During the budget debate at the end of March, Prime Minister Dean Barrow called out Opposition Leader John Briceño accusing him of dubiously amassing huge acreages of land in the Orange Walk and Corozal districts during the P.U.P. era of government. PM Barrow went on to list the acquisition of properties in areas, including Progresso, […]
Briceño vehemently defended the lawful purchase of the properties, despite the fire sale prices at which they were bought. John Briceño, Party Leader, P.U.P. “Those are lands that we bought from individuals in Progresso. You know when you buy a lease, it was abandoned cane lands and we bought those leases from the Lino […]
During our coverage of the referendum in Guatemala, you’ve heard a number of voices weigh in on Guatemala’s “Yes” vote to go to the ICJ on the Belize-Guatemala territorial dispute. Today, Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte was asked for his view on the matter. While he said he wouldn’t comment directly on the Guatemalan results, he […]
There is mounting trouble in the citrus industry in the south. Already facing a significant decline in production, down to three million boxes, the news tonight is that the Citrus Growers Association is in deep financial trouble. Faced with a five million dollar debt which it has been unable to pay for its plant nursery […]
Citrus production will see a sharp decline of almost seven hundred thousand boxes of oranges this year, down from three point two million in 2017. That downturn is being attributed to HLB, or citrus greening, disease. While production of grapefruit goes up, there are concerns that both fruits are being sold across the border to […]
Despite its financial woes, all is not doom and gloom in the citrus industry. There is optimism to report from the Plant World Nursery project. C.E.O. Anderson believes that once it gets off the ground fully and the arrears are covered, the investment will provide monies for its stakeholders. Henry Anderson, Chief Executive Officer, […]
We regularly report on nationals of Guatemala and Honduras caught in Belizean waters with illegally captured produce, but rarely in the other direction. But according to Guatemalan media reports, on Tuesday morning three men were picked up by Guatemalan military personnel near Livingston. Prensa Libre reports that radar on the Guatemalan side warned of a […]
What’s in a name? Just ask the Belize Police Department. They say they want to help to eliminate the stigma associated with what’s known as the “south side” and they want to get residents to start looking at the City as a whole – and not by north and south sides with connotations. So, they’ve […]
Guatemala’s Minister of Foreign Affairs on Monday further discussed her country’s participation in Sunday’s referendum. As has been widely noted, about twenty-seven percent of the population voted in the referendum of which a super-majority said yes. But with Belize’s referendum act requiring a simple majority turnout – something Guatemala is said to have pushed for […]
Senior attorney Lisa Shoman, who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Said Musa’s administration and has been an ambassador to the United States and permanent representative to the Organization of American States, as well as put in valuable time on Belize’s diplomatic team attending to the Guatemalan claim, has a different view to […]
Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber has chimed in on the outcome of Guatemala’s referendum, sharing with the media a personal view on the democratic process in the absence of a cabinet meeting. On Monday, the Government of Belize issued a statement applauding Guatemala for successfully carrying out its national exercise. Roughly twenty-five percent of the […]
The possibility of voters saying no to the ICJ is a very real likelihood. If that were indeed the case, Faber says that government would have no choice but to respect the will of the people. The drawback, however, is that Belize would once again find itself in the very same predicament with Guatemala that […]
On Monday, Opposition Leader John Briceño told News Five that government has fallen short of meaningfully consulting with the People’s United Party on what has long been a national issue. This evening, Deputy Prime Minister Faber responded by saying that the P.U.P. are in fact the ones that are using the referendum as a political […]
News Five, in an interview with Guatemala’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, touched on two topics of special interest to Belizeans in the wake of Sunday’s referendum. The first concerns relations between the countries. At the highest level, says Sandra Jovel Polanco, things could not be better. Polanco cites that she has met cordially with her […]
But could relations be soured or broken irretrievably if the International Court of Justice, assuming assent from both populations, rules in Belize’s favor? It’s a question that makes both sides uncomfortable considering Guatemala’s prior reputation and the scale of how much Belize has to lose. But Minister Jovel Polanco insists that Guatemala will respect the […]
While there were bouquets across the border between Belize and Guatemala following Sunday’s referendum result, color the Belize Progressive Party unsurprised and unimpressed. They said as much in a press statement issued Monday evening, reminding that the Guatemalan leadership was taking advantage of what it called local “facilitation” that puts Belize at severe risk to […]
Police say they have caught up to the man they believed killed one of Channel Five’s own. Thirty-seven-year-old Marcia Downs was shot twice at her front gate on April eleventh by someone she knew, and died during treatment at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. A teenager, nineteen-year-old Antwon Alburn Rivero believed to be a Handyside […]
Guatemala has spoken and its citizens have done so decisively, those who came out on Sunday to participate in the referendum. Following a somewhat abbreviated education campaign which commenced in that country in mid-January, voters took to polling stations across twenty-two departments, including neighboring Peten. When the results began coming in sometime after ten p.m., […]
In the absence of Prime Minister Barrow and Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington, we sought a reaction to Sunday’s outcome from Opposition Leader John Briceño. The head of the People’s United Party, like the Government of Belize, congratulates Guatemala on the successful results of its referendum, despite a poor voter turnout. On the home front, Briceño […]
Guatemalan Vice President Jafeth Cabrera recently met with Belize’s Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington in Lima, Peru while attending the Eighth Summit of the Americas. Cabrera reportedly told the Guatemalan media, following the gathering of heads of state and government of the Western Hemisphere, that he had been informed by Foreign Minister Elrington of a similar […]
Vice President of Guatemala Jafeth Cabrera voted in Sunday’s referendum in Guatemala City. According to Prensa Libre, he told reporters that he understands Belize will go to vote in its referendum in May of 2018, though he possibly meant 2019. Either way, he maintained that Belize has already committed to the path and now it […]
With Guatemalans giving the nod to take the territorial claim to the I.C.J., does the result put added pressure on the Belizean government and populace to have the same? On this side of the border, residents were tuned in to coverage of the referendum. Today, a News Five team took to the streets of the […]
We have heard from Belizeans as to what they are thinking now that the results in Guatemala are a reality. But how, really, did we get here? It started ten years ago when the countries signed a special agreement in Washington, but there have been quite a few bumps in the road since. News Five’s […]
A father of three was killed in Belize City on Sunday evening. Police say that they have one man in custody and are looking for another – but the motive of the killing has stumped his family. They say that Jason Belencio is a family man, but he was callously taken out with five shots […]
A double murder took place early this morning at Caye Lagos which is located about four miles south of Caye Caulker. The small caye is occupied primarily by fisher folks but at three this morning; tragedy struck for two men socializing at a three-story building around eleven-thirty on Thursday night. Caretaker Mark Sewell and fisherman […]
