. I don't care for it. It's going to hurt us in the end." When the Bishop was asked about his opinion of going to the ICJ, he said that he will choose to trust that the Civilian leaders have the country's best interests at heart: Bishop Dorick Wright - Leader, Catholic Churches In Belize "We heard so many things about the ICJ. I am not certain I know which, because I've heard some say if we go we will lose and some say if we go we will win. Some say we shouldn't go because they have no right to make decisions for us. Others say that decision has been already made, so if all that is true then I don't think we should go. If that decision was made at Independence, maybe we should not go. But I leave it up to the government and hope that in their prudence, they will make the right decision. But I really would not like them to just run into this. Listen to everybody and see what can be a sensible decision that can be made."

New OAS Ambassador Sworn In
And while the Bishop blessed De La Fuente, Belize's new Ambassador to the OAS may have a baptism by fire after Sunday's expedition. PAT ANDREWS may be pressed into service early in his term to smooth out frayed post expedition relations between Belize-Guatemala-and the OAS. The former Scotia Bank Manager presented his credentials today as the Permanent Representative of Belize to the OAS in Washington, D.C. Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, received the credentials and described Andrews as distinguished with an accomplished career. Andrews takes over from Nestor Mendez - who was elected as the Assistant Secretary General of the OAS.

Finnegan Market Madness
The Michael Finnegan Market on West Collet Canal in Belize City is probably the busiest market in the country, and on Friday and Saturday mornings, it's always bustling with shoppers, vendors, and wholesalers. Today, though, there was something else added into the mix, and that's police and city constables. They were clearing the street side of wholesalers - who, the city says, sell to the vendors and then turn around and sell to regular buyers as well - for a wholesale price. That's why the city was moving them today - but it didn't go down well with the vendors who have their own story. They called us out there at 5:00 am - and here's what we found:.. Luis Cocom, Driver "They want to take the key from the small truck. The police with 2 motorcycle came to move us." Sebastian "Sabe" Nunez, Works with Importers "But we are the wholesalers Jules. They have their costumers, they have restaurants, they have little shops and things. It's so good that they are selling their things the same price as the market for. So the people from the market don't need to get angry by dropping a 25 cents, or a 5 cents less and their things can't be sold the same price we sell the market people for, we are also selling our customers that we have at the truck.

Cops Sweep Into Market, With Force
But when we left at about 5:45 am - all the wholesalers were still there on the streetside -just not directly in front of the market. Well, by 6:30 - that would change as police swooped in to completely move them from Collet Canal - and that's when things got a little tense. We went back out there - and here's what we found:.. Today the mayor commented via text message; he told us that the wholesalers were moved because they do retail sales without a trade license and unfairly compete with the market vendors. He says the council has been trying to work with them, but they do not cooperate. He says they have been relocated to Hicattee Street, not Bocotora as was mentioned in the story.

Two Killed In Northern Highway Accident
There was a fatal accident between miles 5 and 6 on the Northern Highway this evening. A total of five persons were injured and two were killed when a white Mercedes Benz crashed into a pickup truck. We spoke to Officer Commander Eastern Division Rural about the accident:.. Sr. Supt. Edward Broaster, Commander, Eastern Division Rural "Preliminary investigation has thus far revealed that we had two vehicles overtaking the line of traffic, one managed to squeeze in to the lane while the white Mercedes failed to get in the lane and then collided into the white pickup truck. As a result of that we had two fatality from the pickup truck. The driver had been escorted to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital along with 4 others from out of the white Mercedes." Reporter "Can you confirm to us, the white pickup was heading down into Belize City?" Sr. Supt. Edward Broaster "The white pickup was heading towards Belize City, while the white car was heading towards Ladyville." Reporter "Can you say who the persons within the white car were?" Sr. Supt. Edward Broaster "Like I said, preliminary investigations reveal that 4 persons were in the white car while 3 were in the pickup. The two fatality we have was from the pickup truck."

Bryan Hyde Arraigned For The Florida Triple Homicide
We have more details tonight on the Belizean triple murder in Lehigh Acres Florida - a case US authorities are calling "Unimaginable". As we told you last night 19 year old Camalote resident Bryan Hyde has been charged with 3 counts of 2nd degree murder and 1 count of killing an unborn child by harming the mother. Roaring Creek native Dorla Pitts, her pregnant daughter Starlette Pitts and her boyfriend Myke Kelly were found stabbed to death in their home on Tuesday morning - the only survivor: Starlette's and Myke's 1 year old baby girl. Today was Bryan Hyde's first day at court and we have a clip from NBC 2 news in Lehigh outlining the proceedings. In terms of the case, Bryan Hyde was brought in for driving without a license hours after the incident but turns out blood was also found on his pants, fingers and there was a palm print at the scene as well. Now while his next court date is set for next month, the mother of Myke Kelly and other family members have to deal with this shock. We have another clip from NBC 2 news in which the family describes their utter dismay in this latest update.

A Tale Of Terror In Teakettle
A mother and her daughter in the Cayo District are fearing for their lives after a man threatened to kill them at their home. Last night at around 10:30, 23 year old Jenny Baide was with her mom at their Teakettle home when they heard the dogs barking outside. When they checked they saw a man hiding behind their neighbor's vehicle in the yard. We spoke with a shaken Jenny Baide about the frightening encounter that followed. Jenny Baide, Pulled a machete to defend herself "We had an intruder in our home. Well, he trespass in our yard by jumping the fence and it was so scary because it's just me and my mom and as females we have no one to defend us. So I had to do my next best. He came from through the back of the fence. He jumped in the back yard. He came around but we heard the dog barking. It's the little Chihuahua inside the house. So that alerted us. I actually saw a shadow at my window. My window is the middle room and I thought it was just my mind. My mom came up and said no she saw someone. So we cut off all the lights. So if we looked out no glare in the house would affect our vision but when we looked through our kitchen window, we saw nothing.

Alpuche Acquitted
It made big news in May when Efrain Alpuche, the security guard of PUP Politician Ramon Monchie Cervantez, was jointly charged with Orange Walk resident, Saulito Vasquez for allegedly setting fire to BSI's cane fields on the San Lorenzo Road. Well tonight, the news is that the arson charges against both men have been withdrawn. We've been trying to find out why such a drastic change, because 3 months ago, the police were sure that they had enough to successfully prosecute the case. Well, both Alpuche and Vasquez showed up to court for their adjournment, the police prosecutor informed the sitting magistrate that the prosecutors from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has issued a directive to them that these charges must be withdrawn against both men due to a lack of evidence. So, they're free, and Efrain Alpuche told us this evening that he is of course happy that this criminal charge is no longer hanging over his head. He said that absolutely no explanation was offered for his sudden acquittal, but he was sure that this would be the eventual outcome.

