On the eve of the expected testimony at the Senate Special Select Committee of whistleblower on visas Alvarine Burgess, Minister of National Emergency Management and Transport and Belize Rural North area representative Edmond Castro has confirmed via press release this evening that he has been notified of the U.S. Embassy cancelling his diplomatic and tourist […]
While Castro is in the news tonight for the cancelation of his visa, Minister of Defence John Saldivar is pushing back heavily against claims of misuse of Coast Guard assets to support his Belmopan Bandits sporting teams, which is being investigated by the U.S. Embassy, which gifted the vessels. Following a statement by his Cabinet […]
This morning, the body of a man was found floating in the Caribbean Sea near First Avenue in the Bay of Corozal Town. The person has since been identified as forty-three-year-old Anthony Pasos, a resident of the Santa Rita community in Corozal. A postmortem exam conducted this afternoon confirms that Pasos died as a result […]
The plot thickens in the Miss Belize saga. Twenty-four hours ago, Miss Belize Rebecca Rath appeared to be stripped of her title by pageant director Opal Enriquez. Her family had come out strongly against Enriquez’s management of the run-up to Rath’s appearance at the Miss Universe pageant in January and Enriquez hit back on her […]
Elrington and Malik take the position that the May twenty-sixth release was not authorized and nothing in it is official, and that as far as they are concerned Enriquez has resigned and her position is vacant. Elrington told us that he could shed no light on the reason for the two-thousand word release, as the […]
The hassle of applying for Belizean citizenship, in some cases several years in the making, has paid for a handful of immigrants who have found their home in the Jewel. From as far away as Turkey and Bangladesh, they have traveled to Belize and decided to stay. The swearing-in ceremony got off to a late […]
After years of back and forth, visitors to Harvest Caye will finally be able to enjoy the natural wonders of the peninsula. Local tour operators and other stakeholders had been agitating to benefit from the tourism boom in the south. Beginning today, passengers of Norwegian Cruise Line are being transported on a new pier to […]
In addition to illegal operation in Belizean waters, Guatemalan fishermen have been guilty of several offences, including use of gill nets and other illegal methods to capture fish. Recently they have been using another method: constructing traps in the sea made from mangroves. Mangroves serve a particular purpose in the ecosystem as the spawning ground […]
Three weeks ago it was reported that the village of Otoxha has been dealing with a takeover of acres of territory by Guatemalan farmers seeking greater pastures. The farmers left a mile-plus-long trail from Guatemala into Belize for easier access to their ‘conquered’ territory. The matter has officially been reported to the Belize Defence Force’s […]
If you were thinking of pursuing music studies in Belize, you will now have a chance to do so. For the first time a local school is offering a degree programme for students to study music. The programme will officially start in the upcoming school year. For S.J.C., the road to realizing this new programme […]
Caribbean Motors in Belize City today hosted a special donation ceremony by the Saint Paul Lutheran Church of Fort Worth, Texas and the Central American Lutheran Mission Society, in association with the Inspiration Center and Guatemalan organization Hope Haven. Ninety wheelchairs, special-built in the U.S., are being handed over this week to first-time users, giving […]
Thirty-one-year-old Belizean Olympian athlete Kaina Martinez has completed her track career at Texas A and M University-Kingsville. She had three top finishes in the 2017 NCAA Division Two Outdoor Athletics Championships in Florida over the weekend. Martinez, who is from Seine Bight in the Stann Creek District, placed second in the one hundred meters with […]
Over five thousand persons put on their walking shoes and trekked the nine-mile walk from Ladyville to Belize City in the annual Cancer Walk. Saturday’s walk saw families and friends of persons afflicted by cancer join in the efforts to build awareness about the disease. It is also the biggest event to raise funds for […]
A mishap on Friday evening led to the unfortunate death of twenty-two-year old Kenworth Castro, who had moved to Caye Caulker just two months ago. Castro, a diver, was last seen alive swinging under the palapa of a well-known establishment. Soon after, he was dead from a broken neck. Despite efforts to save him, he […]
Minister of Defense John Saldivar is embroiled in another scandal. This time he was caught using coast guard vessels donated by the U.S. government to shuttle his Belmopan Bandits, as well as family and fans, to and from San Pedro for various sporting activities. It’s a practice that is very much frowned upon because those […]
Two years ago, Guatemalan Armed Forces bullied their Belizean counterparts from the Coast Guard off Sarstoon Island, where the Coast Guard men had been seeking a platform on which to build a Joint Forward Operating Base with the Belize Defence Force. It was never confirmed who in Belize gave the order to back down, but […]
Does Belize really need a Sarstoon protocol? After all, Belize considers half the river and Sarstoon Island ours. That is, until Guatemala effectively took possession of the entire river over two years ago. Now, the protocol would give formal rules for the traversing of the southern boundary by Belizean and Guatemalan civilians. But Guatemala has […]
On Friday night, the Queen of the Jewel organization via its National Director Opal Enriquez issued a release cutting short the reign of Rebecca Rath as Miss Belize Universe 2016. Word of the premature end to her reign reached Rath via the news and social media. Effective immediately, the official title of Miss Belize 2017 […]
Now, it is no secret that the Raths were not too happy with the Queen of the Jewel organization. Following her appearance in Manila, Philippines, Rebecca’s father and well-known photographer, Tony Rath, posted a five-part blog chronicling his daughter’s journey and challenges to Miss Universe. In those articles, the senior Rath made serious allegations against […]
Fires have been sparking all over; the latest blaze was in Carmelita, Orange Walk where a concrete spilt level house went up in flames. The fire erupted at about eleven o’clock on Saturday night and destroyed the building. Its owner, Carole Gillette is in the United Sates so it was left in the care of […]
Brian “Yellow Man” Audinette’s fate as macebearer and sergeant at arms of the House of Representatives will be determined on June ninth, when the National Assembly Staff Committee convenes. That meeting had been scheduled well ahead of the embarrassing ordeal that played out in the gallery of the Assembly Building on May seventeenth, when Yellow […]
With that meeting pending, we asked Longsworth if there is anything within her powers, as Speaker of the House and chair of the National Assembly Staff Committee, to prohibit Audinette from attending or disrupting subsequent senate hearings. Isani Cayetano “Now I know that the chairman of the Senate Special Select Committee presides over conduct […]
The Belize Police Department has its eyes on the streets of the Old Capital, particularly in various hotspots on the city’s south side. This afternoon, as many as eleven surveillance cameras were launched at the Raccoon Street headquarters, where Junior Minister Elodio Aragon and the brass of the police department gathered during a brief ceremony. […]
According to Aragon Jr., the addition of the cameras also forms part of a new crime fighting strategy. Elodio Aragon Jr., Minister of State, Police “It’s all about looking at how we incorporate technology into law enforcement activities, you know. This is one way how we will enhance our capabilities in terms of looking […]
The Minister of State for Police also took on other issues relating to his ministry. With new equipment being added to the existing resources of the department to aid in crime fighting, is there an equal push to equip the National Forensics Science Services in solving crime? It’s a question that was put squarely to […]
