The Albert Division convention took place on Sunday. Just under a thousand voters made it to the Anglican Catheral College compound to cast their vote for Paul Thompson or Valerie Woods. Both senators ran energized campaigns that sometimes turned contentious and on Sunday, the two sides went after every vote. At some point during the day, voting […]
From assisting affected fire victims in the San Pedro fire to politics….the Belize Rural South area rep and Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Manuel Heredia Junior, was also quizzed today about what is seen as the “pushing out” of Senator Doctor Carla Barnett from the Ministry of Natural Resources. Was the senator moved because […]
Moving on from the exit of the senator, Manuel Heredia Junior went on to throw his support behind elected cabinet colleague Hugo Patt, saying that Patt’s integrity and political will are reflections of him as politician and leader. Manuel Heredia Jr., Minister of Tourism “Let me be very open. I have great respect for […]
His promotion to the second most powerful government ministry is still making headlines, but since the announcement that on June twenty-fifth, he will become the new Minister of Natural Resources, Hugo Patt today gave his first impression as to the way forward in the ministry. According to him, a number of reforms have been implemented […]
Hugo Patt’s ascension as well as the significance of the portfolio he has been assigned, leads many to question whether the U.D.P. Corozal North area rep is being primed for higher office. He has not made those ambitions clear, but with talks that a third or a fourth candidate may be eyeing the party leader’s […]
As you heard, Minister Patt officially assumes direction of the Ministry of Natural Resources, in the next two week. The minister from the north has not held any of the weighty ministries before, but on two occasions in recent times, he has been named as acting prime minister. Those brief appointments have now propelled him […]
The announcement on Tuesday that Senator Carla Barnett was leaving the Ministry of Natural Resources took a lot of people by surprise because it is well known that the senator was highly rated to clean up the ‘hot bed of corruption. So what went down? The official line is that her demotion to the relatively […]
Political pundits view Hugo Patt’s promotion to the Ministry of Natural Resources as an attempt to neutralize any power play by frontrunners Patrick Faber and John Saldivar in the run up to the May 2019 leadership convention for the United Democratic Party. Faber who has gone up the ranks of the U.D.P. has made no […]
Despite having lost to Collet’s Patrick Faber for Deputy Party Leader in May 2016, John Saldivar has reemerged as a serious contender. The Belmopan area representative is already on the ground campaigning. According to Saldivar, the current focus is on delivering services required by all Belizeans through the Ministry of National Security, in order to […]
Is a move by the Belize City Council to bill the managing company of the Civic Center approximately half a million dollars for trade licenses, a case of political victimization by the P.U.P.? Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber thinks so because Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner had been against the multimillion dollars facility in his […]
Tuesday’s announcement of yet another reshuffling of ministerial portfolios prompted by a sudden change in the top layer in the Ministry of Natural Resources is being met with serious concerns. It is the fourth re-organization of Cabinet since the departure of former Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega who demitted office amid a land scandal involving […]
Minister Edmond Castro, himself a fairly new minister, when asked to weigh in on the latest round of ministerial musical chairs, told the media that the prime minister has the power to make such decisions. When pressed about the optics of Barnett’s demotion to a low key ministry, Castro stuck to his guns, stating that […]
The P.U.P. standard bearer for Port Loyola, Gilroy Usher Senior, has responded to statements made about him by Minister Anthony Boots Martinez. In a brief statement, Usher Senior says that it is noteworthy that a drowning man will grab at a straw. He also points out that under his candidacy, the P.U.P. has made significant […]
For the fourth time in less than two years, the all-powerful Ministry of Natural Resources has a new leader. At the start of today’s Cabinet meeting in Belmopan, Prime Minister Dean Barrow broke the news that Corozal North area representative, Hugo Patt, was moving up as the new minister of Natural Resources. A press release […]
The Opposition People’s United Party, like the rest of the nation, says it wants answers as to why Doctor Barnett is “being demoted,” in favour of “relatively junior” Hugo Patt. In a release this evening, the P.U.P. reminded that according to Prime Minister Barrow, Barnett, a former Financial Secretary and vice-president at the Caribbean Development […]
Minister Anthony ‘Boots’ Martinez is going into retirement and right about now he is observing the persons who are interested in replacing him for the U.D.P. in the Port Loyola Division. Over the past couple months, a number of names have been thrown around, including former City Councillor Dean Samuels and former Lake-I U.D.P. standard […]
Tonight we have news from both major political. The race to represent Orange Walk East in 2020 was a hotly contested campaign between P.U.P. Mayor Kevin Bernard and Councilor Josue Carballo. For weeks, the town hall colleagues had been working tirelessly, canvassing the constituency. Their presence on the ground, as well as in the social […]
Within the United Democratic Party, there is news that Corozal North’s Hugo Patt is offering himself for leadership of the party, but Patt says he has made no decision. While, it may be about a year or more before candidates formalize their interests, we know that there is jostling for power with Patrick Faber and […]
Long-time U.D.P. area rep for Port Loyola Anthony ‘Boots’ Martinez thinks the P.U.P. made a mistake in endorsing Gilroy Usher for the Port. Martinez is retiring from electoral politics, but says he will remain active within the U.D.P. and will have a big say in his replacement. Usher came within seventy-three votes of beating Martinez […]
He served as Acting Prime Minister twice in the first half of April while Prime Minister Dean Barrow was out on medical leave. But could Minister of Labour, Local Government and Rural Development and Corozal North area representative Hugo Patt be seeking the job for real – as the next leader of the United Democratic […]
The P.U.P. convention for the Albert Division is heating up, but the U.D.P. Area Rep Tracy Panton says she is not fazed and will deliver the Albert for the U.D.P. in the next general elections no matter what. Senators Valerie Woods and Paul Thompson are the two contenders for the P.U.P. In an interview today, […]
The Social Security Board continues to seek support for an increase in voluntary contributions by employees, which may potentially allow for an increase in benefits as well. Thirty-seven years after it was first established, the board is worried about a serious financial crisis if the primary base of funds is not replenished. Representatives from the […]
Leader of the Opposition People’s United Party, John Briceño, today hosted a press briefing at Independence Hall covering a multitude of national issues. But the party is presently experiencing some internal turmoil over its ongoing vetting process for candidates to contest the upcoming general elections. In Belmopan, three candidates are vying, but two more well-known […]
Another flashpoint for the P.U.P. is the June seventeenth contested convention in the Albert division. Current standard bearer Senator Paul Thompson is being challenged by his Upper House colleague Valerie Woods. Both lay claim to support from inside the division and long ties to it and the competition has been fierce. On Friday night, police […]
The party has faced questions about its level of participation in the convention season by women, after defeated candidate in Corozal Bay, Thea Garcia Ramirez, suggested the party would not make its thirty percent threshold for female candidates. There has also been a suggestion that former U.D.P. mayor of Belize City Zenaida Moya might switch […]
