On Tuesday’s newscast, we broke the news that the S.S.B. has been asked to consider purchasing fifty million dollars of G.O.B. shares in B.T.L. and B.E.L. – a request by Prime Minister Dean Barrow himself. The plan is for S.S.B. for purchase ten million worth of shares in B.T.L. and forty-five million in B.E.L. The […]
And with that, the P.U.P. revealed its list of demands where that fifty million dollar proposed withdrawal from the S.S.B. piggy bank. It includes full disclosure of the intended destination of that fifty million. John Briceño, P.U.P. Leader “The government must give full disclosure as to what exactly they are going to do with […]
Is there a connection between the sudden desire by G.O.B. to raise fifty million by divesting shares and a court ordered settlement that has now come due? The Opposition isn’t sure, but leader John Briceño today presented a letter in which B.T.L. has been informed, just this week, of the ninety-seven million which must be […]
There’s also political news coming out of Queen Street. As you know, Guatemala military forces are maintaining a heavy presence in our side of the Sarstoon River. The situation has exacerbated to the point that Belizeans can no longer enter into the river. So far, despite statements by the government to the effect that Belizeans […]
The O.A.S. General Assembly concluded its yearly meeting in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic last Wednesday. The General Assembly passed a resolution and we will come to that later, but days prior to that regional meeting, the opposition representative to that meeting, Lisa Shoman, was told she was no longer required. But the P.U.P. says its […]
At the press conference this afternoon; Party Leader John Briceño also spoke of the resolution that was passed earlier this week at the General Assembly of the O.A.S. That declaration endorsed by member states, urges both Belize and Guatemala to take the territorial, insular and maritime dispute before the International Court of Justice. According to […]
Is the P.U.P. reacting to government’s decision to call them off from the O.A.S. delegation? Well, Briceño says there can be nothing farther from the truth. He told the media this afternoon that its representative will not participate in the Washington trip because the party has been disrespected. Briceño also says that the P.U.P. the […]
Immediately following the Istanbul talks, the government made the infamous public statement that Belizeans have untrammeled access to our side of the Sarstoon. The ink was barely dry on that release when Guatemala declared not so. In fact, Guatemala wrote in a diplomatic note on May twenty-eighth, that there was no agreement of that nature, […]
The daring attempt on the life of Brandon Tillett this morning on Queen Street happened less than a stone’s throw away from Independence Hall, the headquarters of the People’s United Party. Party Leader John Briceño was in office today and while it is not clear whether he was there at the time of the shooting, […]
Another round of village council elections will be held this weekend in various rural communities across the country. While the democratic exercise should be free of political influence, a number of slates are being put together along party lines and the campaigns reflect a partisan slant. Earlier today, P.U.P. Party Leader John Briceño weighed-in on […]
Amid the ongoing territorial dispute between Belize and Guatemala, the Belize Progressive Party has been unwavering in its position that a resolution at the International Court of Justice is not the only option to bring finality to the claim. Since its establishment in October 2015, the B.P.P.’s spiel has been a call for action under […]
Of concern to the B.P.P. is recent talk that the Referendum Act will be amended. This, according to Bobby Lopez, has raised the ire of the party and, if necessary, its membership is prepared to take to the streets in protest. Equally, there is unease in respect of the pending re-registration exercise which he says […]
The issue of campaign financing is one that the B.P.P. has been wanting to address since entering the political fray. While neither of the established mass parties are willing to budge and disclose their source of funding, the B.P.P. says it too is doing away with full disclosure. According to Lopez, the party has agreed […]
Patrick Faber was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister on Tuesday, and as expected, a majority of Cabinet did not show up to share in his proud moment. While not one of the members of Cabinet will admit it on the record, there is a very deep rift in the hallowed halls of government caused […]
There is a new Deputy Prime Minister. He is thirty-nine year old Patrick Faber who moves up to the second most powerful man in the corridors of power in Belmopan even as he retains for now the Ministries of Education, Sports and Culture. Faber took the oath today in the presence of family, friends and […]
The media was stopped by the GAF, but an expedition of P.U.P. parliamentarians and executive members who made the trip exactly one week after were not. In fact, that expedition was able to circle Sarstoon Island with not a peep from the Guatemalan military. Peace reigns in the Sarstoon, right? Well, no. What happened is […]
Earlier we reported on the ascension of Patrick Faber to Deputy Prime Minister. But will he be assigned a new portfolio now that he is officially second in command of the Barrow Administration? Traditionally, the Deputy Prime Minister holds the powerful post of Minister of Natural Resources, a designation that is second only to the […]
Village Council elections are presently being held across the country and both political parties are fielding slates in the respective rural communities. While the Village Council Elections are not supposed to be along party lines, they often do. In the southern village of Independence on Sunday, a few hundred residents turned out to vote. Contesting […]
A small protest was held this morning near the office of Area Representative Beverly Castillo. A group of women was denied a permit to protest but still gathered to decry the firing of two women who were let go by Castillo because they purportedly supported Minister Patrick Faber and not John Saldivar for the first […]
On Tuesday’s newscast we told you about reports of a ruckus in Cabinet…reports later denied by all the Ministers with whom we came into contact. But while nobody will outrightly admit it, there is a chasm between the Saldivar camp, a majority of Cabinet and the Faber camp. News Five has been able to confirm […]
The campaign for deputy leadership of the United Democratic Party was a spirited effort and both camps somehow managed to temper the mudslinging. While the issue of Faber’s professional relationship with women in his ministry and his political life came up, he says the negative spin by his opponent caught him by surprise. According to […]
On Tuesday, avid U.D.P. supporter Ingrid Hernandez, a constituent of Belize Rural Central, stopped by our office to express her discontent with animosity taking place within the party after Sunday’s convention. She had been working as a campaigner for Area Representative Beverly Castillo and was subsequently chosen as a delegate in the special convention. Hernandez, […]
Patrick Faber will be confirmed as Deputy Prime Minister by next week Tuesday, and fully expects that in that position he will be groomed for eventual leadership of the United Democratic Party. John Saldivar has indicated that he will contest in 2020, but Faber seems unconcerned, since he told News Five that he’s grown up […]
The People’s United Party has also issued a statement on the IMF report and it is not taking the blame for the economic woes. According to the P.U.P., while the U.D.P. government has been unable to truthfully explain the economic realities to the Belizean people, in his budget presentation, Party Leader John Briceño signaled that […]
Is there a very serious divide in the ranks of the U.D.P. following Sunday’s Convention? A movement which we can call G-fourteen to follow tradition of political mutiny? That was the word out of Belmopan today as reports emerged that John Saldivar held a pre-Cabinet meeting at his home with the Ministers who supported him, […]
