There was a high-level meeting held in Toledo on Tuesday, where officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Security and Agriculture met with representatives of the Guatemalan government. The meeting is part of an ongoing series of discussions following the formation of a joint commission established in January in Washington. While the agenda for […]
The Ambassador of Belize in the United States, Nestor Mendez today signed a joint declaration with U.S Secretary of Labor, Thomas Perez, in which both countries have agreed to work cooperatively to improve the knowledge of Belizeans working abroad of their rights, irrespective of their migration status. Additionally, Letters of Arrangement with the Wage and […]
Seven bills were passed today in the house. But the real purpose of today’s House Sitting had to do with a threat by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force. In November, the CFATF announced that it would be blacklisting both Belize and Guyana for non-compliance in addressing deficiencies in the laws on money laundering as […]
Government announced in November 2013 that it will be spending seventy-six million dollars on infrastructure works across the country. This morning, the Inter-American Development Bank signed an agreement with G.O.B. for five hundred and forty thousand US dollars to support the preparation of feasibility studies and social and environmental assessments for the rehabilitation of thirty […]
But in the regional Caribbean Court of Justice, a judgment was handed down last Friday concerning a challenge to an amendment to the Supreme Court of Judicature Act. The parties to the CCJ appeal were the Attorney General of Belize as well as Philip Zuniga and others as respondents and the BCB Holdings and others […]
A recent survey indicating the economic freedoms of countries around the world ranks Belize at number one hundred and fifteen of one hundred and seventy-eight reviewed. With a score of fifty-six point seven, Belize succeeds Brazil on the 2014 index, and is categorized as mostly unfree. To put its rating into perspective, Belize is twenty-first […]
The inclusion of Belize as part of Guatemala’s territory, depicted on a number of geographical maps, is considered provocative given the political history of both countries in trying to resolve the age-old land dispute. Despite Guatemala’s Foreign Minister Fernando Carrera going on record to shed light on the matter, documents showing the annexation at the […]
There was a time not so long ago when the Belize/Guatemala referendum on the age-old territorial dispute was a part of daily conversation. All that changed when Guatemala backed out and talks stuttered at the eleventh hour. But the effort continues, or so it appears. Today, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Fernando Carrera flew into Belize to […]
With all the best intentions and apparent goodwill between both Foreign Ministers, there are still some sticky issues which have led to hostile words and tense moments between countries. One of those is the constant encroachments into Belize by Guatemalans, and the consistent plunder of natural resources within our borders. Those illegal trespassers have come […]
Another sticky issue is the consistent appearance of Guatemalan documents which cast some doubt, at least on that nation’s part, of Belize’s territorial integrity. Just recently, a Belizean delegation to an event in Australia came across a Guatemalan map which included the territory of Belize. It has caused some consternation and raised the ire of […]
The Foreign Minister of Guatemala, Fernando Cabrera, arrives in Belize this Thursday on an official visit on the heels of changes in the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry which saw the removal of two vice ministers. Cabreras will be meeting with Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials in Belize City. It is not […]
San Bernardino Police and the FBI are hunting for a man who is said to have strong ties to Belize. Edly Albert Atherley is wanted for the murder of his estranged wife, Ashley Atherley. She was found dead in the couple’s San Bernardino, California home on November thirtieth. Her throat had been slit, she had […]
Spanish Adventurer, Álvaro de Marichalar, has left the jewel. He left Florida on the twelfth of December en route to Panama and is expected to complete the journey on January ninth. After docking on our shores on Saturday, Marichalar was to depart the country on Monday, but had to make repairs on the water scooter […]
Álvaro de Marichalar is putting off yet another adventure on which he is sailing to ten countries, from Florida, U.S.A. along the Central American coast and ending in Panama. Marichalar is also an entrepreneur, but it is his passion for sailing that has him on his fortieth journey…. this time to commemorate the first European […]
The End Polio Now Campaign is being carried out by mariners and Rotarians as well as by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The campaign is designed to bring awareness to the disease as well as to highlight the efforts to eradicate the illness. When he docks in Panama, Álvaro de Marichalar, who is also […]
For the first time ever there is a red-eye flight to the Jewel and it comes courtesy of Delta Airlines, after much planning and meetings between the airline company and Belize’s Airline Development Committee. But, in addition to that, the flight also goes down in history as the first direct flight from Los Angeles to […]
A decision by the Supreme Court on a constitutional challenge to repeal Section Fifty-Three of Belize’s Criminal Code remains pending, despite closing arguments in early May by high-powered attorneys representing Caleb Orozco and the Government of Belize, as well as the Council of Churches. The challenge seeks to have struck out a ten year prison […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow is currently in Venezuela where leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean will be meeting in a one-day summit on the Petrocaribe Initiative which takes place on Tuesday. The PM has not in recent years been to a Petrocaribe Summit, but as you know, the Petrocaribe funds, twenty million dollars, were […]
Interpol is seeking public assistance in locating fifteen fugitives wanted for varying degrees of crimes. The crimes vary from murder, to drug trafficking and money laundering and the nationalities of the wanted men span Central, South and North America stretching to Europe. As you will see, in the midst is one Belizean fugitive: Miguel Matus […]
The United Nations is looking at human trafficking Belize but that study reveals that there are far more cases of human smuggling of nationals from Central and South America and as far as Asia. Belize is considered a country of destination, transit and origin. At the invitation of the government, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the United […]
The government of Belize has signed and ratified numerous international human right treaties which offer protection to women, children and migrant workers. G.O.B. has also pledged to suppress and punish those who traffic persons and at the national level, it has adopted the 2013 Trafficking in Persons Provision Act. But Ezeilo says that it is […]
The line Ministry for the issue of human trafficking is the Ministry of Human Development, Social Transformation and Poverty. Its C.E.O., Judith Alpuche, says that the number of trafficked persons in Belize is small and disagrees with some of the information revealed by the UN Rapporteur. Alpuche identified victim care and services and says that […]
The father of South African democracy Nelson Mandela is being laid to rest in his home country. In Soweto earlier today, a four-hour memorial service was held in Mandela’s honor. The ceremony was attended by a throng of seventy thousand mourners, including heads of state from at least one hundred countries. While eulogies were read […]
A Belize Delegation currently in Warsaw, Poland for a UN Meeting on Climate Change joined with other small and developing countries and walked out of the meeting in protest, bringing a dramatic pause to the Conference. Belize like other small, developing states are demanding that industrialized countries honour their commitment to reduce pollution and to […]
Representatives from nineteen countries that make up CAIPA are currently meeting in Belize. The organization promotes foreign direct investment in the region and at its current annual general meeting it is banking that economic growth in the region will be stimulated by the private sector. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports. Isani Cayetano, Reporting The […]
