What’s in a name? Just ask the Belize Police Department. They say they want to help to eliminate the stigma associated with what’s known as the “south side” and they want to get residents to start looking at the City as a whole – and not by north and south sides with connotations. So, they’ve […]
Guatemala’s Minister of Foreign Affairs on Monday further discussed her country’s participation in Sunday’s referendum. As has been widely noted, about twenty-seven percent of the population voted in the referendum of which a super-majority said yes. But with Belize’s referendum act requiring a simple majority turnout – something Guatemala is said to have pushed for […]
Senior attorney Lisa Shoman, who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Said Musa’s administration and has been an ambassador to the United States and permanent representative to the Organization of American States, as well as put in valuable time on Belize’s diplomatic team attending to the Guatemalan claim, has a different view to […]
City Administrator Candice Miller, we understand, is preparing to file suit against the Belize City Council, challenging her suspension from her duties. Miller was sent home on April fifth on a month’s suspension after being accused of dereliction of fiduciary duty. An ongoing investigation turned up transactions considered questionable, including a bill for food and […]
The Miss Universe Organization is searching for the next Belizean beauty ambassador to participate in the 2018 Miss Universe Pageant. A team from the U.S., dubbed Miss Universe Belize Organization, has been in Belize since the beginning of the week and on Friday and Saturday will be carrying out auditions for young Belizean women between […]
It is well known that the pageant has been mired in scandals. It took almost a decade before the ban was lifted from Belize, allowing a delegate in the international competition. In 2016, southern belle Rebecca Rath was crowned Miss Belize and competed in the January 2017 Miss Universe Pageant in Manila, Philippines. But even […]
It’s been four days since twenty-six-year-old Christian Charles was knocked down and left for dead near the Burrell Boom Bridge in rural Belize District. Swanka, as he is affectionately known, is still in a critical condition inside the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital clinging to life following the hit and run incident which occurred sometime between […]
Now twenty-three years of age, he was only a teenager when he was accused of killing a Panamanian diplomat in what he called self-defense. The murder trial of Wilser Echevarria has now concluded in the Belmopan Supreme Court. From the start, and again speaking from the dock in his defense at trial, Echevarria maintained that […]
A Honduran teenager from the Belama area admitted to handling two stolen fishing rods belonging to a Customs officer. According to Rudolph Williams, someone broke into his parked red Jeep Cherokee vehicle early on Monday morning April sixteenth and stole two thousand dollars worth of goods including several fishing rods. Police tracked down eighteen year […]
Belmopan police are investigating a shooting incident that occurred on Friday morning on Macaw Avenue. Around twelve-fifteen a.m., Ysela Logan says she was awoken by the sound of gunshots just outside her home. When she checked, the thirty-three-year-old teacher says that she realized that her Saturn Vue SUV, valued at eight thousand dollars, which was […]
A criminal and an internal investigation is ongoing following a shooting incident in Valley of Peace, Cayo where a police officer shot a resident. According to police, officers were conducting operations in the village and as they were about to search the residence of Kevin Avetar, he ran into nearby bushes. One of the officers […]
Exactly what does Guatemala claim of Belize? We’ve all heard the differing stories – the whole of Belize’s eight thousand plus square miles of territory; or only that portion south of the Sibun River which includes most of Cayo, Stann Creek and Toledo Districts, covering twelve thousand square kilometers. The figures alone sound scary, but […]
With Belize’s referendum date not set, and a potential trip to The Hague still a few years away, Belize and Guatemala must continue to co-exist as neighbors and tackle important issues together. We asked Foreign Minister Jovel to outline her priorities, and she said the most important is untangling the issue of the dispute from […]
With a budget for the 2018 fiscal calendar in place, one that does not include allocations for a public education campaign ahead of the pending referendum, just how much is government prepared to spend on the exercise? That’s what we asked Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber on Tuesday. Despite a previous comment made by Foreign […]
On Tuesday night, we shared the story about the squatters who have brazenly settled in a reserved piece of land in Belmopan. They were given fourteen days to move out and some of the squatters told us that ain’t happening. They will move only if they are given a piece of land to relocate. So, […]
Tensions are high in the Majestic Alley-Jungle area. A spate of shootings and murders associated with the gangs in those areas has led to an increased hostility. Now, Police say that they are actively working in that area albeit a challenge due to high tensions. According to Chester Williams, Operations ACT has expanded from region […]
Today, cops were visiting residents in the Jane Usher Boulevard area in their meet and greet sessions. Things have been relatively calm in this area since more boots were put on the ground. Deputy Commissioner of Police Chester Williams said that they received a lot of positive feedback on the law enforcement efforts in the […]
Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber has chimed in on the outcome of Guatemala’s referendum, sharing with the media a personal view on the democratic process in the absence of a cabinet meeting. On Monday, the Government of Belize issued a statement applauding Guatemala for successfully carrying out its national exercise. Roughly twenty-five percent of the […]
The possibility of voters saying no to the ICJ is a very real likelihood. If that were indeed the case, Faber says that government would have no choice but to respect the will of the people. The drawback, however, is that Belize would once again find itself in the very same predicament with Guatemala that […]
On Monday, Opposition Leader John Briceño told News Five that government has fallen short of meaningfully consulting with the People’s United Party on what has long been a national issue. This evening, Deputy Prime Minister Faber responded by saying that the P.U.P. are in fact the ones that are using the referendum as a political […]
News Five, in an interview with Guatemala’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, touched on two topics of special interest to Belizeans in the wake of Sunday’s referendum. The first concerns relations between the countries. At the highest level, says Sandra Jovel Polanco, things could not be better. Polanco cites that she has met cordially with her […]
But could relations be soured or broken irretrievably if the International Court of Justice, assuming assent from both populations, rules in Belize’s favor? It’s a question that makes both sides uncomfortable considering Guatemala’s prior reputation and the scale of how much Belize has to lose. But Minister Jovel Polanco insists that Guatemala will respect the […]
While there were bouquets across the border between Belize and Guatemala following Sunday’s referendum result, color the Belize Progressive Party unsurprised and unimpressed. They said as much in a press statement issued Monday evening, reminding that the Guatemalan leadership was taking advantage of what it called local “facilitation” that puts Belize at severe risk to […]
Police say they have caught up to the man they believed killed one of Channel Five’s own. Thirty-seven-year-old Marcia Downs was shot twice at her front gate on April eleventh by someone she knew, and died during treatment at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. A teenager, nineteen-year-old Antwon Alburn Rivero believed to be a Handyside […]
Approximately twenty teachers of Gwen Lizarraga High School this morning staged a sit-out from classes in continuing fallout over the appointment of members of the school’s board of governors. While from the outside it appeared as though things looked normal, the protesting teachers, we are told, remained inside the staff room rather than teach class. […]