Security Minister Saldivar's Facebook Snap
At the top of the newscast, we told you about the emergency meeting of the national security council to discuss contingencies for Sunday's trip to Sarstoon Island by the territorial volunteers. That release spoke about the routine harassment and intimidation from the Guatemalan military that the BDF has to endure when they patrol the Sarstoon. Well, National security minister John Saldivar has also weighed in with a facebook post that went up an hour ago. It says, quote, "Who is promoting this foolishness that we have not been asserting our sovereignty over the Sarstoon Island and River? …every week our Belize Defence Force patrols the Sarstoon River on the way to our permanent outpost up that same river called Cadenas." Saldivar adds, quote, "On many occasions when the BDF enter the Sarstoon they are confronted by the Guatemalan Navy who have made numerous attempts to stop the BDF from patrolling the river and proceeding to Cadenas. On every single occasion the BDF have asserted that they are in Belizean territory and on every occasion they have proceeded to carry out their mission.

The Few, The Proud, The Coast Guard?
In recent months, we've shown you how the Belize National Coast Guard has been working to improve the capacity of its officers to deal with the evolving challenges they face while carrying out their duties as the protectors of Belize's territorial seas. Well, 16 officers attached to the fleet squad participated in specialized training conducted by the United States Marine Corps. It was 6 weeks of intense training, but these officers managed to impress their trainers and graduate with flying colors. We spoke with their Commander and the facilitators this morning: Admiral John Borland, Commander BZ National Coast Guard "The coastguard is going through a transformation process where we were now evolving to develop the fleet that was once referred to as the coast guard fleet. It will now be transferred to the coast guard infantry marine division. So all of these men and women that are standing behind me now have to be transformed into becoming marines. They will still do their coast guard training, but that takes place at a different time.

De-Risking Banks And The Investment Climate
Yesterday, the media had an opportunity to speak with Trade Ministry CEO Mike Singh in his role as co-chair of the Economic Development Council - which held a meeting to discuss improvements to the business climate. Well, it also gave the press an opportunity to ask him about the de-risking that banks from the US and the European Union continue to do. In the process, they're terminating correspondent banking relations. Belize Bank, Belize Bank International and Atlantic International Bank have all been had their ties with Bank of America severed. So, the press asked Singh about the efforts that the Government is making to try to assist the principals of these banks. Here's what he had to say on the difficult issue: Mike Singh, Ministry of Trade "We spoke about the issue of the AML issues which is where the corresponding banking issue came up. I think the deputy governor of the central bank did a presentation explaining that this is not a phenomenon that is only affecting the Belize, it really is a regional phenomenon. Bank of America and many of the larger banks are undergoing what we call de-risking and that is through the requirements for reporting to the anti-money laundering authorities, globally, has forced them to start looking at the customers that they have and in reality the customers of their customers. So the issue that happens with these large banks is very simply that if a small country like Belize that has customers that they are unable to verify.

Talking Taxes
And putting back on his hat as Co-Chair of the Economic Development Council, Singh discussed taxation - which is always a sore point between government and the private sector. Mike Singh, Ministry of Trade "The issue of taxation, there's a feeling on one side that perhaps we over tax and there's a feeling on the other side that the private sectors are under paying. and some of the issues that we brought up is really in need of more efficient collection, reporting and perhaps relooking at our tax system to see how we can divide it and examine it better so that we can look at what the true costs of taxes are for businesses and maybe come up with a system that would be more promoting of businesses as opposed to preventing business. So taxation I think is a good area where we saw the difference in the point of view. As you might imagine, as public officers, we have to think about how we're going to run the country, pay public officers, how are going to pay for infrastructure, security and all those things. On the other hand businesses will look at taxation as how it is impacting, because if you're taxing me too much I can't make a profit. So that I think, was a really good example of how we saw a meeting of minds."

Celebrating World Youth Day
United Nations International Youth Day was celebrated on Wednesday around the world, but celebrations continued in Belize today with a National Youth Day Expo. Youths across the country were invited to the ITVET to engage and participate in positive activities and entertainment. We stopped in and found out more from Sabrina Daly, the public relations officer in the Department of Youth Services: The 2015 International Youth Day theme is Youth Civic Engagement.

VERDES FC: A Chance To Be Champions
Last night, we showed you a small portion of the press conference held by the Verdes Football Club, this year's Champions of the Premier League of Belize. They will be the first to participate in the 2015-2016 CONCACAF Champion's League since 2008. We have a bit more tonight from Verdes FC in which the principals of the football club explain why you should support them as they represent the country in this tournament. That's because on Tuesday, Verdes will become the first Belizean team to play a Champion's League match at home. Here's what the other speakers at the head table had to say about that: The reason Verdes gets this opportunity is because the Football Federation of Belize finally managed to complete the FIFA funded upgrades to FFB Stadium in Belmopan. The Bandit Football Club was supposed to have had the distinct honor last year, but they got yanked out of the tournament last minute because the football pitch had not been completed in time.

GREAT Incentive!
In June of this year four hundred and sixty four Belize City students graduated from the police department's Gang Resistance Education and Training Program. It is a life skills program facilitated by police officers in an attempt at intervention in the lives of at risk youths. A part of the program involves motivating the youngsters to do well and rewarding them for their actions. Today 11 year old Jayden Herrera was one of those rewarded with five hundred dollars to help with his education. Here's how he earned that money. The GREAT program first started out as a pilot project in 2011 and quickly expanded.

Channel 5

Belize and Guatemala Asked the O.A.S. to Observe the BTV Expedition
The Belize Territorial Volunteers are in full gear for this weekend’s Sarstoon Island trek and have received the blessings of Bishop Dorrick Wright.  One person whose blessings they don’t have [...]

BTV Asked for Coastguard Presence
The Belize Territorial Volunteers have formally requested the presence of the Belize National Coast Guard on their mission to Sarstoon Island this weekend.  The call is for personnel from the [...]

Coastguard Cannot Entertain BTVs Request
Sunday’s expedition to Sarstoon Island will see a rather large civilian contingent representing various organizations, including the Northern Territorial Volunteers and COLA.  The maritime leg of the journey, from Barranco [...]

BTVs Expedition Blessed By Bishop Wright
Notwithstanding stern warnings from government and its military branches, the BTV will be heading to Sarstoon Island on Sunday morning. But before doing so, Northern Territorial Volunteer Orlando de la [...]

