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As we said earlier, Brigadier General Jones met with Guatemalan counterpart Carlos Eduardo Perez, Chief of Defense Staff of the Guatemalan army. Guatemala proposes that the head of the armies define procedures to access the Sarstoon. At the discussions, that proposed mechanism was not formalized. Elrington also says that the blockage of News Five to […]
Where the B.D.F. is concerned, the changeover of personnel at the Cadenas Observation Post, using the Sarstoon River as ingress to the remote location, has been unhindered since early May. While that is good news for the military, from a civilian perspective, it’s pretty much the same old, same old. Entry into the Sarstoon, even […]
Elrington admits that to reach a Sarstoon Protocol is a gradual process that hopefully will materialize a document within the next six months. As for untrammeled access, well that too has been relegated to a work in progress. Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs “We don’t have total and complete control over the […]
While the meeting has been described as fruitful, there were more questions than answers this morning when the foreign minister returned to the country. Elrington could not even say when a follow-up meeting will be held. Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs “Nothing has been put in writing yet, but nothing is agreed […]
There you have it. After five hours in Washington there is no agreement on the Sarstoon, no structured plan for discussions – not even a date for the next meeting to discuss whatever it is that was discussed in that intensive session. But the Opposition says it has a plan – and it includes the […]
Elrington, as foreign minister, constantly faces harsh scrutiny from the public, particularly because of his seemingly passive approach towards Guatemala. In some corners, he has been blasted as disingenuous. Elrington says it is a criticism that only comes from those who do not understand the diplomatic process. Reporter “Can you speak to that letter […]
While Elrington says he doesn’t pay any attention to that, he may pay attention to the stinging criticism leveled at him by P.U.P. Senator and former Foreign Minister Eamon Courtenay. According to Courtenay, Elrington is so caught up in his love for Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales that he’s forgotten his role in the […]
Track and Field athletes Katy Sealy and Brandon Jones will represent Belize at the Olympics 2016 in Rio. As we told you in Tuesday’s newscast, twenty-two athletes competed over the weekend at the seventeenth Central American Championships in El Salvador and Belize’s performance was exceptional. Today News Five learnt that athletes are already preparing for […]
Written on June 22, 2016 | Posted in
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Foreign Ministers Wilfred Elrington and Carlos Raul Morales met in Washington today. The start of the meeting was somewhat delayed because the permanent council of the Organization of American States was debating developments in Venezuela. There was no representative from the Opposition at the meeting since the P.U.P. announced last Friday that it would not […]
The Heptathlon is possibly one of track and field’s most gruelling events, testing both endurance and skill. Most athletes are hesitant to compete in more than two or three events during any competition for fear of exhaustion or injury. Heptathletes, as they are called, compete in seven disciplines: the one hundred meter hurdles, the high […]
For the next four days, the Belize Red Cross Society will be hosting the sixth annual Regional Exchange Meeting at the Biltmore Plaza in Belize City. It is an opportunity for Red Cross Societies from Belize, Bahamas, Guyana and Jamaica to come together to share experiences on implementing RITA, Resilience In The Americas. The multimillion […]
The RITA Program is being funded through the American Red Cross for the last four years in the Caribbean. The Belize Red Cross, in its program, has been working with eight communities in the north, giving the community members tools, methods and concepts to become reliant. Local Executive Director, Lily Bowman told News Five about […]
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, […]
Earlier this week, Belizeans were treated to an address by Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington in which he informed the members of the O.A.S. in the Dominican Republic that he and Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales share an excellent relationship. This afternoon while in San Ignacio, Senator Eamon Courtenay, a former foreign minister, was not […]
Guatemala’s unfounded claim to Belize is nothing new, but what seems to be a consistent policy of aggression is. Currently, as News Five proved again just Thursday, Belizean civilians are unable to enter the Sarstoon River – that prohibition enforced by Guatemalan military force. On one level the situation seems distinctly hostile and uneasy. On […]
Our News Five team was turned back from the Sarstoon on Thursday. They were clearly in what has traditionally been Belizean territory, sticking close to the northern bank of the river when a Guatemalan naval vessel with nine soldiers approached them and ordered them to stop. They didn’t, and motored off, which led to a […]
Amid all the negative news, tonight there is positive news involving Belizean athletes. We take pride in reporting that 2012 Belize Olympic team member Kaina Martinez has performed outstandingly in the twenty-seventh Central American Games currently underway in El Salvador. In fact, Kaina has won gold in the Women’s one hundred meter race. But even […]
Written on June 17, 2016 | Posted in
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Can Belizeans go into the Sarstoon – at least on our side of the river? That’s been the million dollar question since our news team was stopped on May twenty-seventh. Our government says that we can based on an informal understanding reached in Istanbul, Turkey. The Guatemalans have said that there is no informal or […]
Late this evening, the Government issued a release about this morning’s incident in the Sarstoon. It reads in part: “G.O.B. is investigating this incident in an effort to verify all its particulars including that the media vessel was in Belize’s waters. In the meantime, Guatemalan authorities have communicated that they attempted to stop the vessel […]
As we’ve shown you, our news team traveled south to the Sarstoon River where they were turned back by the Guatemalan Armed Forces. While that was taking place this morning, another team was at the P.G.I.A. awaiting the arrival of Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington who returned today from the O.A.S. General Assembly in the Dominican […]
Is Guatemala taking the ongoing bilateral discussions seriously? It is a question that we’ve put to Foreign Minister Elrington in light of the recent happenings at the Sarstoon. On May twenty-seventh, our news team was turned away from the area; three days after government announced that, “there will be untrammeled traffic for Belize’s military and […]
