Like most viewers on Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington was watching the news when he saw the report by the Belize Territorial Volunteers’ leader Wil Maheia. Maheia was accompanying members of a youth basketball team led by Clinton “Pulu” Lightburn on a trip to Sarstoon Island when they encountered members of the Guatemalan […]
Back in December former Foreign Minister Eamon Courtenay demanded that current Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington clashed over the Maritime Areas Act. Courtenay asked Elrington to reveal which legal advisors he and the government have been consulting in the U.K. who suggest that the Act should not be repealed right away, lest it offend Guatemala. Elrington […]
The spectre of loss in aid from the United States hangs over Belize and other countries, one hundred and twenty-eight in total, who voted in favour of a United Nations resolution in December. This resolution opposed the U.S. decision to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv, the national capital, to Jerusalem, the historic […]
Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington’s meeting with his Guatemalan counterpart Sandra Jovel Polanco produced a number of updates on critical issues between the two countries. After months of tension due to confrontations at both the western and southern borders, Guatemala appears to be signaling a return to diplomacy. Belize is soon to get back an Ambassador […]
Despite niceties over the years on the diplomatic front, relationships on the ground between the two countries have shown bumps and bruises. The two foreign ministers spoke of trying to reverse the situation, especially as it relates to the western border, where business to Melchor slowed down in the wake of the shooting death of […]
2017 is almost over and it was a big year news-wise. But 2018 is expected to be even bigger, as the question Belizeans and Guatemalans have been waiting for decades to answer will be asked separately. That question is: “Do you agree that any legal claim by Guatemala against Belize on continental inland territories and […]
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 […]
Earlier we made mention of the first meeting between Foreign Minister Elrington and his Guatemalan counterpart, Sandra Jovel Polanco who succeeded Carlos Raul Morales in August. Polanco is the first female Foreign Minister of Guatemala. She asked for the meeting on the sidelines of the SICA summit and a full rundown of Belize-Guatemala affairs was […]
The capital city, Belmopan, according to our archives, has seen no less than eight cab drivers murdered between 2009 and 2017. While each circumstance is different, the coincidence is too pat for residents, who like to think of themselves as a close-knit community. The latest murder victim is close to home, as sixty-nine year old […]
The Sixth CARICOM Cuba Summit took place in Antigua and Barbuda, where Belize is being represented by Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber. The top-level diplomatic conference is held triennially and assesses cooperation between Cuba and the CARICOM member states. Since its establishment fifteen years ago, the summit is taking particular focus on two regional projects, […]
Perhaps the biggest proponent for Belize’s signing on to the Caribbean Court of Justice as its final appellate jurisdiction in March 2015, was former Attorney General Wilfred Elrington. He was the country’s chief legal officer at the time of the transition from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. While he once advocated for the […]
Later in this newscast, we will show you what the Customs Department is doing about enforcement on importation of known counterfeit goods. But the Department is practically a sort of border patrol along with Immigration and Nationality. On Friday at the western border, four Guatemalan soldiers and a media crew entered the Champon or so-called […]
Taiwan is giving Belize one million dollars for crime-fighting and law-enforcement equipment. The Belize Police Department will acquire body cameras, motorcycles, handcuffs, drones, breathalyzer equipment and a cellebrite machine, which uses technology to recover, transfer and document evidence from different devices. A cheque for a five hundred thousand U.S.-dollar grant was presented to Minister of […]
Turning to another matter of national interest….Belize has, for now, raised no objections to Guatemala once again promoting its unfounded claim with an offensive map purporting to include our territory, ahead of the March eighteenth, 2018 referendum on going to the International Court of Justice. But Guatemala, it appears, is fairly easily offended by Belizean […]
The Opposition People’s United Party announced a week ago tonight that it had filed a motion in the Senate to allow for debate on amending the Maritime Areas Act of 1992. That motion will be officially announced at the next meeting of the Senate by the lead P.U.P. Senator, Eamon Courtenay. The goal is to […]
It was a rare moment at the Supreme Court this morning: Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington giving the press an interview on issues related to Guatemala, with former Foreign Minister, Senator Eamon Courtenay, appearing to listen keenly in the background. And he surprised the press by going to the Guatemala issue first rather than […]
Senator Eamon Courtenay told News Five that the P.U.P.’s three Senators hope to join with the social partner Senators to get the matter debated in the Senate, preferably with but possibly without governmental support, after which it would go to the House once the motion passes. But the “excuses” raised by Foreign Minister Elrington will […]
As stated earlier by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the issue has come up in cabinet. On Thursday last, deputy Prime Minster Patrick Faber was quizzed about it. He said that the hands of cabinet ministers have been freed for them to vote their conscience. Patrick Faber, Deputy Prime Minister “It is a matter […]
On Monday, we told you that the Guatemalan public awareness campaign as to the March eighteenth, 2018 referendum on settlement of the unfounded claim on Belize at the International Court of Justice re-introduces a rather offensive item. We speak specifically of a map of Guatemala that includes Belize as the disputed “twenty-third province,” with a […]
Similar to Elrington, we posed the question of what can be done to counter the offensive Guatemalan map which affixes Belize as part of its territory to Senator Eamon Courtenay. The former Foreign Affairs Minister first questioned what the Government’s position was, and upon being told there was apparently none, incredulously issued out a laundry […]
The Bliss Center for the Performing Arts is the venue for the Gwangdae’s Korean folk performance, “Spin Jump Fly.” Just before news time tonight, the Korean Embassy in El Salvador which is accredited to Belize showcased Korean traditional dance, percussion instruments and the comedy of the circus. “Spin Jump Fly” is being performed by ten […]
