The People’s United Party served the United Democratic Party a major defeat in the 2021 Municipal Elections. The P.U.P. went from controlling three full councils to majority control of all nine. The U.D.P. was left with only two seats in the west where the P.U.P., after many years, was able to make dent in the […]
The inaugural meeting of foreign ministers Eamon Courtenay and Pedro Brolo Vila took place on Thursday morning at the O.A.S. Office in the Adjacency Zone. For many years, Belize and Guatemala have had a strained relationship because of the enduring territorial dispute which is presently before the World Court. With a change in government in […]
The Belize-Guatemala Joint Commission is also being reinvigorated and, through the existing Partial Scope Agreement, trade will be expanded to include other goods and services following a meeting with the business community. Eamon Courtenay, Minister of Foreign Affairs “That commission had held meetings and had set up different desks and tables for officials to […]
During the municipal elections, former Minister of Health Pablo Marin came out in support of Hilberto Campos, the U.D.P. standard bearer for the Corozal Bay division. Campos replaced him following his November eleventh defeat in the general elections. News Five caught up with Marin at polling area number forty-one, where he gave his review of […]
Marin is also watching as the situation with Doctor Marvin Manzanero is playing out, as he believes it is political victimization. He says his wife, Danini Contreras-Marin, also employed with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, has been targeted by the new minister. He believes Minister Michel Chebat is sideling talented people, rather than creating […]
Opposition Leader Patrick Faber also commented on the Doctor Marvin Manzanero situation. While it is not clear what is going to happen next, it is certain that he is not going to remain in the capacity as the Director of Health Services with the Ministry of Health and Wellness. As you know Doctor Manzanero is […]
Leader of the Opposition and Former Minister of Education, Patrick Faber during an interview with News Five on Election Day spoke of what he claims is reckless behaviour on behalf of the Briceño administration. Faber says that scholarship awards were not being honoured and that the P.U.P. is not making good on its promises. […]
The Mexico-Belize Business virtual roundtable was held today. The online meeting was between public and private sector businesses from both countries and was done through collaboration between the Embassy of Mexico to Belize, the Ministry of Economic Development of Quintana Roo and COPARMEX Quintana Roo, as well as the BELTRAIDE. Among the sectors included were […]
Sunday is International Children’s Broadcasting Day. The event was started by the UNICEF in 1991 to raise awareness of children’s issues and to encourage media houses to pay more attention to children’s programming. This morning on Channel Five’s Open Your Eyes, our hosts changed places with two children, Noellie Sabido and Ajay Crawford who got […]
While the young hosts on Open Your Eyes enjoyed getting their questions answered on live TV, News Five also had a young journalist embedded in our newsroom today. Nyree Kisling, a student at Wesley College in real life, hit the ground running by planning, interviewing, writing and recording a full length report for us. Her […]
In November, political pundits called the People’s United Party’s massive win of national assembly seats the “Blue Tsunami.” Well, just months later, a second wave has washed over the land once more. After the ballots were counted, Belizeans learned that an astonishing sixty-five of the sixty-seven municipal councilor seats and mayoral posts were blue. Only […]
That twinkle of red was Mayor Earl Trapp and U.D.P. councillor Bernadette Fernandez. Fernandez narrowly made the cut by ten votes while Mayor Trapp won over the P.U.P.’s Ramon “Monchi” Quiroz by twenty-four votes. The five other councillors are from the P.U.P. slate. Even before the new mixed council took office today, on Wednesday night […]
There were a number of women who won their bid for political office across the country, as an area rep and a mayor. History was made in the Corozal Bay electoral division on March third when four thousand one hundred and thirty-two registered voters decided that the younger sibling of the now deceased area rep, […]
Turning to the Capital City, the P.U.P. soundly defeated the U.D.P. team after fifteen years of U.D.P. municipal control. Significantly, Belmopan now has its first female mayor in Sharon Palacio. Palacio won three thousand sixteen votes, defeating the other woman candidate, U.D.P.’s Jacklyn Burns, who received one thousand two hundred and ninety-one votes. After it […]
We go back north to take a look at the municipals and we start with Orange Walk Town. A little over sixty percent of the voters went out the polls and at the end of the day, some six thousand one hundred and seventy-one ballots were cast. The night ended with resounding victory for the […]
Just before eleven p.m., the result of the elections at the northernmost municipality was announced. The incumbent mayor Rigoberto Vellos of the P.U.P. and his entire slate came out victorious. News Five’s Duane Moody was at the Corozal Community College for the declaration and victory speech. Doyle Flowers, Returning Officer, Corozal Municipal Elections “Rigo […]
It took the People’s United Party eighteen years to regain municipal government control in San Pedro. But it did so in convincing fashion on Wednesday, snagging all six councilor seats and the mayoral position as well. Although many thought it would be a nail-biting neck and neck finish, with perhaps even a split council, the P.U.P. […]
With the assistance of our Dangriga and Punta Gorda correspondents Harry Arzu and Aurelio Sho, reporter Andrea Polanco put together a report on the municipal elections in the two southern towns. Here’s the story. Andrea Polanco, Reporting The People’s United Party defeated the U.D.P. for local elections in the south – with Dangriga and […]
While San Pedro in the Belize District had the second highest voter turnout in the country, Belize City had the lowest with only forty-six percent. News Five’s Isani Cayetano and election correspondent Terry Gordon were making the rounds all day on the south and north sides. Isani Cayetano, Reporting While people are still debating […]
U.D.P. leader Patrick Faber began his rounds up north in Corozal where News Five’s Duane Moody caught up with him. While he did not make any predictions, Faber spoke of electors coming out to vote in favour of the U.D.P. and sending a message to the Briceño administration. He says people know they had made […]
The U.D.P. maintains that the now re-elected Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner should be disqualified from office because he does not actually reside in Belize City, which U.D.P. attorney Orson Elrington claims is a prerequisite for his nomination to have been approved. So they are letting the court decide. But on Monday, when the matter […]
Foreign ministers Eamon Courtenay and Pedro Brolo Vila met for the first time this morning at the Office of the Organization of American States at the Adjacency Zone. The meeting was cordial and productive and both government ministers made their way over to the border marker in a symbolic show of unity which is also […]
If you were hoping that a decrease in COVID-19 cases might mean an end to the ten p.m. to five a.m. curfew, think again. The Government of Belize has announced it will be extending the curfew for another thirty days and has amended the Statutory Instrument needed to do it. Additional short term changes have […]
The Belize Tourism Board is re-strategizing the way forward for the industry. Changes include rerouting funding to bolster domestic Belizean tourism and improving basic infrastructure at major and emerging tourist destinations across the country. Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism & Diaspora Relations “Product development is also an issue. For example, we were in Hopkins […]
The Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations is also looking at the competitiveness of Belize as a long stay destination within the region. Whether international visitors are coming to Belize by sea, land or air, Minister Mahler wants them to consider staying a bit longer in the Jewel, perhaps even make Belize their work-from-home second […]
