Government’s official position is that the International Court of Justice is the only option left to Belize to solve the territorial dispute. Elrington reiterated that stance this morning, but he was also very careful to point out that there will be no ICJ without a mandate from the people, and that mandate can only come […]
Guatemala’s official position is the same as that of Belize. They want to go to a referendum, and if successful, on to the ICJ. Where that referendum is concerned though, there’s been a delay caused by months of civil unrest in Guatemala, which has pushed a referendum down on a list of critical priorities. Guatemalan, […]
The session, which likely would have gotten much more uncomfortable and intense for the officials of the O.A.S. and Guatemala, was cut short. But outside there was more waiting for them. A very small group of protesters including representation from COLA and the Vision Inspired by the People stood outside with placards to vent their […]
The P.U.P. today released an ad in which John Briceño is heard endorsing Francis Fonseca as party leader. That endorsement took place just before the Dangriga Bye-elections. But things have changed since then and today, a letter signed by twelve standard bearers was delivered to the Party Chairman, Henry Usher. The twelve are calling for […]
But before the letter was delivered, today the women of the People’s United Party, including four standard bearers, a senator and the head of the women’s group, held a press conference, ostensibly to discuss critical issues facing the nation. But in truth, the gathering is a public relations response to increasing rumbles of discontent in […]
Today, all parties in a libel and slander suit brought by Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega were back in Court. Vega is suing Ramon Cervantes Jr. and Fiesta FM because he says that in November 2014 they both caused to be aired a recording of a phone conversation. In that conversation, suspected murderer and fugitive […]
The construction of a forward operating base on the mainland, at the mouth of the Sarstoon River, has been the latest issue on the discussion table between Belize and Guatemala. It follows a memo from Guatemala that it was not comfortable with the Belize government proposal to build the military base on an area, which […]
In the days leading up to the Dangriga bye-election earlier this month, the People’s United Party held a National Party Council meeting in that municipality. Coming out of the sit down were two motions, including a position on the unfounded Guatemalan claim. The opposition has expressed a vote of no confidence in the Barrow administration’s […]
For the past five or six years, the Institute of Archeology has been having discussions with the village of Santa Cruz because the archeological site of Uxbenka encompasses five square kilometers and the village sits within the proposed archeological reserve. One of the many mounds within that vicinity is being unlawfully occupied by Rupert Myles, […]
According to Dr. Morris, fifty percent of the ruin has been damaged as a result of Myles’ action. Again, Myles will be served a notice of eviction, this time by the National Institute of Culture and History. Dr. John Morris, Director, Institute of Archeology “Just like the case with the Noh Mul…the destruction of […]
Almost a year after the shooting death of Tourism Police Officer Danny Conorquie at the Caracal Archaeological Site in Western Belize, a conservation post has been erected to thwart illicit activity in the area. For quite some time it is believed that Guatemalan bandidos have pillaged the ancient site, taking along with them precious artifacts […]
Minister of National Security John Saldivar and six senior officers of the Police Department conducted a mid-year review succeeded by a release issued earlier this week. There has been a change in the Eastern Division where there are currently three commanders for the wider Belize District and two new police jurisdictions will be opened in […]
The Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega took the stand in court today. A substantive libel case is being brought against two parties by Vega before Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin. Vega is suing Ramon Cervantes Junior, his political opponent in Orange Walk North, for slandering him and causing damage to his reputation by airing a defamatory […]
Vega will return to court for the final day of the trial at ten in the morning, when witnesses on his behalf and on the behalf of the first and second defendants will be cross-examined. On day one, no evidence was presented in court that it was indeed Fiesta FM’s equipment that was used to […]
The Belize Energy Workers Union remains gingerly upbeat tonight following a meeting with Labor Minister, Godwin Hulse, in an effort to break the deadlock in negotiations with the principals of B.E.L. The meeting today comes on the tail end of a series of a peaceful three-day demonstration staged by the membership of the union earlier […]
Following today’s meeting with Minister Hulse, another sit down has been scheduled with the management of the company before a decision can be met. When asked if the intercession of the Labor Minister and the outcome of their presentation indicate a break in the impasse, Mora says not so fast. The union is awaiting an […]
Firebrand activist Geovanni Brackett, President of Citizens Organized for Liberty Through Action, COLA, is taking aim once again at Foreign Affairs Minister Wilfred Elrington, this time for comments made about the halted FOB project in the vicinity of the Sarstoon River. COLA is also taking umbrage to the notion that Belize would be proceeding to […]
COLA’s position on the issue of the construction of an F.O.B. in the Sarstoon echoes that of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize and Vision Inspired by the People. Brackett reiterates that it goes without saying that the coastguard installation would be built on Belizean soil, and as such there is absolutely no need […]
On the heels of a call from the People’s National Party for Elrington’s immediate resignation as Minister of Foreign Affairs, COLA is following suit, demanding that he vacates the post forthwith. Geovanni Brackett, President, COLA “We are completely annoyed and disgusted with the way the minister is handling this situation. We have called for […]
Foreign Affairs Minister Wilfred Elrington arrived back in country today after working visits in both Washington and Mexico. Just before he left last Thursday, in an exclusive interview with News Five, we asked him about the explosive revelation that Guatemala was opposing the construction of a Coast Guard Forward Operating Base on the mainland at […]
But with the construction of the F.O.B. on hold, the Vision Inspired by the People is joining the National Trade Union Congress of Belize in demanding that the coast guard proceed with the construction of the base near the mouth of the Sarstoon River. The call by both organizations is contrary to Guatemala’s position that […]
The bold move by the N.T.U.C.B., according to Rogers, is an about-face from the trade union’s flip-flop on the Petrocaribe issue. Patrick Rogers, Vision Inspired by the People “I must give big kudos before I turn over the mic to Brother Hubert, to the N.T.U.C.B. They put out that powerful statement establishing that, N.T.U.C.B. […]
Those comments by the Vision Inspired by the People have also been expressed, to a large extent and just as vocally, by the National Trade Union Congress of Belize and the People’s National Party, which today called for the immediate resignation of Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington. Those parties take huge offence, to put it mildly, […]
And then there has been speculation that there exists a secret document which envisions, in some form or fashion, both countries going to the ICJ without going to a referendum. Foreign Minister Elrington shot that down in a hurry, and went further to say that there will be no negotiation with Guatemala because G.O.B. is […]
Just about an hour before taking to the streets on the final day of a series of protests which began on Monday, BEWU President Marvin Mora received a telephone call from Minister of Labor Godwin Hulse. The conversation was essentially a request for the Belize Energy Workers Union to make a presentation to Hulse in […]
