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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 […]
Late this evening, the trial of Ronlee Petillo and Matthew Smith charged with the murder of fruit vendor, Miguel Angel Rivera concluded before Judge Adolph Lucas. The murder occurred on March eleventh, 2011 at the Michael Finnegan Market. Petillo once again beat a murder rap and so did Smith. In the trial by judge alone, […]
Written on June 17, 2016 | Posted in
Trials |
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Tonight, twenty-seven year old Cassian Young of Mosul Street, Belize City is on remand at the Belize Central Prison for a robbery which occurred on June eleventh. His attorney, Herbert Panton argued in court that there is no evidence against Young and that it is unjust to charge him for the crime which took place […]
Written on June 17, 2016 | Posted in
Trials |
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The award ceremony for top achievers of the 2016 P.S.E. took place at the Ramada Princess this morning. Students from schools across the country were bussed in to celebrate the achievement of their peers. Twenty-five students received certificate of excellent for the top grades scored in the national exams. The occasion was celebratory as well […]
Written on June 17, 2016 | Posted in
Education |
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The daring attempt on the life of Brandon Tillett this morning on Queen Street happened less than a stone’s throw away from Independence Hall, the headquarters of the People’s United Party. Party Leader John Briceño was in office today and while it is not clear whether he was there at the time of the shooting, […]
Written on June 17, 2016 | Posted in
Crime,
People & Places,
Politics |
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Another round of village council elections will be held this weekend in various rural communities across the country. While the democratic exercise should be free of political influence, a number of slates are being put together along party lines and the campaigns reflect a partisan slant. Earlier today, P.U.P. Party Leader John Briceño weighed-in on […]
Written on June 17, 2016 | Posted in
People & Places,
Politics |
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Citizens Organized for Liberty through Action, COLA, has weighed in on the latest development coming out of the O.A.S. General Assembly, as it relates to Belize and Guatemala. Earlier today, the organization issued a release calling on government to clarify specific aspects of the ICJ discussion. According to President Geovannie Brackett, government is trying to […]
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
Regional / International,
Sports |
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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 […]
Today, there was further violence in the south side of Belize City. Elroy Perdomo Junior was executed on Vernon Street as he attended a funeral. Perdomo Junior was held for forty-eight hours as the prime suspect in the murder of Marlon Bonner on Sunday at the basketball court on Faber’s Road. He was released from […]
Written on June 16, 2016 | Posted in
Crime,
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Last week Wednesday, News Five broke the story of the appointment of Audibaldo Monima Junior as Regional Health Manager for the north. The backlash over that appointment was fast and furious because it was patently clear that the former coast guard officer did not have the qualifications for the job. We confirmed that he possessed […]
Coastguard officer, Keyren Tzib has been back and forth at court for two cases; the manslaughter of her boyfriend for which she is out on bail. The other case against her is for the attempted murder of another officer. Today, she learnt that she will have to stand trial at the Supreme Court for the […]
Written on June 16, 2016 | Posted in
Featured,
Trials |
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Now back to the issue of the Guatemalan claim. Foreign Ministers Wilfred Elrington and Carlos Raul Morales are heading to Washington early next week where they hope to establish a bilateral cooperation mechanism for the Sarstoon. But prior to that meeting, there is an ongoing investigation by the Organization of American States into the shooting […]
With all the talk on either side about resolving the territorial dispute at the International Court of Justice, government intends to amend the existing Referendum Act to lower the threshold needed to prevail in the voting exercise. The revision, according to Elrington, has been carefully considered. While this is the first that we officially hear […]
It’s been one year since a Guatemalan gunboat ran aground in Belize’s littoral waters near Glovers Reef; it was reportedly navigating international waters en route to Mexico, when it drifted on to the reef on June eleventh, 2015. Two weeks later, on June twenty-sixth, 2015, a Mexican naval boat also ran aground on the reef […]