Bishop Wright Weighs-In On Belize/Guatemala Dispute
The usually reserved Roman Catholic Bishop also chose to speak on the Guatemalan claim on Belize which is obviously close to his heart. He told media personnel that as far [...]

BTV Welcomes Senator Shoman on Expedition
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and current P.U.P. Senator Lisa Shoman announced on Thursday that she would be on the expedition to Sarstoon Island. That resulted in an immediate government [...]

Fatal Traffic Accident Claims 2 Lives
There was a double fatality this evening at around five-thirty p.m. near miles seven and a half on the Phillip Goldson Highway. A total of five persons were injured in [...]

Coastguard Recruits Graduate
A cohort of naval officers attached to the Belize National Coast Guard graduated earlier today after completing an intensive curriculum geared towards promoting them to marines.  For the past several [...]

Belize Jaguars Training for Canada Match
Talking about the Belize Jaguars…it’s been a while since we’ve heard about the team and their preparations for the third qualifying round of the World Cup 2018 Games. Late July, [...]

Belize Jaguars Need Your Help
This past week, the Football Federation of Belize has been ensuring that the players and the delegation heading to Canada were able to get their visas and required documents to [...]

Inspiration Center Celebrates With Belize Jaguars
Today at the Inspiration Center in Belize City, children who access the services of the center were treated to a family fun day. Along with their parents, the staff and [...]

Cop on Interdiction Gets Bail
Twenty-eight-year-old Dean Perez, a police officer on interdiction, is out on bail after his attorney Leeroy Banner was successful in applying for a stay of execution of his prison sentence.  [...]

Sargassum in San Pedro: San Pedranos Respond
The Caribbean Tourism Organization has issued an official release on a seasonal visitor which has overstayed its welcome in the region. Sargassum seaweed originates in the Sargasso Sea and because [...]

Children on Pickstock Learn Puppeteering
A summer camp in the Pickstock Division taught over twenty students the art of puppeteering. The children spent a couple weeks learning how to make puppets and how to manipulate [...]

Expo for the Youths in Celebration of International Youth Day
International Youth Day was observed on Wednesday under the theme Youth Civic Engagement and today the Department of Youth Services led the charge with a youth expo at the ITVET. [...]

Soca Madness is Going Down, Carnival Style, on Saturday
One of the biggest events for the carnival season will be held this Saturday at the ITVET. It’s the seventh annual Soca Madness…the longest running dance competition associated with the [...]

LOVE FM

YOUTHS CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY
Hundreds of youths from across the country today participated in a youth expo organized by the Department of Youth Services. The activity was a part of the celebration of international Youth Day which was held under the theme “Youth Civic Engagement”. Youth Officer Adrienne Young told us about the expo. Adrienne Young – Youth Officer […]

BELIZE’S OAS REPRESENTATIVE PRESENTS CREDENTIALS
Belize’s permanent representative to the Organization of American States today presented his credentials to the Secretary General. We hear more in this report from Pat Andrews – Belize’s Permanent Representative, OAS “The alliances we seek through the OAS with fellow member states ,with observer states, NGOs and civil society is crucial.” Kerne Stanley – OAS […]

HEAD OF ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH SHOWS SUPPORT FOR BTV
Before heading off to Sarstoon Island on Sunday, Orlando de la Fuente stopped by the offices of Belize Roman Catholic Bishop, Reverend Dorrick Wright. He did so to receive blessings for a safe journey for him and all those who will be making the trip. Bishop Wright prayed over de la Fuente and several members […]

SECURITY PERSONNEL SAY THEY WILL NOT BE A PART OF EXPEDITION TO SARSTOON ISLAND
On Thursday Senator Lisa Shoman said you will be a part of the expedition to Sarstoon Island. As we reported, the Belize Territorial Volunteers has planned the expedition however national security personnel have advised against the undertaking. Yesterday Shoman said she wrote to the Ministry of National Security as she will be making the trip […]

TWO PERSONS DIE IN ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENT
Two persons died in a road traffic accident on the Philip Goldson Highway. Sr. Supt. Edward Broaster “Preliminary investigations so far revealed that two vehicles were overtaking the line of traffic, one managed to squeeze into the lane. The white Mercedes failed to get into the lane and collided into the white pickup truck as […]

PlusTV

Bryan Hyde Charged for Triple Murder
Roaring Creek Resident19 year old Brian Hyde, the nephew of the now deceased Dorla Pitts, was charged today with three counts of second degree murder and one count of killing an unborn child by harming the mother. This is after the bodies of 37 year old Dorla Pitts, her pregnant daughter 17 year old...

Senator Lisa Shoman heads to Sarstoon Island
The Belize Territorial Volunteers have continuously defied the pronouncements of local and foreign authorities against their visits to the southern and western border markers. Those warnings have been repeated this week ahead of the Sunday, August 16 expedition to Sarstoon Island, even as there was ...

BTV’s latest Run-in with Guatemalan Military
On Tuesday the leaders of Belize Territorial Volunteers Wil Maheia and Orlando De La Fuente stopped by our studios to speak about their planned trip to the Sarstoon Island this coming Sunday. It has been a topic of much conversation and as the date of for the trip nears, emotions are starting to bui...

All Belizeans Welcomed to go to Sartsoon
As you heard earlier in our news cast, Lisa Shoman has intentions of going on board the trip to the Sarstoon Island on Sunday August 16th. We asked Wil if having a former Foreign Minister and a current Senator, boosts their spirits and gives them an added sense of security moving forward with this h...

Young Innovators Programme in Belmopan
We reported last week on the battle between Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL) and concerned citizens led by Senior Counsel Lisa Shoman, who complained about negative images of women depicted in various billboards and on Facebook that appeared to be endorsed by the company. The company’s apology l...

Chairman of Progressive Sugar Cane Farmers Association shot
The chairman of the Progressive Sugar Cane Farmers Association 34 year old Abizor Loza was hospitalized after being shot several times to this his right arm, reportedly, from a shotgun. Details are still sketchy as the incident was never reported to the Corozal police and the family members remain t...

21 year old man charged for sodomizing 6 year old boy
A 6 year old boy was sodomized by a 21 year old male in the Toledo district. On June 9, the 6-year-old male child of San Marcos Village, along with a parent, reported that he was sodomized by 21-year-old Samuel Choc of San Marcos Village. Today, police say their investigations into the allegations...

