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A.G. Looks to Colleague Sylvestre to Erase Mandatory Minimum Sentences

On Monday the legal year opened with a new Attorney General – Michael Peyrefitte. He told the members of the judiciary that one of things he wants to do is a comprehensive review of the existing criminal laws which will focus on the appropriateness of the mandatory minimum sentences. Peyrefitte pointed out that one of […]

CitCo Promises No Disruption in Garbage Removal

Last week Monday PASA informed the Solid Waste Management Authority that they would not be carrying out anymore works at the transfer stations and the regional sanitary land fill at mile twenty-four. And so far work has not resumed, and from we had gathered all indications were that it was an issue surrounding the contract.  […]

Fighting Stigma and Discrimination over H.I.V.

The National AIDS Commission is hosting a series of training sessions to sensitize key sectors in HIV stigma and discrimination. The sessions started on Tuesday with media personnel and will continue with Judiciary members, law enforcers, health workers and administrators, which seek to create an enabling environment for key populations affect by HIV. Today we […]

The End of Puerto Azul; Chief Developer Arrested in Italy for Massive Fraud

The controversial Puerto Azul project was a scam from the get go. It was launched at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival in France, where Ministers Manuel Heredia Junior and Erwin Contreras travelled for the grand event along with other high profile personalities.  It came crashing down this morning when, financial police in Varese, Northern Italy, […]

No to Superbond 3.0! Bondholders’ Advisor Explains Why

It didn’t take the Bondholder Committee appointed last week more than seventy-two hours to say no to Belize’s offer for a restructuring of the terms of the 2038 U.S. Dollar Bonds or the Superbond. The committee today called the offer “premature,” considering that it seeks consent from a committee who will not give it and […]

The Solution to Fixing Superbond is More Complex for Bondholders

The Committee is not advocating a particular solution, preferring to negotiate with Belize on the basis of debt relief in the medium-term. It wants a strong and credible medium-term program of fiscal and structural adjustment to promote economic growth and reduce crisis risk; and reasonable mechanisms to assure that the adjustment program will be delivered. […]

P.M.’s Threats of Economic War over Arbitration May Haunt Belize

Will Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s words in the House of Representatives on Friday, threatening “economic war” if Caribbean Investment Holdings Limited and Belize Social Development Limited attempt to collect on arbitration awards upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court for more than fifty million U.S. dollars by seizing Belizean assets, come back to haunt him? While […]

Glenn D. Godfrey Wants His Forty-Four Million Pound of Flesh

On the heels of three arbitration awards upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last week and a fourth involving the Belize Bank still making its way through the U.S. court system, the last thing the Government wants to hear about is further litigation. But that is exactly what it faces from Glenn D. Godfrey’s G.D.G. […]

13th Senator Speaks on Disappointment of Freeze-Out

It’s been one week since the N.G.O. community voted overwhelmingly in favor of Osmany Salas to represent its membership as the thirteenth senator.   While an official appointment is pending, the inaugural meeting of the Senate for 2017 has been scheduled for this Thursday, one day ahead of the Commencement Order taking effect.  In light of […]

N.G.O. Act Has Nothing To Do with Swearing-In

While the N.G.O. community is fully aware of government’s position to amend the N.G.O. Act, it maintains that the N.G.O. Amendment Bill has nothing to do with the swearing in of the thirteenth senator on January twentieth.   Osmany Salas, Senator-Elect “We don’t see what is that urgent that can’t wait a couple days.  So […]

Arson not Ruled Out in Lords’ Bank Fire

A couple has been left without a roof over their head following the fire that destroyed their home on Monday on Hollywood Drive in Lord’s Bank, Ladyville. The owners suspect that the fire was intentionally set. Today we spoke with Operations Officer Orin Smith of the National Fire Service and he says that they are […]

G.S.U. Officer Accused of Personal Grudge and Harassment of Couple

Back in December, a San Ignacio couple came to our studios to make a complaint against a GSU Officer. They claimed that they were brutalized at the hands of the law enforcement personnel. Well, it has been over a month and the couple claims that they are being harassed by the officer, whose name we […]

