This morning a calm but obviously seething Barrow told News Five that while the prospect of a new speaker being appointed is highly unlikely given the P.U.P.’s majority in the House, his United Democratic Party will launch a public relations campaign against Zabaneh’s “acts of lunacy”. Barrow contends that there are no Standing Orders–standing orders […]
While he may be launching a campaign against the Speaker, Opposition Leader Barrow is more focussed on his party’s campaign to form the next government. Over the weekend, the U.D.P. held conventions in two constituencies: Collet and Cayo North. While the incumbent Patrick Faber’s affair in Collet was an endorsement event, the results in Cayo […]
There was no bombast, little hard talk, and the name of Said Musa–with or without epithets attached–was not even mentioned. Those observations may say more about the state of the once powerful Trade Union Congress than anything actually said at their nearly two-hour long press conference this afternoon. Billed as an update on union activities […]
The Belize Governance Improvement Commission this week submitted its first position paper to the Prime Minister… and almost a year after its creation the body is flexing its muscles. Citing a “worsening atmosphere of cynicism” and “recurring doubts… of government’s commitment to the reform agenda” the thirteen-member body is seeking a broader mandate and increased […]
It was a point that made all the headlines: Glenn Godfrey’s claim that Belize Telecommunications Limited had made an undertaking to pay the debts of two of his companies, debts now part of a special Senate investigation into the financial affairs of the Social Security Board. But tonight B.T.L. has responded saying, one, the board […]
He was the one man many doubted would ever appear before the Special Senate Select Committee charged with investigating the financial affairs of the Social Security Board…Glenn D. Godfrey. This morning, the driving force of the St. James Building Society, former Chairman of Intelco, and former Chairman of the Development Finance Corporation, showed up at […]
“Bring St. James.” That was the pointed message delivered on April sixth by Social Security Board General Manager Narda Garcia. Garcia was responding under oath to questions posed by members of the Senate Special Select Committee appointed to investigate the S.S.B.’s affairs in the wake of revelations that millions of dollars of public funds have […]
There has been no announcement of early General Elections, but that is not stopping the United Democratic Party from getting their machinery in shape, just in case. This weekend, the U.D.P. is holding its Port Loyola Convention and Area Representative Anthony “Boots” Martinez intends to retain the division and take the needs of his people […]
They are releasing planks of their manifesto as if elections were just around the corner–as indeed they believe they are. But whether a national vote is near or far, given the state of the nation’s finances, the leaders of the opposition United Democratic Party would be insane to pass up the chance to hammer away […]
And with the lightning quick reflexes of an administration under pressure, Deputy Prime Minister Johnny Briceño was immediately ready to give the official reaction to the U.D.P. analysis. John Briceño, Deputy Prime Minister ?We are a responsible government. We are totally committed to protecting the peg, the official exchange of two Belize dollars to one […]
He was demonized by the People’s United Party in its successful 1998 election campaign as the dreaded VATMAN, the wicked U.D.P. Prime Minister who imposed a burdensome and unfair Value Added Tax on an already suffering citizenry. Well, on Friday that same VATMAN, former Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel, watched as seven years later Cabinet Minister […]
It sprang to life on the back of a P.U.P. Cabinet revolt and subsequent revelations of serious financial mismanagement by the Musa administration. But even at the height of public discontent with Belmopan, the knock on the Opposition United Democratic Party was that it never said exactly how it would do things better. Today the […]
And that’s where the P.U.P. butts in. Not thirty seconds after Barrow had wrapped up his press conference, the Musa administration’s point man on P.R., Minister of Information Godfrey Smith, made himself available to respond to Barrow’s statements. According to Smith, his government can climb out of its financial black hole, without raising taxes. Godfrey […]
And while the Foreign Affairs Minister was upbeat about the new book, there was no getting around the fact that Belize is mired in a foreign affair that has a federal judge in Miami lashing us mercilessly to the tune of fifty thousand U.S. dollars per day. According to Smith, G.O.B. is not happy with […]
Since the violence and destruction of April twentieth in the commercial capital, the silence from the student body governments of the University of Belize and Saint John’s College Junior College has been deafening. But this afternoon, U.B. and S.J.C.J.C. called a joint press conference in Belize City to “clear their name.” While admitting to leading […]
And in all the confusion, what was lost was the reason for everyone being in Belmopan in the first place: an appearance by Prime Minister Said Musa. Here’s what he had to say about negotiations with the B.T.L. workers and other unions. Prime Minister Said Musa ?And in the past few days those negotiations have […]
Who would have thunk it. Peace breaks out in usually boisterous Benque Viejo while the oh so laid back capital of Belmopan hosts a riot. News Five’s Patrick Jones and cameraman Brent Toombs are just back from the wild wild west and report that when it comes to protest, Belize City does not have a […]
And while the unions ponder their next move, the embattled government is also trying to figure out how to deal with a protest movement that seems to have more lives than a cat. This afternoon Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tourism, and Information, Godfrey Smith, spoke with News Five’s Stewart Krohn, who asked him what kind […]
Although Belize City has been the focal point of the most recent civil unrest, in other parts of the country various union and citizens’ groups have also mounted protests. This footage, provided by Centaur TV in Orange Walk, shows a small demonstration in that town in which a few dozen protestors marched with placards on […]
The ongoing crisis over who is going to govern this country continued today, although overt acts of protest were minimal. Both the government and its opponents in the unions and political opposition used the day to regroup and plot strategy for what increasingly appears to be a long siege. News 5’s Patrick Jones was on […]
Whenwe signed off on last night’s newscast, it was with the sun setting and tyres burning amidst a restless crowd on the Belcan Bridge. What happened next was not pretty as a day of political protest morphed into a night of indiscriminate looting. News Five’s Rick Romero and Stewart Krohn ventured into Belize City’s chaotic […]
In the wake of a long night of looting in the streets of the commercial capital, approximately one hundred people detained by police for vandalism and other acts, and the threat of more industrial action from Belize’s educators, this morning Prime Minister Said Musa addressed the nation. Taking a hard line stance against the events […]
But as the Prime Minister pointed the finger of blame at the Opposition, the Leader of the United Democratic Party, Dean Barrow, was pointing right back. Dean Barrow, Leader of the Opposition ?I think he really is in denial and I think he came across as being disrespectful, as unwilling or unable to assume any […]
Members of the Belize National Teachers Union this afternoon had what was called a solidarity meeting at their headquarters on Coney Drive with the Belize Communication Workers Union. General Secretary of the National Trade Union Congress, George Frazer, told News Five what was discussed during the gathering. George Frazier, General Secretary, N.T.U.C.B. ?We are engaged […]
For those who are old enough to remember, it was a tactic lifted directly from the Heads of Agreement protests of 1981. Today cameraman George Tillett and I were in the thick of the latest political turmoil that bubbled through Belize City’s poshest part of town. Janelle Chanona, Reporting This afternoon, students of the University […]