The Guardian

Dickie Bradley gets tongue lashing from Francis Fonseca
Something is really wrong in the PUP . Monday night Said Musa was the guest on the Dickie Bradley show. Well Dickie was in very good form, I don’t know if his form was as a result of his boss being in town, but he went over and beyond this time. He set his trap and got Musa to follow him up a dark alley and then slam the trap shut on him. Dickie gutted the aging Musa. First Dickie made it clear that he was not a PUP and Said agreed with him, saying that more and more Dickie was becoming a truly non-aligned Independent person. Dickie told Said that there was no longer a PUP and that what was left of the party picked the worst time to start to quarrel with each other , “they are doing it at a time when the UDP is so strong”. He went as far as comparing PM Barrow to the super villain ULTRON. Saying if he were Barrow he would chance them an call elections before the 21st September and smash up the PUP for good. Said did the PUP rehearsed song and dance routine on this one. It seem like the PUP has a prepared script which all PUP are made to study and parrot on command. We are having a family dispute is what is scripted for them to say.

60 million dollars for infrastructure upgrades to ministry of national security
Public Officers working in the National Security Ministry will be delighted to know that Minister John Saldivar and the Government of Belize will be getting 30 million US dollars (60 million Belize dollars) to do some major upgrading to edifices and structures which belong to the different law enforcement agencies. The funds are being disbursed from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). From time to time, readers may have watched the evening news recently, have seen different complaints being broadcast against the rundown status of several police buildings and so forth. Well, a portion of this loan will go toward the repair and construction of 100 buildings for the Belize Police Department. This is a much needed relief for public officers who have to endure sub-standard working conditions. A new forensic laboratory will also be constructed using money from this loan. For the Belize Defense Force, the National Security Ministry will be acquiring troop lifting vehicles to replace the aging four-tonne trucks that the military now has. For the Coast Guard, 2 patrol crafts will be purchased so that they can have increased capacity to patrol the exclusive economic zones.

Record Numbers for Stann Creek West Convention
Three impressive candidates worked together for just over a month to deliver one of the largest convention turnouts in Belize electoral politics history. Voters of the Stann Creek West Constituency made their way out early to the Independence Primary School on Sunday, August 9, to vote for the candidate they believe is most suited to reclaim the division for the United Democratic Party. The choices were career educator, Walter Garbutt; career public servant and current Labour Commissioner, Ivan Williams, and technocrat and long time community organizer Nathan Young. Before the polls opened at 9 a.m., UDP Chairman, Alberto August, held a meeting with all three candidates and their campaign team. August explained the rules of the convention as it relates to rights and responsibilities of campaigners, “runners”, scrutineers, candidates, electoral officers and the Secretariat. The candidates were then given an opportunity to raise final concerns. The only clarification requested was in relation to newly registered voters who were not on the list. It was explained that they would be allowed to vote but only if they presented the registration receipt along with a photo identification card. All three candidates then shook each other’s hands and exchanged well wishes. They made a pledge, in the words of Ivan Williams, “whatever happens we will leave from here united.” The convention was then declared open by the Party Chairman and Secretary General, Pearl Stuart.

“Honourable” Marco Tulio Mendez is Back in Court
Marco Tulio Mendez, Area Representative for Orange Walk East, has been assigned a new court date for sexual assault charges stemming from allegations made by a pair of young girls. Mendez has been arraigned in the Orange Walk Magistrate’s Court for six charges and was scheduled to appear for trial on Tuesday, August 11. However, there was no Magistrate available in the jurisdiction on Tuesday and as a result he was given a new date to appear in court, Monday, August 17. Mendez is facing charges that include aggravated sexual assault of an indecent nature and common assault. The Director of Public Prosecutions has reviewed the files and has gone on the record to say that the charges should be upgraded. According to the DPP, she reviewed the file and found that there is evidence by one of the girls which suggests Mendez tried to have sexual intercourse with her. Therefore, the charge must be upgraded to attempting to commit Carnal knowledge, which is an indictable offense that must be heard before the Supreme Court.

81 soldiers join the ranks of the BDF
After 17 tough weeks of training, 81 soldiers from recruit intake squad number 60 of the Belize Defense Force, have graduated and became fully recognized soldiers in the country’s military. They now make up a portion of the planned expansion of the BDF which was authorized by The Ministry of National Security. The finished product will ensure that a total of 200 new soldiers will be brought in. These 81 new soldiers are well trained in first aid, tactics, field craft, weapon handling, minor tactics, offensive and defensive operations, unarmed combat, fighting in built-up areas, crowd control, and various military drills and signals that their veteran counterparts may utilize in the field. To ensure that only the most disciplined recruits make it to the end, recruit squad #60 was put through the usual tests of discipline and fitness, where they were expected to wake up at 4:30 in the mornings. They would then engage in chores around the camp, and then they are taken for a 45 minute run on the road. After that, they would be allowed to have breakfast, and then it is into the military class rooms where they were expected to learn the theory of whatever military discipline was being offered for that day.

Obituary - Mr. Charles Brown
Mr. Charles F. Brown, also known as CFS was born on March 9, 1917 in Belize City, Belize to Wilfred Brown and Alice Craig. Mr. Brown attended Esther Wright Elementary School and was a very brilliant man with photographic memory. Mr. Brown is survived by his wife of 71 years, Nona who he referred to as his gracious gift. Even though they did not have children of their own, they were surrogates to a host of nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. he is predeceased by his siblings, Gladys, Elsie, Ann, Charlie and Harold. In Belize, Mr. Brown was Pastmaster for the Steadfast Lodge and he was also involved with sports. He was a great athlete who played cricket, soccer and softball and later became the very first sportscaster announcing boxing, horse racing, cricket and soccer matches. Mr. Brown was also instrumental in bringing Muhammad Ali, when he was Cassius Clay to Belize in the late 60’s for an exhibition bout through his connection with Angelo Dundee. Mr. Brown was also well known in Belize for his affiliations with Habit, Guy Nords and Brodies stores managing their warehouse and was also chief steward at The Belize Club at Barracks.

Biting Season Closed on COLA
Dogs can’t tell when your plate is clean. If you are eating in front of them they will stay long after the food is finished. They will stare you in the face, bark, wag their tails and execute several other cute tricks. They will not quit, unless you get up and take the empty plate away. Someone needs to tell COLA’s President that the Stake Bank plate is empty. There are no more bones to be thrown out and no more pats on the head to be had. The Stake Bank Project is now the subject of litigation and no amount of public pressure can move it forward. There was a time in this administration when the Stake Bank project was on the table waiting for approval. Some argued that it was buried way deep, under a lot of files, and would never make it to the surface. This was a time when those with an interest in the project would reach out to noise makers in an effort to shake things up. There were treats to be had for those who can build enough public pressure to force Government to move the project to the center of the table. Senior biters stepped up to the plate even though it meant going against their most precious campaigns. Tom Greenwood was first on board even though the docking facility and private island associated with the project would have direct negative impact on the members of his tour operators associated with FECTAB.

