Prime Minister Dean Barrow is heading to Costa Rica to join Central American presidents for a regional meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama. It is Obama’s second stop in the region; earlier today he arrived in Mexico City for meetings with President Enrique Pena Nieto. Top on that agenda was border security and trade matters, […]
Crawl Caye, a small island just off the Placencia mainland, has been the source of some contention lately. Norwegian Cruise Lines has approached the government about constructing a cruise terminal there, but one immediate concern is that the caye lies within the South Water Caye Marine Reserve, which is a recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site. […]
The backdrop for the referendum discussions was a bilateral meeting held between Belize and Guatemala in Haiti on Thursday, but even before that, Prime Minister Dean Barrow says he presented Belize’s case to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon during a meeting in New York. Chief on the agenda of that discussion were […]
Last Friday, a joint foot patrol in the Chiquibul National Park along with B.D.F. and Rangers led to the detention of three Guatemalans conducting gold paning in the river. The men namely, thirty-two year old Marcos Domingo Para, thirty-two year old Mario Rolando and forty year old Estevan Putul Mai were caught red-handed. Para was […]
Guatemala has proposed to open bids for the printing of four million new passports over the next ten years. Here in Belize, there has been a huge hue and cry because the passport would retain only a dotted line demarcating Belizean borders and carrying the words “territory under dispute.” The reports in Guatemala say that […]
Statistics for tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2013 have been released and they are quite impressive says the director of the Belize Tourism Board. The hotel sector alone has registered revenue of approximately sixty million dollars since January with overnight arrivals at an estimated ninety-three thousand visitors. A new benchmark was also set […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow met with the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, on Monday. Barrow updated the Secretary General on the territorial dispute; the most recent development being that Guatemala will not hold the October sixth referendum. As the PM met with Ban Ki Moon, the O.A.S. Representative, Raul Lagos, was […]
The Fifth Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase, despite not having any local entries, is currently underway in Belize City. The annual filmmakers’ platform was launched on April sixteenth, with works from movie producers and directors from across the region available for viewing at the Bliss Center for Performing Arts. According to Suzette Zayden, Director of Belize […]
The Technical Advisory Committee of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency today concluded a two-day session. The Committee includes representation of National Disaster Coordinators from the eighteen member states, as well as other participating regional bodies. The goal of the session was to come up with a cohesive, effective and forward thinking regional strategic plan […]
The two R’s remain on the front burner as it relates to issues of national importance …rosewood and the referendum. On Monday, News Five asked Minister Wilfred Elrington if our CARICOM allies will be asked to support Belize on the referendum roadmap. The response from the Minister was surprising and sounded as if he was […]
Belizean models and fashion designers, male and female, interested in regional and international exposure through Caribbean Fashion Week, are being scouted by a pair of seasoned industry insiders presently in the country. Renowned fashionista Kingsley Cooper, founder of Pulse Modeling Agency, accompanied by his wife and fashion director, Romae Gordon, is here in search of […]
The Caribbean is also weighing in on the territorial dispute. An article in the Trinidad Express calls on CARICOM and the Organization of American States to step into the fray to defuse political tension between Belize and Guatemala—political tension which has resulted, according to the author, from Guatemala’s surprisingly hostile act to circulate a new […]
After competing nationally, representatives from the Bishop Martin High School from Orange Walk Town travelled to Barbados to compete on the regional stage. It was no small feat as they took on equally bright science minds from other CARICOM countries with their project called Coconuts for Life. The competition targets the innovation of high school […]
Canada is one of the prime markets for Belize as a tourist destination. Today a contingent of some twenty persons from the Canadian travel industry arrived at the Phillip Goldson International Airport. The travel agents, tour operators and travel press are participating in a seven-day familiarization trip organized by the Belize Tourism Board which will […]
Hopefully, rosewood extraction will not cause decades of dialogues and explanations as Guatemala’s unfounded claim against Belize. For years negotiations and discussions have failed. Earlier in the year, while both countries should have been preparing for an October sixth referendum on whether or not to forward the claim to the International Court of Justice, Guatemala […]
A national project spearheaded by the Caribbean Development Bank’s Basic Needs Trust Fund was launched today in Belize City. Present for the occasion is Darran Newman-Belgrave, Portfolio Manager for (Basic Needs Trust Fund) BNTF’s Social Sector Division. Speaking at the gathering was Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Santiago Castillo. […]
Thatcher also known as the “Iron Lady” is remembered for her great contribution to Britain as well as her controversial policies and approach to different issues during her reign. Thatcher’s close friend, Lord Bell, spoke to the BBC about the “Iron Lady.” Reporter “News came from her long time friend and colleague, Lord Bell […]
At around four-thirty Thursday afternoon, eight Chinese nationals, seven men and one woman arrived in Belize on a TACA flight. They proceeded through Immigration on the travel documents they held, but as they stepped out through the departure doors at the airport, they were greeted not by their compatriots who were waiting for them, but […]
As we told you before, the smuggling of Chinese nationals into Belize is known to be a very lucrative and very active trade, where local agents act as middle-men between officials in the Immigration and other government departments and prominent Chinese businessmen who mastermind the ring. News Five was reliably informed that the route of […]
Even though it will not be holding a referendum on October sixth, Guatemala is still stepping up its campaign on its claim to fifty percent of Belize. Official publications, including passports and maps, depict Belize as part of its territory. But tonight, President Otto Perez Molina is facing plenty trouble and huge embarrassment. Perez Molina, […]
The Caribbean Community, better known as CARICOM, was birthed with the vision that standing together, the region could represent a formidable force and voice. As CARICOM prepares to mark its fortieth anniversary this year, it is launching an official competition: its first music and lyrics song competition. It is a search for an original piece […]
The Government of Guatemala is including Belize as part of its territory in maps appearing in primary school text books. That decision was taken at the behest of the Ministry of Education but even prior to that the offensive map was protested at the Organization of American States when it was used to illustrate the […]
The death penalty is still in Belize’s constitution even though the last person to have been executed was over twenty-five years ago when Kent Bowers was hung for the murder of Robert Codd. There are eight persons on death row but only one person has served over fifty years in prison and cannot be executed […]
Belize is considered a main transit point for drugs that make their way to the United States by land, sea and air. In the fight against drug trafficking, the US has established a major anti-drug operation center in Florida and because of its sensitive nature; it is off limits to the public. Last year alone, […]
Last Friday, Belize faced its first review by the Human Rights Committee in Geneva since its accession to the Convention. We are among one hundred and sixty-seven state parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is one of the primary international human rights treaties. A total of eleven topics ranging from […]
