This newscast has been dominated by coverage of crime throughout the year. Tonight, we can confirm that statistics for homicides committed so far in 2017, closely rival figures that were released by the Belize Police Department a year ago. The murder count to date stands at roughly one hundred and thirty-eight, with less than a […]
On Tuesday night we brought you Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington’s broadside against Senator and former Foreign Minister Eamon Courtenay. Not only does he disagree with the proposition to immediately amend the Maritime Areas Act to restore Belize’s full portion of territorial sea and other entitlements in the south, he attacked Courtenay as seeking […]
Following debate in the Senate a week ago, Senator Courtenay was slightly dismissive of Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte’s stated concern that Belize was jumping the gun in terms of allowing negotiations to play out. But today he offered a more measured response as to what could happen if either country says no at referendum time […]
Another issue Courtenay addressed today relate to comments made by Elrington in a News Five interview on November twenty-eighth in Belmopan, following a Cabinet meeting. The Caribbean Court of Justice made a series of rulings against the Government in the settlement of Universal Health Services and Belize Telemedia. There was also one against Elrington personally […]
As Courtenay says, Elrington was seen to be taking advantage of Progresso Heights Limited’s principals, abusing his position of power. Even so and despite denying their relationship, he won the case at the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. But at the Caribbean Court of Justice, it was a different story, as according to Courtenay, […]
The sudden unraveling of Jorge Jaen’s dubious past has set tongues wagging. The Miami-based developer has managed to wangle a memorandum of understanding for a multi-million dollar development project for the Efrain Guerrero International Airport in San Pedro. A little digging by local media has uncovered previous convictions for fraudulent activity in the U.S. dating […]
This evening, we caught up with People’s United Party leader John Briceño at a political event. We will have more from that on Thursday, but we asked him to clarify the reasons why the P.U.P. chose to introduce the motion to debate the amendment to the Maritime Areas Act through the Senate rather than the […]
Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington is back from the recent SICA summit in Panama where he met with his new Guatemalan counterpart, Sandra Erica Jovel Polanco, appointed in August after the exit of Carlos Raul Morales. We will have more on their discussions including progress in the setting up of the I.C.J. referendum shortly, […]
Foreign Minister Elrington made note that the Cabinet is reviewing the amendment to the M.A.A. But he went on the offensive against Courtenay, accusing him of all sorts of things and trying to take advantage of the situation for two reasons. He argues that the slightest spook of the Guatemalans could postpone the April referendum, […]
It is closing in on two years since the government was forced to temporarily close access to the Sarstoon River after Guatemalan military personnel started enforcing its claim to the entire river including Sarstoon Island. The government proposed working on an accord with the Guatemalans concerning treatment of persons traveling up the river, whether B.D.F. […]
Belize and Guatemala traded protest notes earlier this year over two inter-linked issues: Guatemala employing offensive maps of the countries linked together except for a jagged line, and Belize using the word ‘border’ in a documentary about the Belize Defence Force. While one seems heavier than the other, Foreign Minister Elrington said they agreed to […]
Guatemala is planning its referendum on the International Court of Justice question for next April fifteenth. If a simple majority is achieved the ball moves to Belize’s court to vote later in 2018, after our municipal elections and re-registration. Minister Elrington detailed what Guatemala’s plans are at this point and how Belize is maneuvering, including […]
A duo was arraigned today in the Magistrate Court for a cocaine bust made in the City over the weekend. The men are from Caye Caulker and Lords Bank, Belize City. Information is that they were being monitored and on Sunday police moved in on them. Aside from the five kilos of cocaine stashed in […]
Fifty-three-year-old Dennis Bodden, a sanitation worker with the Belize City Council, is yet to appear before the magistrate’s court where he will face charges in connection with a near-fatal assault on his coworker on Monday. Bodden, along with Michael Tesecum and several others, sat inside a work bus during their lunch break. According to an […]
As we head to the end of the year, the murder count keeps going up. The bloodbath started on Friday morning with the murder of Jaime Pelayo in Orange Walk. That homicide was followed by murders in Independence village in the south, in the capital, Belmopan, and in Belize City. Mark Vasquez, a well known […]
In southern Belize, a twenty-one-year-old student was stabbed and killed in Independence Village. Several men attacked Victor Pau and stabbed him several times on Saturday night. His body was found early on Sunday morning. Police say they are questioning three men in connection with Pau’s killing. His family say they are devastated by his murder […]
As we reported, thirty-five-year-old Jaime Pelayo was gunned down in Orange Walk Town on Friday morning, as he stood outside of a nightclub conversing with two women. The shooting incident also left one of the women injured when she was grazed by bullets. Tonight, police are closer to making an arrest since they are now […]
Is the government in bed with a conman in the case of the multi-million dollar Basil Jones airstrip development project? The project is being spearheaded by the International Airport Alliance Belize Limited who proposes a state-of-the art facility for private charters and select flights to the island. However, questions have been raised about Jorge Abraham […]
The Ministry of Natural Resources has been investigating procedures as it relates to the mining of aggregate for road works at the Santa Cruz quarry outside of Santa Elena Town, where an explosion last week killed one man and wounded several others. Tonight, News Five has confirmed with C.E.O. in the Ministry Sharon Ramclam-Young that […]
There was further violence in the city aside from the murder and cocaine bust. A scuffle inside a popular nightclub in Belize City ended with stab wounds being inflicted on Tariq Tzul. He was injured twice in the stomach by someone he had a misunderstanding with. It is not clear whether the incident was gang […]
An Orange Walk resident is dead, following an early morning attack that left him mortally injured and a pair of women he was socializing with grazed by bullets. Jaime Pelayo Junior was shot and killed while he was hanging out with friends near a popular establishment in the Sugar City. The father of one was […]
Santa Elena Town resident and taxi driver Rasheed Hyde, accused of attempting to murder his relative Russell Hyde Junior on December third, is out on bail of ten thousand dollars from the Supreme Court. Also free on the same amount is Michael Mendoza, who is alleged to have given him the gun used in the […]
Despite no objection from prosecutors, Supreme Court Justice Adolph Lucas denied bail to one of two men accused of a home invasion in Belize City, who were previously denied in the first instance at the Magistrate’s Court. Thirty-three-year-old Leon Weir, also known as Leon Blease, is accused along with Laquan Flowers of breaking into the […]
The Caye Caulker Airstrip project, an initiative that was, to an extent, prompted by Tropic and Maya Island Air’s decision to suspend flights to the island because of a faulty runway, is in limbo tonight. That’s because the Belize Airports Authority was banking on a loan facility from the Social Security Board to conduct much […]
The delay in commencing work on the Caye Caulker airstrip is having an impact on tourism on the island. As the fifth most trafficked runway in the country, it is safe to say that a significant loss in arrivals is being recorded. While Ruiz, admits that it may take some time to get the new […]