Is Matura registered to pay GST?
Since June 2014, the Guardian Newspaper has been monitoring the GST website to see if Audrey Matura-Sheperd appears on the list of registered agents. Based on complaints of exorbitant fees by at least two unsatisfied clients officers of the Department referred us to the list at the website once more. Again we have checked and Matura does not appear on the list. Based on information provided to us, it appears as if Matura is not charging GST, and based on her charges it is our opinion that she should be registered. If she should be registered and is not, as an officer of the court, such actions are reprehensible. This would make her action very much consistent with the scolding bestowed on her by Justice Abel.

Rehabilitation of the Punta Gorda Sporting Complex to commence
Belize Infrastructure Limited (BIL), a public sector agency of the Government of Belize (GOB), is undertaking the design, construction and management of capital projects in Belize with particular emphasis on sporting and other multipurpose facilities. The Design phase for the Punta Gorda Sporting Complex has been completed and BIL is pleased to announce that the contract for the Construction phase was signed today. The contract was awarded to Mr. Daniel and Carlo Arguelles of International Environments Ltd from Belize City for $3,190,063.47.

Better detection of illegal weapons training underway for police and customs officers
In Belize, as well as in other Central American countries such as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, gun violence has been a problem that continues to plague the different governments and police departments. The problem is, nobody can clearly say where the guns are coming from, and how to stop them from entering a jurisdiction. Well, to better equip Belize’s Police Department and the Customs Department, specialists from the Central American Program on Small Arms and Light Weapons Control (CASAC) is holding a special training at the Custom’s Department’s Office in Port Loyola, Belize City. It will last for 3 days from August 11th to the 14th, and CASAC, which is an entity under Central American Integration System (SICA), will teach these officers, who work at border entry points about how to detect the smuggling of weapons into the Country. It is expected that 60 public officers from these two law enforcement agencies will be under the tutelage of Rafael Donis a technician of CASAC, and his team of representatives, which include officers of the national police of Nicaragua, Colombia and other specialized technicians of the CASAC.

LET US READ………..BETWEEN THE LINES
Julius Espat: WE ARE WARRIORS, WE ARE WORKERS….hhmmm! As a layman, the first thought was: ONLY the followers of the Peoples United Party are warriors and workers???? Not so anyone else!!!???? I am sure that the citizenry, no matter what political likes, are warriors and workers in this country! So why say “we are warriors”? Does he really want to say something else? Mr. Michel Chebat : “…TIME TO TAKE BACK BELIZE…”. …As a layman, sounds like children’s marble game; one gets mad and he/she wants to TAKE BACK HIS / HER marbles!! Then it dawned on me…!! They actually believe that BELIZE belongs to them and they feel cheated, they want it back!!! It belongs to them!!! Michel Chebat: “Take Belize on the right path…!

Rodwel, will sleep well in retirement after Wally beats him
Sunday 8, August 2015 is a day that Rodwell "Sleepy" Ferguson won't ever forget . See it marks the end of his political career. Rodwell's political career was already on life support. His party had declared his career brain dead about 3 years ago shortly after the 2012 elections (some people declared him and not only his career brain dead). He is not the sharpest knife in the PUP draw. Francis his leader also falls in the dullest knife category and he does not like competition, so Rodwell had to go. Rodwell thought he was safe because he was used as the first wave of attack to take out Macca, but that was only because he was being set up for his own fall. Back to Sunday, the UDP Stann Creek West (SCW) convention turnout struck a hard blow to the PUP's dwindling fortunes in the South. PUP is poised to lose all 4 seats they won there in 2012. That downward spiral has already started with the flogging they took in the March Municipal Elections and was continued with the pounding they took in losing the bye-election in July exactly a month ago. After those 2 beatings they took, their stronghold on 17 of the 18 elected positions is now down to 3. The skies are dark over PUP land and every PUP is heading for cover. They know and fear what is ahead, so they are trying to dump excess baggage. Rodwell is a part of that baggage and he is about to be thrown overboard. Mike and Chapparito will soon suffer the same faith because they are also dead men walking. PUP is drowning and drowning people will hold onto straws, but straws are not LIFE JACKETS . Whatever changes PUP makes won't save them as those bundles of straws are water soaked, so they will sink to water bottom.

Caught smuggling weed into prison
Anna Marie Garbutt, 28, an unemployed mother of two infant children, is out on bail after she was charged with drug trafficking for allegedly trying to smuggle weed into the Belize Central Prison. According to reports, on Thursday, August 6, Garbutt went to visit Patrick Jones who was recently remanded for the robbery of First Caribbean Bank. When she entered the search area, prison officials did a routine check on a styrofoam container which was used to store food for Jones. Inside the container was another styrofoam plate and under that plate the officer found a black plastic bag containing weed. Garbutt was detained and police were called to the prison. She was later handed over to Hattieville Police who arrested and charged her with drug trafficking. The weed amounted to 5 grams, which is under the amount associated with trafficking, but because she was attempting to smuggle it into the prison the charge imposed is drug trafficking.

Youngsters accused of robbing Cenie’s
Jahmy Belgrave, 18, and Ernest Gladden, 20, are at the Belize Central Prison on remand after they were arraigned for the Thursday, August 6, robbery of Cenie’s Restaurant on Bishop Street, Belize City. The armed robbery took place at around 1 p.m. on Thursday, when two armed men walked into the establishment and demanded money. One of the men walked up to the counter and pulled out the cash register. Both then ran out of the building with the register and what was inside - $297.00. Police were called immediately after. Quick response led to the apprehension of Belgrave and Gladden hours after the robbery. They were arrested and charged with robbery. Belgrave and Gladden appeared unrepresented before Magistrate Hettie Mae Stewart on Monday, August 10, where they were read a single charge of robbery. They pleaded not guilty to the charge but due to the nature of the offense bail could not be granted. They were ordered to be remanded at the Belize Central Prison until September 15, 2015.

