Prime Minister Dean Barrow picked Lisel Alamilla as the minister with responsibilities for Forestry, Fisheries, the Environment and Indigenous People. Alamilla, the former Ya’axche Executive Director, came under fire when it resigned from the Coalition to Save our Natural Heritage during its campaign for a referendum on offshore drilling. Alamilla’s rapport with the Association of […]
Twenty-one year old Simon Velasquez is tonight undergoing medical treatment under police guard. Earlier today, he was shot when he was being pursued by two cops in San Pedro. It is alleged that Velasquez was involved in a number of altercations this afternoon and that he physically attacked several persons. At three-forty-five p.m. police were […]
The U.D.P. government won seventeen of the thirty-one divisions throughout the country in last week’s general elections. Prime Minister Dean Barrow indicated last week that he would mull over the configuration of new ministers and ministries. This afternoon at the NEMO conference room in Belmopan, the PM was flanked by Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega, […]
At a first glance it appeared that the PM placated his critics when he appointed Liselle Alamilla as a minister. Her appointment would secure a second female minister and her conservation background as the director of Ya’axche Conservation Trust would mean that environmentalists would receive a senator and a minister that would support them. But […]
According to the prime minister, the four senators are U.D.P.s. Senator Charles Gibson was selected to be Minister of Public Service and Elections and Boundaries. Gibson is a career public officer and is well known in the Capital. But more so, the fourth senator appointed as minister is well known farmer, orator, and independent thinker, […]
While Prime Minister Dean Barrow was putting the final touches to his Cabinet, the People’s United Party met at Independence Hall. The opposition party has still not conceded the elections because of alleged Election Day irregularities for which it has filed three petitions in court. The P.U.P. is blaming its defeat on Mark Espat and […]
When the House meets next Wednesday for the first time in this term, there’s going to be a new speaker. That was revealed among other appointments that were announced today. That presentation included the other U.D.P. senators and the Cabinet Secretary. Dean Barrow “There are some other appointments that I can disclose at this time. […]
The elected representatives were not the only people holding their collective breath to see if they would be doled out responsibilities in the government. The Chief Executive Officers (C.E.O.) for the ministries also waited and listened if they would continue to hold their posts. In most of the redesigned ministries, C.E.O.’s remained the same, however, […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow took the oath this morning for a second term of office. The ceremonies were brief at Belize House in Belmopan where the Governor General Sir Colville Young administered the oath. The GG, in offering congratulations, told the Prime Minister that his victory was not for the party but for Belize. The […]
Abelardo Mai handsomely won the Orange Walk South division for the P.U.P. on March seventh. But in less than forty-eight hours, many reports, text messages and calls went across the country with one common message that Mai was locked up in a Chetumal jail because of an illegal weapon. The rumors started when the newly […]
The 2012 International Control Strategy report has been released by the US State Department. The US Department notes that the security situation is likely continue to deteriorate in Belize, which has become a major drug producing and transit country in 2011. The report notes that the country had no successful prosecutions related to large seizures […]
The elections are over. There was a relative short campaign on the ground, but the battle was fought fiercely on the television screens. Both major political parties relied on television ads to get their messages out. The duration of the newscast, particularly in the last week of the campaign frustrated some; others kept their eyes […]
Hundreds of spectators turned out early this morning at the banks of the Macal River to witness the launch of the annual Ruta Maya River Challenge that has become a staple of the March ninth activities. At seven this morning, the bugle sounded; more than seventy teams paddled away to Banana Bank, the first stop […]
The U.D.P. lost eight of its seats and at times during the night it appeared that the P.U.P. might have won. The PM admitted it was a close call and he even considered what he would say to the media if the tide had turned. But what caused the loss in of so many U.D.P. […]
He hasn’t formed a new Cabinet and we will not know which of the seventeen representatives will get a portfolio. He did announce that not all of the elected members of the U.D.P. government will sit in Cabinet. Four others will be brought through the senate, which means that the new Cabinet will be fifteen […]
The United Democratic Party was returned to government with a significantly reduced margin. Of the twenty-five seats held by the U.D.P., it lost seven. The pendulum swept completely in the south and the opposition also gained ground in the north and west, giving it a stronger voice in parliament. We’ll look at those details later […]
There were over a hundred campaign promises made by both the P.U.P. and the U.D.P. And now that Barrow is in for his second term, he intends to fulfill a promise that he says wasn’t on the manifesto. He wants to explore the possibility of a national oil refinery. Barrow also intends to seek write-offs […]
The prime minister announced at a press conference that he will take the oath on Friday for his new term in government, but the People’s United Party says it’s not conceding the elections. According to P.U.P. leader, Francis Fonseca, the elections were neither free nor fair and that the electoral process was tainted with irregularities. […]
The P.U.P. is filing three challenges, which Fonseca says might overturn the results. Two petitions are on the razor thin results in the Cayo District and the other relates to Lake Independence where Yolanda Schakron’s nomination was rejected by registering officer, Noreen Fairweather. The director of communications cited allegations of irregularities and abuse. Lisa Shoman, […]
The Electoral Observation Mission coordinated by the Organization of American States has concluded its report on the March seventh dual elections. The team of twenty-two men and women, representing thirteen OAS member states, arrived in the country last Thursday at the request of the government to scrutinize the General and Municipal Elections. Members were deployed […]
The decision for the 2012 elections is a breath away. In less than twelve hours the polls will open for voting in these critical elections. There are seventy candidates vying for thirty-one seats in the general elections and one hundred and seventy for the municipal elections. Both major political parties released their manifestos two weeks […]
Our broadcast of the general and municipal elections starts at six in the morning with reporters covering all thirty-one constituencies and nine municipalities. Inside our studios, to crunch the numbers and provide commentary and analysis, a team of experienced pundits will be on air from the start to finish. News Five spoke to two of […]
Wednesday’s dual elections will be the culmination of weeks and in some cases months of vigorous door to door campaigning. While electioneering will not be allowed on the day the U.D.P. and the P.U.P. are tonight busy making last-minute preparations in order to mobilize their supporters to come out to vote. It is expected that […]
In the blue corner, the P.U.P. has been persistently covering ground in all reaches of the country since the date for General Elections was set for March seventh. Despite recent poll results which indicate that the P.U.P. will be returned to office, the party isn’t taking any chances. According to Chairman Henry Charles Usher, the […]
In the heat of the campaign, a last minute political ad has been aired in other media houses alleging that this station has been instructed to provide free political advertising for the opposition People’s United Party. That’s an allegation that we dismiss as an outright lie and believe there is mischief afoot to embroil us […]
