News Five was the only media house in Guatemala City where an amendment was formalized to the 2008 Special Agreement this past Monday. It is all part of a process which could land the territorial dispute before the International Court of Justice. Belize’s Foreign Minister Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington signed on the dotted line for Belize […]
But even though the amendment was signed on Monday, the document will need to get approval from the Guatemalan Congress, unlike Belize. So what is the possibility of it getting the congressional nod anytime soon? Carlos Raul Morales, Foreign Minister, Guatemala “You know it is difficult. With Congress it is difficult to say that […]
For about two years now, the referendum unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been holding an education campaign in schools and civil society on the pros and cons of taking the territorial dispute to the International Court of Justice. That has not been the case in Guatemala where the Foreign Minister says the […]
There is a lot of crime news, but tonight we start our newscast with a historic event that occurred in Guatemala City on Monday. A Belizean delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wilfred Elrington, was there to join the Guatemalan Foreign Minister, Carlos Raul Morales, in signing an amendment to the original special […]
According to the original Special Agreement, a simultaneous referenda was scheduled for October 2013, but Guatemala decided it was not proceeding with it and for years, it did not support taking the territorial dispute to the International Court of Justice. But all that has now changed and Guatemala is now aggressively pursuing that route. We […]
Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales told the media that for both countries to move forward, the bilateral agenda between the two must be separate from the territorial dispute. This strategy resulted in the signing of a number of agreements at the SICA summit last December in Placencia. Nine of these have now gone through the […]
Caleb Orozco. He has become the face of the LGBT Community and he has been in news for years challenging section 53 of the Belize Constitution. Well, this is not about that challenge. But, maybe it is that challenge that landed him in the prestigious New York Times. Today an article of almost five thousand […]
So, what does a major spread in the New York Times do for the LGBT Community? Caleb says it is about showing just how real it is for persons from community and he wants to raise awareness. And from the article it seems as if though Orozco has been facing the brunt of the discrimination, […]
An interesting case came up today in the Benque Viejo Magistrate Court. It involves six Cuban nationals, three men and three females, who were detained two weeks ago in the general area of the Mayan site Xunantunich, Cayo District. According to reports, the Cubans were initially remanded for illegal entry but when they appeared in […]
The signing of an amendment to the 2008 Special Agreement is proceeding as planned in Guatemala City this coming Monday. Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington and his Guatemalan counterpart Carlos Raul Morales will sign the agreement but for the first time the opposition will not participate. The amendment results in a significant and fundamental change to […]
There is turmoil in Guatemala tonight where they have been mass firings of government ministers by the embattled President, Otto Perez Molina who is under pressure to resign. Still yet, a government delegation is planning to travel to Guatemala City this weekend where an amendment to the Special Agreement will be ratified before outgoing OAS […]
According to Shoman, the PUP cannot endorse government’s position to amend the Special Agreement since there has not been any input by the opposition or public consultation on the matter. Lisa Shoman “At that time, as far as the Leader of the Opposition was confirmed this was not yet answered in the affirmative. In […]
During the prime minister’s press briefing last Thursday, he told the media that Belize would have an advantage were Guatemala to proceed with individual referendum in November. Our vote, he said, would hinge on the outcome of Guatemala’s decision. That position, is seemingly not a shared one, since Shoman says that it’s a departure from […]
As you heard earlier, the opposition will not be present in Guatemala on Monday when the government proceeds to sign an amendment to the special agreement. But tonight the situation is volatile in Guatemala where President Otto Perez earlier today fired several senior government officials, including the ministers of the interior, energy and environment. The […]
This weekend Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington will travel to Guatemala to sign an amendment to the Special Agreement signed at the O.A.S. headquarters in Washington back in 2008. The signing on Monday which will allow Guatemala to hold its referendum separately from ours has come under fire because while it is a significant change, there […]
Courtenay took special exception to a statement made to News Five by Foreign Minister Elrington last week. Elrington claimed that, quote – “At this point in time, we don’t know when we are in Belizean waters. We don’t know when we are in international waters,” end quote. Elrington went on to say that, quote – […]
On Sunday about two hundred Belizeans, led by the Belize Territorial Volunteers, travelled to the Garbutt Falls border monument in Benque Viejo del Carmen. As they have been doing for many months, the group is trying to get government’s attention. They want government to get serious about the recognition of the border line between Belize […]
The Belize Chamber of Commerce has taken a position in respect of the Petrocaribe Loans Act which is in line with the pronouncement of the unions and the P.U.P. as well as the VIP. On May fourteenth, the Chamber wrote to the Prime Minister underlining that while it is not against the Petrocaribe Initiative, it […]
This past Sunday, the Foreign Minister of Guatemala, Carlos Raul Moralez was in Belize. The visit coincides with the signing of an amendment to the 2008 compris, which is now formally called the Special Agreement . Both Belize and Guatemala intend to sign the amendment on Monday in Guatemala City. The amendment will allow the […]
As it stands, the political situation in Guatemala remains unstable. This past Saturday, thousands protested against acts of corruption, demanding jail time for those who are guilty. The masses are also insisting on President Otto Perez Molina’s resignation, in the wake of Vice President Roxana Baldetti’s abrupt departure a week ago. Still, elections in Guatemala […]
A delegation led by Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington leaves for Guatemala City next weekend where they will witness the signing of the revised Special Agreement on May twenty-fifth. The amended Compromis, as News Five has reported, will allow Guatemala to hold an individual referendum presumably by November. The national poll will determine whether the issue […]
The Prime Minister said on Thursday that he had instructed the Minister to issue a release and that the Foreign Minister may have preempted an official release by government on the proposed changes. Elrington explains the recent slipup. He says that despite the prime minister’s request to have the information disseminated to the opposition, as […]
Career banker Patrick Andrews has been designated to succeed Ambassador Nestor Mendez as Belize’s top diplomat to the State Department and to the O.A.S. in Washington. While his appointment is not yet official, Andrews will replace Mendez who was recently elected as Assistant Secretary General to the OAS. Aside from his business acumen, Andrews is […]
The Special Agreement signed between Belize and Guatemala in December 2008, will be amended later this month to allow Guatemala to proceed solo with a referendum on whether the longstanding territorial dispute should be brought before the International Court of Justice for resolution. As it stands, the Compromis calls on both countries to hold simultaneous […]
Contrary to what the Leader of the Opposition told the media, the P.M. claims that Fonseca was indeed informed of the proposed changes to the Special Agreement. He maintains that after meeting with his party, Fonseca returned a call informing him of the P.U.P.’s consent. The P.M. then told Fonseca that a release would be […]
