That, relatively speaking, takes care of the substantive matter of the forward operating base, but there are other serious issues – like the immigration and work status of those Guatemalan workers, for example. Minister of Immigration and Labour Godwin Hulse told News Five last week that he had no clue about how they entered the […]
The government also announced today that a Belizean delegation led by CEO Alexis Rosado traveled to Guatemala City last Friday where the Belize-Guatemala Joint Commission convened a meeting to discuss security issues in the wake of recent incidents within the Caracol Archaeological Reserve. The team, comprised of Senator Lisa Shoman, Brigadier General David Jones, Acting […]
Two weeks ago, mechanic Allan McCoy claimed that members of the Gang Suppression Unit, including Inspector Mark Flowers, worked him over as he headed home from a club. Just minutes before they pulled him over, there was an accident in which a vehicle ran GSU officers on a motorcycle off the road. McCoy claims that […]
Flowers today made much of the Ombudsman’s report, but made no mention of the Police report. That report, made by McCoy to the Professional Standards Bureau, does make very specific allegations against Flowers. After the interview with Flowers we caught up with McCoy who was caught off guard by the news that GSU Head Mark […]
The Minister of National Security John Saldivar informed the media on Wednesday that the construction of the military facility at Hunting Caye had not been stopped. Hours later, on Wednesday evening, a release from the US Embassy defended the decision to hire Guatemalans to build the Coast Guard installation, calling it best value. But that […]
On Friday, the nation was shocked and outraged at the news that a gang of armed Guatemalan civilians came across the border and confronted BDF personnel. The incident happened at Valentin Camp about one kilometre from the border, where a new outpost is being constructed. According to the Ministry of National Security, villagers from the […]
The Coast Guard’s Forward Operating Base, located on Hunting Caye, remains a point of much contention. Last week, the news broke that the base, funded by the US, is being built by a Guatemalan firm that contracted Guatemalan workers. Now that news would have raised eyebrows in the most tranquil of times. But these aren’t […]
Jalacte is a remote southern community in the Toledo District and, for many years, was off the beaten path for most Belizeans. While its inaccessibility placed it out of reach for the average tourist, it has remained open to Guatemalan nationals who wander freely across the border into Belize to conduct business or attend school. […]
Back to the House of Representative. Tour guides assembled outside the house looking for quick solutions for a problem which could cost them their lives, just as it did the life of Danny Conorquie. And it seems that at least some of their cries have been heard and addressed. Today, Saldivar briefed the nation on […]
The Gang Suppression Unit remains the object of intense public scrutiny. Recently, the elite task force came under fire from the People’s United Party which ultimately resulted in a tiff between former prime minister Said Musa and Inspector Mark Flowers. Despite a succession of commanders however, the GSU is widely viewed as a rogue faction […]
According to Flowers, a delicate balance needs to be struck between the GSU and the public in the manner in which it executes its function. Hostility, he says, needs to be minimized. Insp. Mark Flowers, Commander, Gang Suppression Unit “In doing all that we do, certainly we need equilibrium with the way we deliver […]
The very public war of words between former Prime Minister Said Musa and GSU Commander Mark Flowers has gone viral. It’s the big thing on the airwaves, morning shows and social media. Musa took some blows at the GSU at a political convention over the weekend, and Flowers sent some blows right back, and then […]
While the insults thrown between Flowers and Musa make for sensational news and politically stimulating drama, there’re actually bigger things happening in the city. For example, there’s an ongoing operation which has seen the Police clamp down on crime in a big way. It’s an initiative which is targeting everything from gang violence and drugs […]
As you heard earlier in the newscast, a major component of the operation known as Not In My City has been a crackdown on what is known as quality of life crimes. That includes no bells and lights on bicycles, and also public drinking. It caused an uproar in the community early on, with residents […]
The Citizens on Patrol Program, COPS, is an initiative by the Belize Police Department designed to enhance community participation and foster better communities. It’s by no means a novel idea or a first of its kind program in Belize – we’ve seen different incarnations in different districts over the years. But it’s always fizzled out. […]
The murder statistics are in, and the numbers for this year so far have officially surpassed the figures for the same period in 2013. We probably didn’t need statistics to realize that Belize City is in the grips of increasing violence and gang warfare which seems poised to spiral out of control. We got a […]
The Belize Defence Force is tasked with patrolling our borders and defending our sovereignty. Lately, soldiers have also been deployed on Belize City streets to assist Police in dealing with spiking crime and violence. But the Force does much more than that. For the past ten years, the BDF has provided a temporary home to […]
Today, seventy-two proud recruits of intake number fifty-eight passed out at Price Barracks, ready to stand as soldiers in the Belize Defence Force. The graduation is the culmination of weeks of intense physical and mental training, with only the best of the recruits still standing to take their place in the ranks of the force […]
Usually when we’re called out to Police Training School in Belmopan it is to witness the passing out of a new squad of men and women in uniform. Today was different, but no less of an auspicious occasion, as selected men and women from every rank in the Belize Police Department received official promotions within […]
A glaring concern expressed not only by Cervantes Junior but by residents of Orange Walk is that the three men arrested – Noe Gonzalez, Mateo Pott and Angel Antonio Cardenas – do not have the resources to have orchestrated the kidnapping and murder. The Cervantes family is convinced that it’s way bigger than that and […]
At D’Silva Camp in Mountain Pine Ridge, volunteers of the Belize Defense Force and soldiers of the Louisiana National Guard are engaged in Battle Camp 2014. They are undergoing rigorous training on how to fight the enemy, but they are also fighting the mountainous terrain and the humidity. They are about to take on the […]
A battalion of four hundred and fifteen volunteer soldiers attached to the Belize Defense Force and the Louisiana National Guard is currently on an annual military training exercise in the Mountain Pine Ridge. Battle Camp 2014, as it is called, is a joint operation in which personnel from both armed forces are conducting mock jungle […]
The New Horizons initiative is a collaborative effort between both the US military and the B.D.F. One of their projects is the joint operating center, better known as JOC, which allows for local law enforcement agencies to tap into assistance from the US. JOC has been active since April of this year and since then […]
In April, Belize Defence Force personnel were called off operations in Belize City. The rationale was that border patrols would be beefed up to detect and counter illicit incursions. Today, via press release, the B.D.F. informed on one successful operation since then called Incisive Gallop. The operation was conducted at the end of May in […]
A United States naval vessel is presently in Belizean waters, where personnel onboard are on a working visit to the Belize. USNS Spearhead, a Military Sealift Command watercraft, docked at the Port of Big Creek on Sunday morning to commence the Southern Partnership Station program. The initiative is part of a U.S. Navy deployment aimed […]
