The celebration of Channel Five’s twenty-year anniversary continues. We went back to our archives and found an interesting story, featured in 1992. In this piece that took place in the jungle, the then News Five reporter William Neal joins the Belize Defense Force for a mock war game which occurred near pristine jungle. William Neal, […]
The seizure of a hundred and eleven bricks of cocaine which resulted in the incarceration of Mexican national Martin Rafael Urias is attributed to a team of law enforcement officers on training near the Belize/Guatemala Border last Thursday. Those officers were deployed to the Belize/Mexico Border where they continued training with the US Customs Border […]
There are new recruits to boost the numbers of the six year old Belize National Coastguard which is charged with the maritime safety and security of the Jewel. This morning, at the Williamson Complex in Ladyville, the newest intake of sailors officially joined the coastguard. The male and female recruits went through rigorous training to […]
British Forces Broadcasting Radio signed off permanently in August. It was only one component that saw the end of an era of symbolic British support to Belize. BATSUB has been either shipping off to the UK or donating much of its machinery to the Belize Defense Force (B.D.F.). On Friday, BATSUB made another sizable parting […]
The Belize National Coast Guard is the gate keeper of our territorial waters but it has limited resources to curb organized crime and other illicit activities that have become more prevalent and daring. As a part of an ongoing fight against transnational crime in the region, the U.S Southern Command and the Central American Regional […]
The Whylie Report on the investigation into the forty-two weapons that were stolen from the Belize Defence Force reveals a lack of security at the B.D.F. headquarters. The bulk store was not checked for twelve days in breach of established procedure. That is so because of changes in schedule and the person who was responsible […]
Security at the headquarters of the B.D.F. was breached last week. It was a stunning revelation that has brought disrepute to the force. Forty-two weapons, including seven M-4 carbine rifles were stolen from the armory at the weapons bulk store and these are surely to end up in the dangerous streets. The date of the […]
All week we have been reporting on the shooting of a Guatemalan which the Belize Defence Force maintains happened on this side of the border and east of the Adjacency Zone in the Chiquibul area. Representatives from the B.D.F., the Guatemalan Armed Forces and the Organization of American States met on Wednesday in a quarterly […]
Earlier this week we reported on the most recent armed confrontation between members of the Belize Defence Force on routine border patrol near the Chiquibul National Park during which a Guatemalan from nearby San Jose, Las Flores was shot. On Wednesday, the Guatemalan government complained about the incident and today the government of Belize followed […]
A third confrontation between Belize Defense Force Soldiers and Guatemalan loggers in the past fourteen days took place on Thursday making the unwelcome intrusions into the vast expanse of the Chiquibul National Park, commonplace. The frequency with which border patrols have been threatened by the illegal tree cutters in the area, is also sounding alarm […]
Last Wednesday a team of officers including Belize Defense Force personnel, forest rangers and conservationists came under fire from illegal loggers in the Chiquibul National Park. The men had already cleared quite a number of mature cedar trees, fifty-six in total, for extraction to neighboring Guatemala. While incursion from Guatemalan poachers remains a perennial issue […]
Our western border is regularly breached by Guatemalans who extract Belize’s natural resources for profit. The incident on July thirteenth where shots were fired between Guatemalan loggers occurred more than four miles inside the dense forest of the Chiquibul National Park. The border infractions are bold since the loggers travel miles into the protected area […]
The announcement that BATSUB would be significantly downsized came late last year and since then, troops have returned to Britain, Belizean employees have been laid off and the British army terminated the use of its helicopters for medical emergencies. Last Friday, the final British helicopter left the country and the British Forces news filed this […]
The Chiquibul Forest has been under attack for decades by Guatemalans who cut and pillage Belize’s resources for profit. As a matter of routine, the illegal clearings and campsites are used by loggers as well as those who harvest xate plants, just inside Belize’s border. But it seems that the situation is flaring up and […]
There’s bad news coming from the Cayo District that has pitted the B.D.F. and a group of Guatemalan illegal loggers in the constant incursions by Guatemalans into Belizean territory. The incident happened one mile away from the Caracol Mayan Ruin in the Cayo District during a joint operation on Wednesday by the police, B.D.F., Forestry […]
Belize Defense Force volunteers assist the B.D.F on a daily basis with routine work and also provide an invaluable service alongside commissioned soldiers. The volunteers are called out to serve their country in hurricanes and times of conflict. So their preparedness to respond is critical, which is why every year the volunteers gather at Camp […]
The international conference in support of Central American Security Strategy was held earlier this week. It focused on the financing needed to fight organized crime and narco-trafficking. Fifty delegations from across the region attended including Prime Minister of Belize Dean Barrow. The U.S. delegation headed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged hundreds of million […]
You’ve had a concert and a new gospel video, but there’s also karate. A group of security officers have concluded training and have acquired self defense techniques. The security personnel are employed by the Santiago Castillo Group and were trained by the House of Shotokan. News Five’s Jose Sanchez reports. Jose Sanchez, Reporting Karate is […]
Earlier this year we told you that the British Forces were reducing their number of troops in Belize and other countries due to cut backs in the British Ministry of Defense. There are still pressing concerns on the effect on the Caribbean with respect to troops that assisted in deterring narco-trafficking and other transnational crimes. […]
With drug cartels operating dangerously close to our borders and crime out of control, the Belize Coast Guard today received a sizeable donation to fight narco-trafficking. The equipment came courtesy of the US government and will be used both inland and offshore. Minister of the Police, Doug Singh, received the donation at the Coast Guard […]
The US government stepped up to the plate today to assist in the fight against crime. Through a regional initiative which benefits Central American countries and Mexico, it today made available a sizeable donation to the police. News Five’s Jose Sanchez was on hand. Jose Sanchez, Reporting Eighty-thousand U.S. dollars of equipment were donated to […]
Another intake of young men has gone from recruits to soldiers. This morning they became the newest members of the Belize Defence Force. Governor General Sir Colville Young was the inspecting officer at the graduation, which was also attended by the Acting Chief Justice Samuel Awich and Minister of Defence, Carlos Perdomo. The annual event […]
After the ceremony the recruits gathered with their family in celebration at Price Barracks. While there are opportunities for growth and experience in the B.D.F. for these recruits, it is very likely that they will eventually be placed not only along the borders of the country, but also in the streets of the old capital […]
Our headline news tonight is about a grenade that was launched at a group of women and children. It didn’t go off but it threw the community into panic. In San Pedro, big guns from the region are in a conference on illicit trafficking, that’s the illegal trading, selling or dealing in specified goods, including […]
Normally it’s the Peace Corps or the Red Cross that is deployed around the world in times of disaster. But last year the Belize Defense Force sent a Company to assist Haitians in their recovery effort. It’s a year later since the earthquake and there is still much more to be done for residents of […]
