The CARICOM summit proceeds in Guyana, but the headlines out of Georgetown have more to do with events in the streets than in the conference centre. On Wednesday police fired on a group of demonstrators who broke into the presidential compound, killing two and wounding six. The small group of anti-government protesters broke away from […]
The twenty-third Summit of the CARICOM Heads of Government opened this afternoon in Georgetown, Guyana. Featured speaker at the annual event was Belize’s Prime Minister Said Musa, who as outgoing chairman of the organisation was called upon to gave an account of his stewardship. Through the co-operation of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Caribbean Media Corporation […]
Prime Minister Said Musa left Belize today for Guyana to meet with Caribbean leaders as part of the twenty-third regular meeting of the conference of Heads of Government. While in Guyana, Musa will discuss the regional strategic tourism plan, the task force on crime security and the Caribbean approach to achieve and maintain access to […]
He has written so many cheques during his term of office that his wrist must be sore, but that hasn’t stopped Ambassador Charles Tsai from signing one more. On Monday the Taiwanese diplomat presented a cheque for two hundred and twenty-eight thousand U.S. dollars to Prime Minister Said Musa. This represents the sixth tranche of […]
While journalistic rumour has it that the U.S. government is vex with Belize for turning down its request to use the Voice of America station in Punta Gorda to beam propaganda into Cuba, you’d never know it by the news from Gabourel Lane. A press release from the embassy today indicates that work is nearly […]
And in the only item in today’s news that does not involve crime, three days of meetings ended in Belize City today for the tourism commission of Plan Puebla Panama. According to a government press release, the meetings were designed to come up with ideas to link the southern states of Mexico with the seven […]
Prime Minister Said Musa returned home today after a four-day official visit to South Korea. According to a government press release, the P.M. met President Kim Dae Jung at the Blue House, the president’s office in Seoul, to talk about a number of issues. These included financial support for Belize through Korea’s Economic Development Co-operation […]
The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital now has more doctors, nurses, lab technicians and radiologists to serve the public. Nineteen more thanks to the Nigeria-Belize Technical Co-operation Programme, a partnership which has provided Belize with expertise in the areas of education and health for over a decade. The new two-year contractual agreement between Belize and Nigeria […]
Belize’s failure to allow U.S. authorities to broadcast propaganda into Cuba from a relay station in the Toledo District is being downplayed in Belmopan. A recent report in the Miami Herald indicates that the U.S. government was taken aback by the refusal of Prime Minister Said Musa to grant permission for the Voice of America […]
The relationship between Belize and Costa Rica strengthened visibly today when an official delegation from that Central American nation’s newly elected government paid a short but important visit to the country. Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister, Roberto Tovar Faja, arrived this morning and met with Prime Minister Said Musa and other government officials to discuss new […]
Belize currently holds the chairmanship of CARICOM and our officials have been busy preparing for that organisation’s upcoming events. Last weekend Foreign Minister Assad Shoman chaired a meeting of the Community Council, CARICOM’s second highest decision making body, to finalise agendas for the twenty-third Heads of Government Summit and a long awaited meeting of civil […]
The thirty-second General Assembly of the Organisation of American States is taking place in Barbados this week, and one result of the meeting has been a chance for Belize and Guatemala to hold bilateral discussions. According to an OAS release, Foreign Minister Assad Shoman has met with his Guatemalan counterpart, Gabriel Orellana, not to mention […]
It was originally planned for April, tentatively rescheduled for May and now the only date mentioned is “soon”. What we’re referring to is the presentation by the facilitators on their recommendations for a final settlement of the Guatemalan claim to Belize. The originally stated reason for the delay was scheduling difficulties attributed to O.A.S. Secretary […]
Family members of three Guatemalan men shot and killed by a Belizean security patrol last November have been awarded payments from the Belize government. According to Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, David Gibson, on May sixteenth Belize’s ambassador to Guatemala, Moises Cal presented cheques valued at a total of forty-eight thousand […]
Later this week, a Belizean delegation will join representatives of Latin American and Caribbean countries in Spain for a series of meetings with that country and the European Union. On Thursday, Prime Minister Said Musa, Minister of Foreign Affairs Assad Shoman and their counterparts from the Caribbean Community, will discuss opportunities for ventures with Spanish […]
In news from Belmopan, the joint co-operation commission between Belize and Cuba has finished its two days of meetings. An agreement was signed that will continue the close working relationship between the two countries in trade, tourism, culture, housing and health, with a memorandum of understanding concluded on sending low income patients to Cuba for […]
Back in the days before independence, it was known as the Anglo-Guatemalan dispute, a difference of opinion in which Belize was vitally interested, but officially a bystander. All that changed with Independence in 1981, and with it went Great Britain’s role as a major protagonist in the drama. But as the curtain is about to […]
It’s getting closer to crunch time in efforts to settle the Guatemalan claim to Belize, and one sure sign is that the British are finally getting involved. According to a release from the British High Commission, Under-secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Denis MacShane, will arrive in the region Sunday to hold […]
Taiwan has donated half a million dollars to the Government of Belize. According to a government issued press release, today, Ambassador Charles Tsai presented a cheque valued at five hundred thousand Belize dollars to Prime Minister Said Musa. G.O.B. says the money comes through an agreement between the Republic of China and Central American countries, […]
We don’t usually get excited about reports in the notoriously sensationalist Guatemalan press, but a story appearing on the website of the newspaper Prensa Libre would have us believe that a settlement of the Guatemalan claim is just around the corner. The newspaper quotes President Alfonso Portillo, having concluded a Saturday meeting with Prime Minister […]
Also in news from across the border, on Sunday, delegations from Belize and Guatemala met with O.A.S. facilitators Sir Shridath Ramphal and Paul Reichler to discuss the border dispute negotiation process. While we understand that additional information was requested from both sides by the facilitators, we were unable to speak with officials from the Ministry […]
We don’t know if it’s a good sign or bad, but the facilitators in the OAS sponsored mediation have asked to meet with the leaders of Belize and Guatemala. Both President Alfonso Portillo and Prime Minister Said Musa have agreed to the request and the tête-à -tête will take place in Guatemala on Saturday, April thirteenth, […]
Prime Minister Said Musa, current chairman of CARICOM, will represent the Caribbean Community at the sixteenth RIO Group Summit of Heads of State and Government, which will take place on Friday in San Jose, Costa Rica. The RIO Group was formed in 1986 and is comprised of seventeen member countries from Central and South America, […]
A Belizean delegation is currently in Guyana attending the third United Kingdom Caribbean forum. Head of the Belizean mission is Minister of Foreign Affairs, Assad Shoman. While in Guyana’s capital, Georgetown, Shoman and other foreign ministers will meet with the UK’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Jack Straw. Topics on the table […]
Over the weekend, a Belizean delegation headed by Prime Minister Said Musa met with U.S. President George Bush and other leaders in El Salvador to discuss several issues facing the region. According to a government press release, the P.M. addressed the issue of security in the Central American and highlighted the impact deportees pose to […]
