Belize attended the meeting at O.A.S. headquarters with draft Sarstoon protocols in hand, aimed at defusing a potentially dangerous situation in the Southern River. So after all the diplomatic speak, just how close are both countries to establishing constructive, peaceful rules of engagement in the Sarstoon? Opposition representative on the Belize delegation Assad Shoman explained. […]
So that’s where both country’s ended today’s apparently constructive meeting at O.A.S. headquarters – not exactly a breakthrough just yet, but according to representatives that point could be reached in a matter of days. News Five did intend to ask military representatives at the meeting about the immediate effect of today’s tentative progress where the […]
The Leader of the Opposition, John Briceño met with Prime Minister Dean Barrow at the P.M.’s office on Coney Drive in Belize City this morning in light of the troubling pattern of the Guatemalan Armed Forces operating in the Sarstoon. As recent as Tuesday, GAF attempted to block SATIIM from travelling upstream. The GAF accused […]
Another incident that has stirred tensions is the shooting of B.D.F. Staff Sergeant Richard Lambey in the area of Valentin Camp inside the Chiquibul Forest. The safety of soldiers and F.C.D. rangers along the western border is being called to question since the attack on Lambey took place well within Belizean territory. The incident also […]
There are two murders to report tonight. An eighteen-year-old Ladyville resident, Merkel Pitts was shot on Thursday night and by this afternoon he was dead at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. But is the shooting death an act of retaliation, following the gangland-style execution of Rene ‘Fat Cat’ Chavarria a few weeks ago? Pitts was […]
Meanwhile, in the Corozal District sometime between Thursday night and this morning, the bullet riddled body of a cane farmer was discovered near the village of Santa Rosa. Fifty-one-year-old Gregorio Abel Espinosa was discovered by members of his family this morning when they decided to enter the area in search of their loved one. It […]
Is the ZIKA virus now present in Belize? According to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, the recent transmission of the disease may have originated in Belize when an American couple traveled here in mid-March. This was conveyed to the Ministry of Health on Wednesday in an email alert from the U.S. International Health […]
The C.D.C. initially reported that the patient is, “an adult female resident who traveled to Belize from March fourteenth to nineteenth. She had onset of fever and rash on the twenty-third. ZIKA virus RT-PCR was positive on serum at the health department of the state. The patient reported no other recent travel history and there […]
A timely workshop on risk communication and community engagement around vector control and prevention of ZIKA, dengue and CHIKUNGUNYA concluded today at the Biltmore Plaza in Belize City. UNICEF is training stakeholders, particularly the municipal authorities involved in child friendly municipalities, on vector control interventions to prevent the communicable diseases. UNICEF says the key components […]
On Wednesday the P.U.P. leader named new members to the executive of the P.U.P. who will now go on to get the blessing of the National Party Council. Briceño made his moves after getting a mandate from the executive. The line-up includes the four-time area representative from Lake Independence Cordel Hyde who is proposed as […]
Deputy Party leader, Julius Espat, was at the forefront of the campaign for the re-election of Francis Fonseca as leader last November. While Fonseca and other parliamentarians are moving forward under the blue tent, Espat is holding out and did not attend Wednesday’s Executive meeting of the P.U.P. In fact he came out against the […]
Now the P.U.P. held a convention last November in which John Briceño and his team were decisively elected. But on social media this week, there is one standard bearer that is already anticipating the holding of a national convention for leadership. Briceño says the gates are open for anyone who wants to mount a challenge. […]
This year and for the first time, Belize gets to host the CODICAR games which are regional games that foster the integration movement in Central America. Belizean athletes have traditionally competed in the games and done well, this time they get to stay home and face the competition from the Central American region. They will […]
Fans of football, those who have attended games at the M.C.C. Grounds recently, are outraged about parking inside the facility since there is now a fee of five dollars to do so. On Sunday, a football aficionado criticized the National Sports Council for its decision to proceed with charging the public for use of the […]
The Government of Belize, according to Aragon, has invested north of fifty million dollars in developing sports across the country. Despite that much capital spending, the Marion Jones Sporting Complex, once the most celebrated, professional, outdoor recreational facility in the country, is yet to be completed after years of construction. The product of much delay […]
This Saturday the U.D.P. will hold a special meeting to determine the date of a convention to elect the first deputy party leader. Both Ministers Patrick Faber and John Saldivar are campaigning for the post which is likely to determine who will be the next leader of the United Democratic Party following the retirement of […]
Minister Saldivar claims he has the numbers on his side and so does Minister Patrick Faber who has received major endorsements for first deputy party leader of the U.D.P. Faber’s deputy, Elodio Aragon says he is not shying away from the fact that he is endorsing his boss. Elodio Aragon, Minister of State, Ministry […]
A World Bank diagnostic finds that Belize is thriving in some areas but failing in other sectors. On Thursday, a three-year growth and sustainable development strategy was launched at the Radisson. It outlines a plan to grow the economy, improve security and generally provide a better quality of life for Belizeans. News Five’s Duane Moody […]
A meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Belize and Guatemala scheduled for this Friday has been postponed for sometime next week. It would have discussed the new stance by Guatemala in the Sarstoon where it is exerting control over the island. Guatemala, it is known, does not want to discuss the Sarstoon nor does it […]
The Minster of National Security John Saldivar was also asked today about the most recent Sarstoon incident. He offered few details on the aggression by the Guatemalan Armed Forces against the SATIIM rangers. Saldivar says that he has not received an official report, but that the actions taken by GAF against SATIIM are unacceptable. […]
The government, particularly Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington, has come under fire for a perception of timidity where negotiations with Guatemala are concerned. There has been a consistent criticism that the matter has not been treated with a sense of urgency, and has not been internationalized as a priority. That may or may not have been […]
There are differing viewpoints on the Guatemalan claim on the entire Sarstoon. Minister Wilfred Elrington has maintained that nothing has changed since 1939, where Guatemala’s position on owning the river is concerned. Others, including the head of the B.D.F., Brigadier General David Jones, says that this is something new, something he’s only become aware of […]
On a previous occasion in the Sarstoon between the B.D.F. and the GAF the B.D.F. said that they had secured commitment from the GAF, to stand off but the SATIIM rangers on Tuesday had to seek permission to enter the Sarstoon. So what is the next move? Even though the confidence building measures do not […]
Today the Ministry of National Security confirmed that based on a Police investigation into the shooting of B.D.F. Staff Sergeant Richard Lambey, they believe that the assailants were Guatemalan citizens of a small border community known as La Rejoya. The incident occurred on Holy Saturday, as Lambey allegedly led a patrol on a water resupply […]
The B.D.F. report into the incident revealed that Staff Sergeant Lambey was alone when he was ambushed by seven Guatemalan men, and the patrol he was leading came on the scene after. News Five asked Lovell if the shooting, a clear and deliberate attack on a Belizean soldier, will cause the B.D.F. to revise, or […]
