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During her stay, the Secretary General will also be visiting the Office of the O.A.S. in the Adjacency Zone, where she will be received by the Chief of the O.A.S. Fund for Peace. Today, Baroness Scotland also spoke about Belize’s role as a CARICOM member state. Baroness Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth Secretary General “As you […]
Three organizations were recognized today as beneficiaries of the Canada Caribbean Disaster Risk Management Fund. HelpAge Belize, NAVCO and SATIIM have all completed on disaster relief, funded by the Canadian Government. The High Commissioner, who is on a visit to Belize called on them today. News Five’s Duane Moody reports. Duane Moody, Reporting Today, […]
Canadian High Commissioner Deborah Chatsis is visiting from Guatemala where the High Commission is located. Her visit coincides with the ongoing Caribbean Conference on Indigenous Peoples and she has taken time to also promote Canadian educational opportunities. Deborah Chatsis, Canadian High Commissioner to Belize “I had several objectives…one was to participate in an education […]
Baroness Patricia Janet Scotland is the Secretary General of the Commonwealth. She arrived today in Belize on a first visit since her assumption of the post. It is also her first stop in an official tour of the Caribbean countries who are members of the Commonwealth. Scotland’s schedule includes a call on the Prime Minister […]
Tonight, however, the BTV remains undeterred to travel to the Sarstoon over which the Guatemalans are exerting sovereignty and have deployed additional troops in the area. The B.D.F. believes the expedition is risky business for the BTV. Guatemala claims it’s an act of provocation and will not allow the BTV in the area. The Foreign […]
The strategy of the government of Guatemala following the shooting of thirteen-year-old Julio Alvarado Ruano is two-fold. It wants an investigation and for those responsible to be taken to trial. Guatemala also wants the moral condemnation of Belize. In the extended television program, Foreign Minister Morales discloses the steps Guatemala is taking, including presenting a […]
On Monday, Prime Minister Dean Barrow assured the nation that the crisis with Guatemala had been averted and that both he and President Jimmy Morales had agreed to de-escalate tensions following the deployment of troops to the Sarstoon and the Adjacency Zone. In the interview to Canal Antigua, Morales claims that Guatemala did not deploy […]
As we have reported, the Organization of American States has been the only organization to “repudiate” the death of the Guatemalan minor at the hands of the B.D.F. even before an investigation was completed. But things are moving ahead and the O.A.S. confirmed today that at the request of both countries, it will be conducting […]
The IMPACT Justice Project kicked off today with a three-day conference at the Biltmore Plaza in Belize City. It had the participation of indigenous people from the entire Caribbean including the Maya and Garifuna communities from Belize. In the next few days, the conference is looking at balancing national development and the rights of indigenous […]
The incident in which a Guatemalan minor was shot in the Chiquibul has gone viral, pushed by the highest officials in Guatemala and fueled by the Guatemalan press. At his press conference on Monday, PM Barrow accepted that the issue was emotive and sensational, and that Guatemala had been first out the gate. But he […]
In Guatemala City, La Nacion Newspaper is reporting a protest in front of the Belize Embassy by about two dozen protestors bearing placards with the names of ten Guatemalans that they claim have been killed in Belize since 1999. President Jimmy Morales told reporters today that he hopes that those responsible for the death of […]
The death of thirteen year old Julio Alvarado Ruano was ventilated today in the Guatemalan Congress where the rhetoric went up notches. Congressman Oliviera Garcia claimed that Guatemalans have been robbed and assaulted by powers with whom Guatemala signed agreements that were never respected. He said they cannot speak about a border with Belize because […]
There are also reports that Belizean Joseph Budna was attacked in a prison in retaliation for the death of the thirteen-year-old boy killed in la Cebada, Chiquibul last Wednesday. The incident occurred at Cantel prison in Quetzaltenango; five persons were injured in the chaos and three were taken for medical treatment. It is believed that […]
Following the incident in the Chiquibul, where a minor was shot and killed when the B.D.F. came under fire, Guatemala’s version of events went immediately viral, led by an inflammatory video message by President Jimmy Morales. The perception has been that Belize’s response, on the other hand, has been subdued and inadequate, giving our western […]
Barrow says that in running away with Guatemala’s version of events, the international media seems to have missed a critical aspect of the incident – that the B.D.F. soldiers were fired on first by Guatemalans in the dead of night and were only returning fire. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “I don’t hear anybody, I […]
The Prime Minister explained that he understands that when the country is under threat people want immediate action, but the events of this past few days have underscored the importance of continued talks, and continued lines of communication…with the US Southern Command, for example. SouthCom and the US, says the PM, have continued to play […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow returned to Belize from New York on Sunday after holding discussions with the United Nations, the Organization of American States and others on the aggressive stand by Guatemala, following the killing of a minor inside the Chiquibul. Guatemala’s President Jimmy Morales and other high-ranking officials ramped up the rhetoric and mobilized […]
The de-escalation of the tension, according to the PM, came despite the positions taking by both leaders – Morales seeking justice for the death of thirteen year old Julio Rene Alvarado Ruano, and Barrow maintaining that the shooting was justified…self-defense after a B.D.F. patrol came under fire. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “President Morales committed […]
While reports from Guatemala have spread like wildfire, along with condemnation of the B.D.F. at the highest levels of government, the incident is still under investigation by the O.A.S. Guatemala’s Foreign Minister, Carlos Raul Morales, has been particularly focused on the B.D.F., criticizing their training and rules of engagement. Today, for the first time, B.D.F. […]
If you wanted more assurance that the rhetoric has been dialed way down, you’d only have to listen to an interview from Guatemala’s Minister of Defense Williams Mansilla over the weekend. He told the press in Guatemala that there was no declaration of war, and not even a mobilization of troops as was widely reported. […]
So the crisis has been averted, and all attempts will be made to de-escalate tensions in the wake of the incident on Wednesday in the Chiquibul. But the truth is that the factors which coalesced to create that near flashpoint are still very much in evidence. In the Sarstoon, for example, there is a state […]
Earlier in our newscast we mentioned the BTV trip scheduled for Saturday. The government has advised that it not happen, while BTV head Wil Maheia insists that he will lead an expedition to Sarstoon Island to mark the anniversary of the 1859 Treaty. Based on what we saw first-hand on Friday as we visited the […]
Late last week, the Organization of American States issued a rare statement. We say rare because the O.A.S. has stoically maintained silence in times of tension, like when Special Police Constable Danny Conorquie was gunned down at Caracol. But not this time, as the O.A.S. release states that it repudiates the killing of the minor […]
The last we heard, Guatemala had rejected eleven proposals presented by Belize to government rules of engagement in the Sarstoon. At the same time, we heard that Belize had roundly rejected Guatemala’s counter-proposals asking for a return to the status-quo. So with a rejection from both sides, the talks are presumably on hold right? Well, […]
The Government of Guatemala has also issued a statement following the meeting between Prime Minister Dean Barrow and President Jimmy Morales in New York. That statement makes no reference on the de-escalation of tensions as the Prime Minister asserted this morning. In the statement, Morales rejects the Belizean version that the B.D.F. acted in self-defence […]
