Serving Time at Prison under Extended S.O.E.

The state of emergency to stem the gang violence that broke out in Belize City several weeks was extended, following the last sitting of the House of Representatives.  Those incarcerated individuals, including four women, are serving an additional sixty days at the Belize Central Prison.  The spike in gang-related incidents has since subsided and today, Chief Executive Officer Virgilio Murillo, of the Kolbe Foundation, gives an update on what has been taking place with those new inmates.

Virgilio Murillo

Virgilio Murillo, C.E.O., Kolbe Foundation

“What I can tell you is that certainly they are not happy about the extension but I guess all of them have come to terms that it is what it is and they will need to weather the storm.  I can tell you with certainty as well that they are not misbehaving in the prison any at all.  As a matter of fact, everyone of them, you would not know that they are rivaling because they are living in one particular building at the prison and getting their recreation to time and cohabiting peacefully and all of these things.  So we are having discussions with them almost every Friday as a prison and we’re trying to counsel them, trying to show them a better way of life.  We’ve shown a couple of videos to them, inspirational videos that is that have to do with gangs and the doings of gangs, the creating of enemies, rivaling and all of these things.  So we are hoping that those motivational sessions would change their mindset and let them understand that what they are doing is pure foolishness.”