Arrested for undersized conch
On Monday afternoon, August 10, Ladyville police caught a group of Sarteneja Fishermen and a taxi driver with 51 pieces of out of season conch. Police were on a regular patrol when they intercepted the taxi van - with the conch stuffed in a bag. On Tuesday, they were arraigned in the Belize City Magistrates Court for the offense. Taximan Carlos Turcios, 49, Fonciano Copo Sr., 55, his son Fonciano Copo Jr., 27, Ronald Escobar, 33, Julian Cob, 43, and Demy Nah, 33, appeared before Magistrate Deborah Rogers to answer to a charge of possession of undersized conch. The men were all unrepresented but one of them took the rap. Nah pleaded guilty to the charge telling the Magistrate that he was taking the conch home for his wife. He was fined $500 plus a $5 cost of court. He was also charged $20 per undersized conch, which is a total of $940. He must pay the fine by October 9, 2015 or face jail time.

Alleged copper thief shot and charged by police
Police say that Robert Flores, 38, was caught stealing copper wire from the compound of A & R’s Enterprise in Belize City on Monday, August 10, and in response he was shot and apprehended. Police say that Flores caused damages to over $1,500 worth of electrical wire. He was arrested and charged with damage to property. Flores hopped into the Belize City Magistrates Court on Tuesday, August 11, where he appeared before Magistrate Deborah Rogers. He was unrepresented and pleaded not guilty to a charge of damage to property. He said to Magistrate Rogers, “They shot me in my two feet. Once in my toe and then under my foot.” Flores stated further, “I meh done give up meh self when they shot meh twice.” Flores was shot once in the left foot and once in his right foot near the toes. Magistrate Rogers offered bail in the sum of $800 plus one surety of the same amount.

Charged for gambling in public
On Friday, August 7, police caught four people gambling on the street side at the corner of Fairweather and Queen Charlotte Street. As a result, Shawn Bradley Stevens, Tyrone Sheffield, Anthony Smith and a minor, 16, were arrested and charged with the offense of “assembling to gamble in a public space”. The four accused appeared in the Belize City Magistrates Court on Monday, August 10, to face the single charge. In court, the accused individuals appeared unrepresented before Magistrate Hettie Mae Stewart. Stevens pleaded guilty to the offense, while the others pleaded not guilty. Magistrate Stewart fined him $100 plus $5 cost of court for the offense. The others were offered bail in the sum of $300 plus one surety of the same amount. They are due to return to court on September 15, 2015.

C-Ray Youth Summer Races continue
The C-Ray Cycling Club camp continued with a one day race on Sunday 9th August at 1:30 pm on Princess Margaret Drive (in front of Marion Jones). Participants took part in 8 different categories and the results are as follows: Tiny Mites (3-5yrs MALE) Tiny Mites (3-5yrs FEMALE) 1st – Jayden Tillett 1st – Kaylee Garcia Tiny Mites (6-8yrs) Female (under 10yrs) 1st – Raymond Singh III 1st – Mya Bennett 2nd – Devin Major 3rd – Kofi Smith 4th – Damine Myles 5th – Shandee Franklin

Double Head Cabbage and UB Jaguars maintain lead in Rural Softball
The Belize Rural Softball Association 2015 Senior Female competition continued on Sunday 9 August with three games on the schedule. In the first game played, UB Jaguars continued on its winning path when it defeated Country Rose by the score of 17-6. The winning pitcher was Amber Wade and the losing pitcher was Angie Tucker. In game two, Lord’s Bank Sunrise won handily over Easy Does It by the score of 16-9. The winning pitcher was Karen Hilton and the losing pitcher was Margaret Hendy. In the third and final game of the day, Double Head Cabbage blanked Willows Bank by the score of 12-0. The winning pitcher was Herlette Clarke and the losing pitcher was Shauna Avilez. The competition will continue on Sunday 16 August with three more games on the schedule out at Willows Bank.

Dickie Bradley says there is no PUP
Dickie Bradley: “That man can call elections before the 21st of September and win easily, and win easily. I don’t know why Dean Barrow, Prime Minister no call the general elections. He can call the general elections and smash up the PUP right now. He is like Ultron from the fantastic... anyway I won’t go there... he can call elections and win, which means that the PUP really as opposition, deh haftu get deh act together and low and behold the PUP pick that time to almost split down the middle and start to quarrel and we no know weh deh di quarrel fah. We no know weh deh wah, deh di fight fi power, Johnny Briceno wah tek over the party again? What is going on? People don’t even know... what is left of the party can’t even say to us out here that the problem is A and B... is it that they want to have a national convention? When fish come from river battom and tell you that alligator no wah consult and no wah have national executive meeting or national something is also wrong.

Avian Influenza causes egg shortage
The Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA) has conducted tests of the poultry flocks in Spanish Lookout and the last test which proved positive for the Avian Influenza Virus was on June 5th. This means that the worst is now over for the poultry industry which seems to have contained the virus’ outbreak. There are at least three more tests that need to be done for the quarantine to be lifted however and that is expected to be done in September 7 if there is no more detection. While that is the good news, there is some not so good news as a result of the virus outbreak. Over the past month, the country has been experiencing an egg shortage leading to prices of eggs going up to as high as $5.00 a dozen. The shortage was as a result of the recent outbreak of avian influenza which affected the poultry industry with thousands of both broilers and layers having had to be put down. That significantly affected the production capacity of eggs from the Spanish Lookout community and while there was some compensation from the northern part of the country who stepped up the production by increasing the number of layers it was still not enough to fully compensate for the shortfall.

Back in love
As predicted those PUP who flirted with trying to change the way of doing business inside the party are now throwing all that progress they made by just daring to challenge the OLD GUARD out the window. Even before they staged the boycott a would-be New PUP was captured by the OLD GUARD and made to read a prepared statement at the infamous Stand By Your Man charade. One only needs to remember how Doctora struggled in reading that script. The problem was that she does not speak or understand much English. Whoever wrote the script for her should have written it in Spanish which would have made it easier on her but then again, some people have said maybe that would not have helped her either. We know writing the script for Dorla in English did not help her. The next to be captured were the Major and the Doctor. They made the grave mistake of going into the Old-Lion's den only to be captured and held down. One can only marvel at the way the other former commissioned officer hugged the Doctor in a Bear-hug as if either to prevent him from maybe hitting Francis or to hold him in place for the photo opportunity. As for the Major he too was made to stand there and smile for the camera. There was no fear of him attacking his leader because he is not known to have ever attacked and kicked men. We were told that would not be the case if the leader was a woman.

