It’s become a regular part of military and police training throughout the region. This year the Exercise Tradewinds 2000 was held in Puerto Rico. Today 43 Belizeans returned from the two-week operation. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting The BDF soldiers and members of the police force spent two weeks in Puerto Rico getting trained in internal security, […]
The Immigration and Nationality Department opened its annual training session today at the Police Academy in Belmopan. The department’s entire staff will attend three one-week seminars on a rotational basis in subjects such as powers of arrest, search and custody of prisoners and suspects, management and prosecution of immigration offenses. Instructors have been drawn from […]
The last time you saw them they were being hugged by their families as they returned home from captivity in Guatemala. For their families, they were heroes all through their nine days in a Guatemalan detention center, but today the Belize Four were honored in an official way by their military and police superiors with […]
After last Friday’s bloody bout at the Hattieville Correctional Facility, reports of another incident on Sunday raised serious concerns. However, details from inside the prison today are that radio announcements were simply part of the prison’s precautionary measures. Reports are that around 10:00am on Sunday, a prisoner from the maximum-security section refused to go back […]
Belize Defense Force soldiers and members of the Police Force are heading for Puerto Rico later this month to join in Exercise Tradewinds. The annual event involves security forces from Caricom countries, the United States and the United Kingdom. According to the BDF, the purpose is to promote regional security and disaster preparedness cooperation and […]
He brought our men home from Guatemala and today he’s paying the price. On Tuesday, Ambassador Salvador Figueroa, who had only just unpacked his bags, was expelled from Guatemala. His crime? Apparently the three Belizean soldiers and one policeman, who were released into his custody by a judge on Friday, were not supposed to leave […]
It was the climax to a drama, the likes of which Belize had not experienced in its 18 years of nationhood. The Phillip Goldson International Airport…late Friday night…a room full of anxious relatives…a tiny airplane bearing precious cargo. This was the scene of the emotional homecoming of the three Belizean soldiers and a Belizean police […]
In his first official comment on the return of the Belizean officers, at today’s House meeting, Prime Minister Said Musa says he is happy to have the men home and hopes Belize Guatemala relations can get back on track. Prime Minster, Said Musa “It was a combination of utilizing to the fullest, the legal expertise […]
The Leader of the Opposition commented today on the return of the Belizean patrol, saying he is glad that the men received legal representation and are home safe. He says he still believes the BDF need to review the way in which they deal with border encounters, but that cannot be done in isolation. He […]
The following was a live report aired after the news as the four Belizean prisoners in Guatemala returned to Belizean soil. Ernesto Vasquez Good evening, I’m Ernesto Vasquez and this is Stewart Krohn. Earlier this evening if you were with us we were talking about our boys coming back from Guatemala after being freed. On […]
While the successful politicians and their supporters took a well-deserved rest after a long night of ballot counting, when they woke up today there was still a country to run. And the major problem confronting that country is the continued incarceration of three Belizean soldiers and a policeman by Guatemalan authorities. While the four were […]
Four imprisoned Belizeans will have to wait one more day before facing a judge in Guatemala. News from Santa Elena, Peten, is that they will appear before a justice of the peace on Thursday to be formally arraigned on charges of possession of illegal weapons. No reason for the delay was given but the news […]
There’s good news and bad news coming out of Guatemala tonight. The good news is that after almost six days in captivity the four Belizeans being held in Peten jail will go before a judge. The bad news, however, is that once they make their appearance, the preliminary investigation could take three months. News Five’s […]
The press release was cryptically short but the news had to be viewed as positive. At around one this afternoon the phone rang in Belmopan and the caller on the other end was Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo. We do not have a transcript of the conversation but based on our own experience, the call must […]
It is the biggest crisis yet faced by the eighteen-month-old government of Prime Minister Said Musa. Four Belizeans–three soldiers and a policeman–literally kidnapped by a force of approximately twenty-five Guatemalan Army men. Tonight those men–Police Constable Macedonio Sanchez, BDF Private Luciano Tzub, Lance Corporal Lucio Arana and Second Lieutenant Romaldo Herrera–remain in custody at a […]
At news time tonight, three members of the Belize Defense Force and a Belizean Police Officer are still being held by Guatemalan authorities. Technical talks in Miami between the two countries have been suspended until their release. Sources inside the BDF tell News Five that around 10:00 yesterday morning, a Belizean border patrol, consisting of […]
The Belize Police Department has gotten some of the finances they say they need to overhaul the force into a well tuned, properly managed machine. This morning, British High Commissioner Tim David handed over a grant, valued at 1.75 million Belize dollars, to Minister of National Security Jorge Espat. The funds are intended to help […]
On other police news, the police department graduated forty-three recruits on Friday, but this was a class with a difference. The majority of the new officers were former members of the Belize Defense Force who volunteered to “come over” to the Police Department to help fight crime. Training included drills and courses in criminal law, […]
The press in Guatemala has continued to whip up antagonism against Belize to the point where it is not clear whether the politicians are reacting to real events or those erroneously reported in the newspapers. While the rhetoric heats up in Guatemala City, News Five took the opportunity to ask Minister of National Security, Jorge […]
The Director General of Training Support for the British Army, Major General Brian Plummer met with the Minister of National Security Jorge Espat. They discussed continued training for British Forces in Belize and the possibility of more frequent exercises in the future. During Plummer’s four day visit he will tour the BATSUB unit and see […]
The body of a Hispanic man shot on Monday by the Belize Defense Force while on patrol in the jungle about a mile inside the Belize/Guatemala border has not yet been found. According to the Ministry of National Security, on Monday, around two in the afternoon, a BDF patrol searching for illegal marijuana plantations was […]
The Belize Police Department has had its share of criticism over the years, especially after several high profile cases were foiled because of police error. The department changed its name and moved around some officers in high positions as part of the effort to create a new image, especially in the area of professionalism. Today […]
The diplomatic mission to Guatemala comes at a time when border tensions between the two countries are running a bit higher than normal. Recently a Guatemalan army patrol was met by a Belize Defense Force patrol in the area of San Vicente, a tiny settlement in Toledo just south of the Columbia River Forest Reserve. […]
They may be working in a male dominated field but today Belize’s female police officers, which represent almost eleven percent of the department, got a chance to get together and compare notes. The workshop at the Police Training School in Belmopan included a review of the code of conduct, work performance and encouraged the officers […]
In a story aired on News Five on September fourteenth, we said, “much of the Belizean border with Guatemala is an imaginary line.” Right after the report aired, the Ministry of National Security and Immigration called to inform us that there are in fact two principal monuments and thirty-nine border cairns marking the border with […]
