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As to the firing of Longsworth for the allegations made in the Auditor General Report, the Foreign Minister offered a lawyerly explanation, saying that it is for the court to determine guilt, tantamount to the PM’s well-known statement on factual guilt and legal guilt. Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs “The practice […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Factual Guilt Versus Legal Guilt
The United Democratic Party, in the final year of its three-term administration, is plagued with scandal after scandal. The most recent involves both leadership candidates and the prime minister has been busy trying to douse the flames caused by public outrage. In sitting down with Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington today, we asked the Pickstock Area […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Sedi Weighs in on His Scandal-ridden Party
Amid the Lev Dermen/John Saldivar fiasco is a claim that ambassadorship for Turkey was being sought on behalf of Dermen through various U.D.P. ministers. Those appointments, as stated at his press conference last Wednesday, are handled solely by the prime minister. We asked Foreign Minister Elrington whether he knew of such a request. He also […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on No Turkey or Nevada Appointment for Lev Dermen Says Sedi
Shortly after he was sworn as president of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei announced his intention to meet with Prime Minister Dean Barrow to forge a more cordial relationship between with the two countries. As you know, the territorial dispute is heading to the I.C.J. for resolution. Giammattei said he has asked the O.A.S. to facilitate the […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Guatemalan President Extends Invitation to Meet PM Barrow
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo met with high level government officials and prime ministers from across the Caribbean earlier this week in Kingston, Jamaica. Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago boycotted the region and a number of other states supported that position because not all members of CARICOM were invited. Those who were around the […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Sedi Chooses Education in Discussion with Mike Pompeo
Thirty police officers completed basic training in criminal investigation. The course spanned a period of three weeks during which officers were training on professional and effective investigation in skills, attitude, and aptitude. The course was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy of Belize which also provided facilitators with technical expertise. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams says […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on 30 Police Investigators Successfully Complete Training
One of first agencies you meet at the border points is the Customs Department. At the Philip Goldson International Airport, you will see them checking luggage as well as collecting taxes. But their work is evolving to areas of trade facilitation and security. Today, on the occasion of International Customs Day, they mounted displays and […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on International Customs Day is Celebrated in Belize
Hostility while patrolling the borders can result in crossfire between law enforcement officers and contrabandistas in buffer communities along the Belize/Mexico border. The enforcement officers of the Customs and Excise Department have been strategic, often times partnering with the police to carry out operations in villages such as San Victor in the Corozal District. Ronald […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Tackling Contrabandistas in the North
A week-long of activities promoting drug awareness at Canaan High School on Coney Drive in Belize City concluded today with a parade through the streets of the city. One hundred and two students from first to third form marched to send a message and say no to drugs as the band led the procession while […]
Written on January 24, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on “Send a Message; Stay Drug Free”
There is new information tonight in the case of Lev Dermen, an Armenian national with U.S. and Belize citizenship that is causing tremors inside the U.D.P. as it heads to a leadership convention on February ninth. Dermen is the accused mastermind in a scheme that defrauded the Internal Revenue Service of the United States of […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Trials |
Comments Off on An Official Exhibit List in the Case of Lev Dermen; John Saldivar is Named
The allegation of text messages between Jacob Kingston and John Saldivar as court exhibits prompted reaction from Belmopan. The PM did not give interview, but instead issued a four-paragraph statement this afternoon to cool down temperatures. In the statement, the PM concludes that there is still no evidence of wrongdoing and as such, the texts […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Prime Minister Barrow: Still No Evidence of Wrongdoing
A statement from John Saldivar was short and curt. It states that nothing has changed from his position outlined in a statement on January fifteenth, 2019. Saldivar also echoes what the PM has said; that the information being circulated regarding expected testimony in the U.S. proceedings contains no allegations of any wrongdoing against him.