Helicopter abandoned in Belize to be taken up by BDF
Right now, the Belize Defence Force Air Wing facility is the current impound area of a helicopter which currently has a very strange, and somewhat alarming, background. The aircraft, which normally values at between 1 or 2 million US dollars, was simply left in the Orange Walk District, near the Belize Mexico Border, unattended. On Wednesday, August 5, the Anti Drug Unit found the helicopter on a feeder road near Blue Creek Village in Orange Walk, at the extreme northwestern edge of the district. It was in perfect working condition. They checked on the aircraft, and what they eventually found was that it was a BELL-407 helicopter, which was painted grey with tinted windows. It clearly had been landed in this area, which had a clearing to accommodate the helicopter. There was no one in the area, and so the ADU officers made contact with the Belize Defence Force and inquired if there were any pilots at the BDF who could fly it to a safer location. It just so happens that the chopper pilots at the BDF are trained to fly this exact type of aircraft, and it was later removed from the location.

Rehabilitation of the Punta Gorda Sporting Complex to commence
Belize Infrastructure Limited (BIL), a public sector agency of the Government of Belize (GOB), is undertaking the design, construction and management of capital projects in Belize with particular emphasis on sporting and other multipurpose facilities. The Design phase for the Punta Gorda Sporting Complex has been completed and BIL is pleased to announce that the contract for the Construction phase was signed today. The contract was awarded to Mr. Daniel and Carlo Arguelles of International Environments Ltd from Belize City for $3,190,063.47. Groundbreaking for the commencement of the project will take place at 2p.m. on Friday August 14 at the project site and work in earnest is expected to start shortly thereafter. According to UDP standard Bearer in the Toledo East Constituency, Peter Eden Martinez, the project promises to provide much needed jobs to the residents of Punta Gorda. He adds that already the old dilapidated structure has been taken down and that too provided employment for residents in PG.

Strengthening the shrimp industry in Belize through better metrology
Stakeholders in the Shrimp Industry met last Friday at the George Price Center for Peace and Development in Belmopan, after an additional two days of workshops in an effort to improve the value chain for increased exports. During the three days, producers, sellers and buyers of shrimps were introduced to the innovative CALIDENA methodology, which shows the importance of quality infrastructure or the pillars of metrology. Metrology is the scientific study of measurement and its application. Metrology ensures fair trade and protects consumers from being deceived by inaccurate measurements through mandatory verification of measuring instruments. As from Wednesday of last week, the participants were introduced to the CALIDENA approach and that continued on Thursday, where by Friday an action plan for the Belizean shrimp industry was devised. The plan now is for that action plan to be completed by December of this year and by then the Belize Bureau of Standards will be able to map out with stakeholders a course of action that will close the gaps that have been identified by participants during the three days of workshop last week.

Tax Information Exchange Agreement signed in London
The Belize High Commission is pleased to announce that the Government of Belize and the Swiss Federal Council signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) on Monday, August 10th, 2015 at the Embassy of Switzerland in London. The Agreement was signed by H.E. Ms. Perla Perdomo, High Commissioner of Belize to the United Kingdom and Mr. Frank Gruetter, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Switzerland in London. The Agreement will allow for the exchange of information that is relevant to the determination, assessment and collection of such taxes, the recovery and enforcement of tax claims or the investigation or prosecution of tax matters. The taxes for Belize covered by this Agreement include: (i) the income tax, including surtax or surcharge; ii) the business tax; and iii) the general sales tax.

Asking for Trouble?
The Belizean Territorial Volunteers are at it once more. The have a “huge” expedition planned for Sunday August 15 to visit the Sarstoon Island which is situated in the southernmost tip of Belize. The question on the minds on all right thinking Belizean is what is the purpose? Are the volunteers seeking to resolve a territorial dispute that has festered for over 150 years overnight? There is no doubt that their intentions are noble, but at this juncture it is very ill-advised to visit this particular island because of its location and the current state of affairs. It is no secret that there is a border dispute at this point in time. Two weeks ago the OAS held a press conference and a peace forum where it was clearly shown that this dispute has the attention of both Belizean and Guatemalan governments. The issue is being dealt with through diplomatic channels as it should be. The volunteers are now seeking to visit this particular island for what? Are they looking for trouble? Do they want the Guatemalans to do something about their presence there and then have our security forces respond? Can they not see the gravity of their actions? The information suggests that even children will be taken along. What is the point that they are trying to prove? The only thing that they are doing is putting our military and the rest of the country at risk. We are in no position military or otherwise to stand up against the Guatemalan military and all those who shout let’s go to war will be the first to disappear when the first shot is fired.

Vector control program beefed up to prevent Malaria, dengue and Chikungunya
An update on Belize’s Vector Control Program was given on Thursday of last week at the Ministry of Health Headquarters in Belmopan. Belize’s top experts, mainly Kim Bautista, Chief of Operation within the National Vector Control Unit as well as Dr. Francis Morey from the Epidemiology Unit briefed reporters on the status of Dengue, Malaria and Chikingunya and the need for public participation in the control of these constant malaises that require an alert and cooperating public. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC based in the United States, more than one-third of the world’s population live in areas at risk for infection, from the dengue virus; a leading cause of illness and death in the tropics and subtropics. As many as 400 million people are infected yearly. Dengue is caused by any one of four related viruses transmitted by mosquitoes. There are not yet any vaccines to prevent infection with dengue virus and the most effective protective measures are those that avoid mosquito bites. When someone is infected, early recognition and prompt supportive treatment can substantially lower the risk of medical complications and death.

Wil Maheia will provoke an incident with the Guatemalans
Failed politician Wil Maheia and the De La Fuente clan from Orange Walk continue to create situations where things can really go wrong at the Border with our Guatemalan neighbors. The last time they went down the Sarstoon River, over 30 Belizeans were detained and escorted to Guatemala for an overnight stay. Now, they want to go to the Sarstoon Island, where even the Coast Guard got into a confrontation with the aggressive Guatemalan Navy. National Security Minister John Saldivar and Brigadier General David Jones, the commander of the Belize Defence Force, have both commented publicly, that it is a bad idea because it can cause a border incident. The Government is advising caution, but as Maheia and his associates have been trying to dismiss that idle talk, suggesting that this as is somehow an example that the Government is not showing any spine.

Alleged copper thief shot and charged by police
Police say that Robert Flores, 38, was caught stealing copper wire from the compound of A & R’s Enterprise in Belize City on Monday, August 10, and in response he was shot and apprehended. Police say that Flores caused damages to over $1,500 worth of electrical wire. He was arrested and charged with damage to property. Flores hopped into the Belize City Magistrates Court on Tuesday, August 11, where he appeared before Magistrate Deborah Rogers. He was unrepresented and pleaded not guilty to a charge of damage to property. He said to Magistrate Rogers, “They shot me in my two feet. Once in my toe and then under my foot.” Flores stated further, “I meh done give up meh self when they shot meh twice.” Flores was shot once in the left foot and once in his right foot near the toes. Magistrate Rogers offered bail in the sum of $800 plus one surety of the same amount.

