Cane farmer’s widow wants investigation into his death

It is three weeks since the horrific killing of Antanacio Gutierrez in one of the worst strikes in the country. Today, while the dust has settled at the Tower Hill Mill, the core sampler has been dismantled and deliveries are back on stream, his widow has broken her silence. Benita Gutierrez has released a letter written to the Prime Minister calling for an investigating into the death of her husband. Antanacio was shot several times on February second when violence erupted near the Belize Sugar Industries mill during a protest by cane farmers. In the correspondence, Benita says there are various witnesses willing to testify and that one of those witnesses got his hands on a numbered baton belonging to the officer who shot her husband and can identify the said officer. She says that her husband also recovered the empty shells from the gun which killed him. Gutierrez contends that her husband was a peaceful protestor and posed no threat to the security forces and as such was murdered in cold blood. Says Benita: “My husband will be amply proven that he was unarmed, had no stones, no machete nor any gun on him”. In addition to the investigation and a public hearing in Orange Walk, Gutierrez is also asking the officers stationed to guard the peace that day be subpoenaed to give their version of events; that all eyewitnesses are allowed to testify, that criminal charges be brought against the officers, and that financial compensation be given for her and her six children. The police would not comment expect to say that the investigation is still ongoing.