Anthony Myers Wanted for Assault, Will Be Sent to Jail

A Gales Point Manatee resident was handed down a three-year sentence after he was found guilty of aggravated assault with a firearm. Anthony Liston Myers, originally from Dangriga, was sentenced in absentia this morning before Chief Magistrate, Anne Marie Smith.  Myers committed an aggravate assault upon businessman, Nelson Gallardo on December twenty-sixth, 2016, in the […]

San Antonio, Toledo Farmer Shot, in Critical Condition

A farmer of San Antonio, Toledo District remains hospitalized tonight after surviving a near-fatal shooting incident on Monday night.  Shortly before eight o’clock, fifty-six-year-old Rufino Bul was inside his bar when four masked men entered the premises.  One of them produced a firearm and took aim at the proprietor before discharging his weapon.  Bul was […]

Belize Drops Second Straight Game to El Salvador, 3 to 1

The fate of Belize’s Gold Cup future is up in the air after losing to El Salvador in their third outing of the Central American Cup.  While Honduras is the only team with a perfect record at the 2017 Copa Centroamericana, Belize is in danger of sinking lower on that list.  This afternoon in Panama […]

Why Butane Prices Went Up

If you purchased butane since the eleventh of this month, you would have noticed that the price went up big time. Last week the Bureau of Standards sent out a release to say that LPG – known to most as butane – would be seeing an increase of eighteen percent. The last time consumers saw […]

Belize Wants to Improve its Standards

The Belize Bureau of Standards has received a grant from the Caribbean Development Bank to the tune of two hundred and eighty thousand U.S. dollars to be used to enhance the National Quality Infrastructure. The first step has been an assessment of standards currently in place and the preparation of a draft plan to bring […]

Miss Belize Heads into Competition for Miss Universe

The competition is heating up in Manila, Philippines where Belize’s Rebecca Rath is holding her own in the sixty-fifth edition of the Miss Universe pageant. On Monday, the twenty-three-year-old beauty and the other eighty-nine delegates from across the world were hosted at a Governor’s Ball at the SMX Convention Center. There they were all introduced […]

Second Grenade Recovered in 12 Days from Southside

For the second time in twelve days, the Police Department has removed an American type fragmentation grenade from south side, Belize City.  On Saturday, the police were tipped off about the location of the live grenade. Bomb expert and B.D.F. Commander, Brigadier General David Jones was called in to retrieve the grenade from Lake Independence […]

57 Pounds of Cocaine Recovered in Ambergris

San Pedro is primarily known as a premier destination for tourists from across the world and is visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. But there is a flipside to La Isla Bonita because north of the island is also known for illicit activity. The trafficking of large quantity of drugs, primarily cocaine in […]

Was Lords’ Bank House Fire Deliberately Set?

A home was completely destroyed by fire before midday today. The persons who lived at the home weren’t there at the time of the fire. While Police and Fire Officials have not classified the cause of the fire – best information to us is that it may have been intentionally set – a report that […]

G.O.B. Will Proceed with Pitts-Vega Compensation Case

Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte assumed office on January first, several days after a claim had been filed against businessman Andre Vega and U.D.P. insider Sharon Pitts.  Legal action is being taken by the Government of Belize against those individuals in an effort to recover almost one million dollars that was disbursed in two sums of […]

The Legal Year Opens with New A.G. and Bar Prez But Same Problems

The 2017 opening ceremony of the Supreme Court took place this morning; the proceedings started with a service at the historic Saint John’s Cathedral after which the judiciary and Bar members headed to the other equally historic building, the Supreme Court on Regent Street. After the pageantry of the inspection of the guard of honor, […]

Attorney General Settling into New Office

The transition from Speaker of the House of Representatives to Attorney General has been a work in progress for Michael Peyrefitte.  He formally took over that government department at the beginning of January, when outgoing Attorney General Vanessa Retreage demitted office.  Since taking over that responsibility a number of high profile cases have landed on […]

Senate Meeting Will Proceed; 13th Senator Not to be Present

The Government of Belize has announced through a Communiqué that the meeting of the Senate scheduled for Thursday, January nineteenth, will proceed as scheduled. The commitment for a thirteenth senator was made eight years ago, but newly-elected Senator representing non-governmental organizations, Osmany Salas, will have to wait even longer to sit in the senate. That […]