Tyrone King Sold Out by Hair Colour
Electrician Tyrone King, 21, of Gwen Lizarraga Street in Belize City is out on bail after he was charged for the offense of theft. According to police reports, King stole a water pump value of $2,200 from M&R;’s Construction on August 3, 2015. Police say that he was seen on a surveillance camera and it was the colour of his hair that made him easily identifiable. King’s hair has a blondish colour. The accused thief appeared before Magistrate Deborah Rogers on Wednesday, August 12, where he pleaded not guilty to the charge. He was offered bail in the sum of $1,000 plus one surety of the same amount. King is due back in court on October 6, 2015.

Belize participating in UNCAF Pre-Olympic Tournament
Belize’s National U-23 Football team is currently in Guatemala City, Guatemala, where it is participating in the UNCAF Pre-Olympic Tournament. The Belize Team is made up of the following players: John Fitzgerald King, Dorwin Logan, Osmar Duran, Jermain Jones, Kyle Flowers, Rugerri Orvin Trejo, Luis Alonzo Torres, Hasaan Edward Lucas, Asrel Kimani Sutherland, David Michael Madrid, Tevin Wilford Gamboa, Norman Anderson, Denmark Casey, Highking Roberts, Jordy Polanco, Makonnan Clare, Felix Miranda and Edmond Pandy Jr. The officials on the team are: Edmond Pandy – Head Coach, Peter Jones – Assistant Coach, Dennis Belisle – Physiotherapist, Shinya Nabata – Physical Trainer and Herbert Trapp Jr. – Equipment Manager. Team Belize played its first game of the qualifying tournament on Tuesday 11 August, against the Honduran National U-23 selection. The game was won by the Honduran National U-23 Selection over the Belizean Team by the score of 5-0.

Heritage Bank seeded one into Firms competition playoffs
The Belize District Basketball Association Firms’ competition regular season came to an end on Saturday 8 August, 2015 with three games on the schedule. In the first game played, Heritage Bank edged out the BWS Pressure by the score of 59-57 to earned the top seed into the playoff round. The top scorers for Heritage Bank were Winston Pratt with 19 points, 12 rebounds,3 assists and 2 steals; Sean Reneau with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and a steal and Marvin Skeet who also scored 9 points with 6 rebounds and a steal. For the BWS Pressure, the top scorers were Akeem Trapp with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals; Luis Barcelona with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals and Zhayne Morris with 8 points, 6 rebounds and a steal. In game two, Atlantic Bank upended the competition’s favourites the Belize Bank Bulldogs by the score of 61-51. The top scorers for the Atlantic Bank team were Ian Lennon with 16 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals; Herman Ramos who also scored 16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals and Justin Wade who contributed 13 points towards the win, he also had 6 rebounds and 2 assists.

Vega Cup Tournament 2015 opens
The Annual Vega Cup Tournament which is played in the Orange Walk North Constituency and is sponsored by the Hon. Gaspar Vega, Deputy Prime Minister of Belize opened its regular competition on Sunday 9 August, with four games on the schedule out at the Trial Farm Football Field. In the first game played, Real San Luis edged out T.F. Venom by the score of 4-3. The goals for Real San Luis were scored by Samuel Chi in the 34th minute of play, Lorenzo Teck in the 35th and 81st minutes of play and Alejandro Marin in the 48th minute of play. For T.F. Venom, the goals were scored by Randy Augustine in the 8th and 46th minutes of play and then an auto goal in the 36th minute of play. In game two, Awe V. United won over White Eagles by the score of 6-2. The goals for Awe V. United were scored by Eliazar Itza in the 49th, 73rd, 77th, 79th, and the 85th minutes of play and by George Torres in the 75th minute of play.

Verdes FC to defend National Football Title
The Premier League of Belize 2015-2016 Opening Season is scheduled to commence on Saturday 15 August, with two games on the schedule. At the Norman Broaster Stadium in San Ignacio Town at 7:30 pm, the Placencia Assassins will face the defending National Football champions of Belize Verdes FC. Out at the Michael Ashcroft Stadium in Independence Village also at 7:30 pm, the Belize Defence Force will march against Wagiya. The competition will then continue on Sunday 16 August at the Norman Broaster Stadium in San Ignacio Town at 4:00 pm with a single game between the Belmopan Bandits and Police United.

Not in a Good Place
During the past week or so we have seen both Hon.Espat and Hon. Musa attempt to trivialize the serious rift that is ripping the People’s United Party almost right down the middle. These two senior officials in the PUP refer to the group of twelve as disgruntled family members, and “like in any family there will always be an argument from time to time”. Even though I may attract the wrath of the schoolmarm, Hon. Ms. Balderamos, who is on record in saying that what happens at Independence Hall stays in Independence Hall, I will still offer an opinion of what is happening within the upper ranks of the PUP. The twelve or so dissenters who met in Cayo must have noticed that the gap is widening between the two political Parties after each of the three recent elections. If this trend continues, the historic defeat suffered by the PUP in 2008 will just be a footnote compared to the loss in the upcoming Generals. The twelve must have also realized that chances are slim to none of the PUP winning any election with Musa and Fonseca at the helm of the Party. And the latter, along with his group of faithfuls, is determined to hang on to the office of Party Leader no matter who thinks or says otherwise. Fonseca has gone further and threatened that if the 31 PUP candidates do not show up to the rally in PG next week, they will have to answer to him. We will see how that plays out.

Wrong headed policies of the anti-good government
The people are the true owners of any given country; indeed the word ‘politics’ literally means – of the people. It does NOT mean of the leaders – Price was totally wrong when he said to the People: “Leave politics to the politicians.” He turned things backwards – but then, he was…. ‘different.’ Democracy demands participation of the citizens. Even in countries headed by dictators, there is a need for some degree of citizens’ compliance. In most western countries the leadership is civilian; including the head of the military. In Belize it is the Governor General who is the Commander In Chief. On Friday August 07, 2015 Daniel Ortiz said to Brig. Gen. David Jones: “Sir, but the way you describe it, it makes it sound as though Foreign Affairs is the lead agency in a military type situation where you all are the most equipped, the most experienced individuals to make the best decisions.” The learned and wise general responded: “…when it comes to a dispute between bordering countries, our Foreign Affairs has to take that lead…”

Amandala

Senator Lisa exposes GOB’s “lack of backbone”
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