After just about two weeks in Belize, a seventeen member team from the Republic of China on Taiwan – comprising engineers, technicians, mechanics and pilots – has completed the assembly of two UH – 1H helicopters gifted to Belize. According to a release issued today from the Taiwanese Embassy, the assembly works were completed on […]
The Belize/Guatemala dispute is currently front and center of all national discourse, with special attention given to the Sarstoon where the Guatemalans are insisting that their permission is required to enter the area. There’s some welcome news in that arena. The Forward Operating Base north of the Sarstoon is close to completion and will formally […]
Why is the Belize Defense Force the subject of an intensive investigation commissioned by the Ministry of National Security? And why is the Ministry of Finance, the Accountant General and the Auditor-General involved in that investigation? Why have all transactions from the B.D.F. Account Fund been put on immediate hold, and why has Commander Brigadier-General […]
In January 2015, the Government of Taiwan publicly announced that it will be gifting the Government two helicopters that are required to expand Belize’s military training program. That announcement was followed with the arrival in July of a team of seven mechanics from Taiwan to ensure that the B.D.F. air wing had the equipment and […]
According to Ambassador Ho, the helicopters will be used for emergency evacuations and to crack down on illegal drug trafficking or illegal human trafficking. Benjamin Ho, Taiwanese Ambassador to Belize “As you know the relation between our two countries is always so cordial and so close; it grows each year. We cover not only […]
High-level government and military officials from Belize and Guatemala met at O.A.S. headquarters in the adjacency zone to discuss rules of engagement in the Sarstoon last Friday. The draft rules were formulated and presented by the Belizean team to their Guatemalan counterparts in the hope that they will form some basis for future handling of […]
On the face of it, those proposals should be a tough sell considering Guatemala’s recently very aggressive position in the Sarstoon. At the highest levels of government in that republic, the stance has been that the entire river belongs to Guatemala and they will do whatever is necessary to control all area within their sovereign […]
Seasoned negotiator and expert in the field of Guatemala dispute, Ambassador Shoman, explained that nothing at this point is set in stone despite first perception. Still, he asserts that the goal is to push Guatemala into treating the Sarstoon situation as a matter of extreme urgency and that means setting very tight deadlines for a […]
Since we had the experts in the room, News Five also asked about the mysterious current protocols governing the Sarstoon. We’re referring to those purported protocols which dictate that Belizean military and civilians who wish to enter the Sarstoon must first go over to the Guatemalan base there and ask permission. Guatemala has stood by […]
Last Friday, our News Five team camped out under a “hammans” tree outside O.A.S. Office in the adjacency zone for hours. Inside were top diplomats from Belize and Guatemala, Foreign Affairs Ministers Wilfred Elrington and Carlos Raul Morales. They were joined by top military commanders for both countries, General David Jones and General Carlos Eduardo […]
A resolution within days may be a matter easier said than done. Guatemala maintains that the Sarstoon is theirs, and in a recent diplomatic note stated that they will continue to assert that sovereignty over what is theirs. They have done just that. While diplomats from both countries sip tea and share anecdotes, the G.A.F. […]
The Leader of the Opposition, John Briceño met with Prime Minister Dean Barrow at the P.M.’s office on Coney Drive in Belize City this morning in light of the troubling pattern of the Guatemalan Armed Forces operating in the Sarstoon. As recent as Tuesday, GAF attempted to block SATIIM from travelling upstream. The GAF accused […]
A meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Belize and Guatemala scheduled for this Friday has been postponed for sometime next week. It would have discussed the new stance by Guatemala in the Sarstoon where it is exerting control over the island. Guatemala, it is known, does not want to discuss the Sarstoon nor does it […]
The Minster of National Security John Saldivar was also asked today about the most recent Sarstoon incident. He offered few details on the aggression by the Guatemalan Armed Forces against the SATIIM rangers. Saldivar says that he has not received an official report, but that the actions taken by GAF against SATIIM are unacceptable. […]
The government, particularly Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington, has come under fire for a perception of timidity where negotiations with Guatemala are concerned. There has been a consistent criticism that the matter has not been treated with a sense of urgency, and has not been internationalized as a priority. That may or may not have been […]
There are differing viewpoints on the Guatemalan claim on the entire Sarstoon. Minister Wilfred Elrington has maintained that nothing has changed since 1939, where Guatemala’s position on owning the river is concerned. Others, including the head of the B.D.F., Brigadier General David Jones, says that this is something new, something he’s only become aware of […]
On a previous occasion in the Sarstoon between the B.D.F. and the GAF the B.D.F. said that they had secured commitment from the GAF, to stand off but the SATIIM rangers on Tuesday had to seek permission to enter the Sarstoon. So what is the next move? Even though the confidence building measures do not […]
Today the Ministry of National Security confirmed that based on a Police investigation into the shooting of B.D.F. Staff Sergeant Richard Lambey, they believe that the assailants were Guatemalan citizens of a small border community known as La Rejoya. The incident occurred on Holy Saturday, as Lambey allegedly led a patrol on a water resupply […]
The B.D.F. report into the incident revealed that Staff Sergeant Lambey was alone when he was ambushed by seven Guatemalan men, and the patrol he was leading came on the scene after. News Five asked Lovell if the shooting, a clear and deliberate attack on a Belizean soldier, will cause the B.D.F. to revise, or […]
Today, Minister of National Security John Saldivar told the media that it has been confirmed that Guatemalans shot Staff Sergeant Lambey. He says that the problem in the Sarstoon does not require military action but a diplomatic solution. Reporter “Can we confirm if Guatemalans were the shooters?” John Saldivar, Minister of National Security […]
Was a Belizean businessman and former Minister really targeted by a drug cartel as he vacationed in Chetumal at the Fiesta Inn a week ago? He claims he was, and went to one media house to give an extended interview on his allegedly nightmarish ordeal. The well-known Belizean outlined a scenario in which he and […]
On Holy Saturday, B.D.F. Staff Sergeant Richard Lambey was shot as he led a patrol to a water source near Valentin Camp in the Chiquibul. After undergoing treatment at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, he was released and is recovering at his home in Punta Gorda. But five days after the shooting, a confidential report […]
In early March, there was an armed encounter between Belize Defense Force soldiers on foot patrol in the Chiquibul National Park and Guatemalan poachers. At the time, one of the illegal hunters was shot in the leg, in an area known as Cebada, where illegal activities are known to abound. Over the weekend, news quickly […]
This afternoon, COLA issued a statement on the shooting of Lambey. COLA called on the government to undertake an aggressive internationalization of the territorial dispute by Guatemala. COLA’s President Geovanni Brackett told News Five today that government should issue a timely and relevant response to the latest incident in the adjacency zone. Geovanni Brackett, […]
The eighth class of recruits of the Belize National Coast Guard graduated this morning at the Williamson Compound in Ladyville. The intake of forty-six trained for three months to prepare them to assume a military role. The seamen will take on a range of duties within the naval unit. News Five’s Isani Cayetano was on […]