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on John Saldivar’s Statement on Evidence List
The text message referencing Minister Saldivar was also the focus of a statement by Opposition Leader John Briceño. He is calling on the Prime Minister to fire Saldivar from his cabinet. Speaking on the scandal that is rocking the U.D.P. government, Briceño asserted that the text messages must contain important content for the prosecution to […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Opposition Leader Calls on John Saldivar to Resign
According to Briceño, if the Prime Minister wanted to act, he could have already done so. Today, Briceño advised the PM to check with the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to obtain the documents and have the Financial Intelligence Unit contact the Justice Department in Utah for further information. In response to Briceño’s statement, the Prime Minister […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Briceño Gives Barrow Advice in Figuring Out which Minister Took $25K
As we said, the Lev Dermen scandal has been unraveling for days. Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Dean Barrow called a press conference on the recent allegations. At the time he said that he was being hamstrung on immediate action against whomsoever in his cabinet is named until proven to be culpable for having accepted bribes […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Revisiting PM Barrow’s Threat of Termination
As the scandal rocks the U.D.P., the likelihood of the upcoming U.D.P. convention being affected by the pending trial in Utah was a question that was placed squarely to the prime minister. At the time, PM Barrow said that if necessary, he will remain in office until general elections are called. Reporter “Sir, do […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Does the Status Quo Remain Ahead of Leadership Convention?
The Lev Dermen saga has been coming up in many ways. At the sitting of the House of Representatives on January seventeenth, Caribbean Shores Area Representative Kareem Musa suggested that the names of the government ministers in question could have been sought through diplomatic channels via a request from the Prime Minister to the U.S. […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on No Request for Ministers’ Names from U.S. Embassy
The People’s United Party’s case against the Government of Belize regarding the spending of over one point three billion dollars, including the PetroCaribe funds that were borrowed from Venezuela, has yet to conclude. The P.U.P.’s legal challenge revolved around four key points, including that according to the Finance and Audit Reform Act, public monies exceeding the […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Another Delayed Judgment; P.U.P. Extremely Frustrated
The Belize Bank Limited, the country’s oldest banking institution, has been assigned an investment grade rating by the Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services. CariCRIS is the Caribbean’s leading credit rating agency and is an associate company of the globally-recognized rating agency Standard and Poor’s. The designation is a first for any entity in Belize. […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Regional / International |
Comments Off on CariCRIS Assigns Belize Bank “Investment Grade” Rating
The assigned rating augurs well for other local companies wishing to improve their profiles on the regional and international markets. It is in line with some of the more prominent and larger regional banks across the Caribbean and thus provides a platform to attract talent across the region, as well as to assist initiatives to […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on What Does Investment Rating Mean for Belize Bank?
Weighing in on the matter was Opposition Leader, John Briceño. According to Briceño, under the National Lands Act, to transfer a large piece of land, such as the seventeen thousand acres in question, it must be approved by parliament. If not, he says, that the transfer is illegal. John Briceño, Leader of Opposition “For […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
Environment,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on P.U.P. Leader Says Transferring 17,000 Acres of Land without House Approval is Illegal
We also found out that Senator Elena Smith’s patience is running thin. The senator says organizations are tired of waiting for U.D.P. Senator Aldo Salazar to present his report on the findings of the Auditor General’s Special Audit Report on the Immigration and Nationality Department. It took the Senate Special Select Committee thirteen months to interview […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Senate Report on Immigration Yet to be Completed
One more story on the dilemma facing the U.D.P. Minister of Natural Resources, Hugo Patt is running for first deputy leader under team Saldivar. They have been around the country meeting delegates who they say have been endorsing the slate. Earlier today when we spoke with the Corozal North area representative, we asked him whether […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Will Hugo Patt Without Support to John Saldivar?
Belize’s Consul General in New York Herman Longsworth has been fired after an audit report into the finances of the National Sports Council revealed serious cash irregularities. Longsworth, who was the then Minister of State with responsibility for Sports and the U.D.P. Albert Division Area Representative, was awarded the post after he stepped aside to […]
Written on January 22, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Firing Herman Longsworth is Not Enough, Says Opposition Leader
A press release from the Government says that Longsworth termination will become effective February twenty first, 2020, to allow him time to wrap up the affairs at the Consulate and hand over. As far as we know, another family member is employed at the Consulate in New York which is housed away from the Belize […]
Written on January 22, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Longsworth’s Termination Becomes Effective February 1st
