In twelve days, 2018 will come to a close. Today, we went through the archives to see how the country has fared off as it relates to the crippling issue of crime. The stats of the Belize Crime Observatory show that in comparison to the same period in 2017, the murder count has edged up […]
Twenty-six-year-old Hubert Taylor, a resident of Dangriga, has been charged for murder. His arrest and arraignment follows a deadly attack on the Southern Highway on Monday morning when he reportedly stabbed a motorist with a knife to the right side of the chest. Sometime around nine o’clock, Marcos Ack, who was headed towards Independence Village, […]
There was an attempt made on the life of a Benque Viejo resident on Tuesday night. Just before ten p.m. as forty-three-year-old Roberto Galvez arrived at his Church Hill Street house in that western town, a gunman targeted him. Residents say at least ten blasts echoed in the distance and Galvez was hit up to […]
Police Constable Kenyon Pandy is dead following a fatal traffic accident in southern Belize. Just after three-thirty on Tuesday evening, Pandy was driving a vehicle when he lost control at the junction of the Southern Highway and San Antonio Road. The vehicle flipped several times, killing the twenty-seven-year-old on the spot. Pandy suffered massive head […]
Earlier this month, the Global Status Report on Road Safety for 2018 was released. The report shows that the burden is disproportionately borne by pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, particularly those living in developing countries. It suggests that the price paid for mobility is too high, especially because proven measures exist. These include strategies to address speed […]
The family of twenty-three-year-old Ivor “Iverson” Neal has scoured the outer limits of Belmopan, near El Rancho, in search of him. He was last seen at that location a week ago. Since then, there has been no contact with the K.B.H. security guard and tonight, the fear is that he may have been harmed, as […]
As with the case of Anisha Young, who is also missing, the family says it has reached out to the police department for assistance, but the response thus far has been unsatisfactory. Neal describes his son as a cool person, despite being a bit quick-tempered. Isani Cayetano “As a parent, what is your worst […]
A thirty-year-old man is on remand tonight for sexually assaulting a twelve-year-old girl. Allegations are that this is the second time he committed the offense, but the most recent was on December third when the aunt of the child caught him in the act. Santiago Carrillo Junior was charged and arraigned this morning for sexual […]
Another man was arraigned for sexual assault upon a minor and denied bail. Thirty-nine-year-old John Henry is accused of touching the breast of an eleven-year-old girl on November thirtieth. Henry pleaded not guilty to the charge of sexual assault and, like Carrillo, Magistrate Banner denied him bail and he was remanded into custody at the Belize […]
Magistrate Emerson Banner also dealt with the case of seasoned criminal, forty-five-year-old Leopold Stevens of Lord’s Bank, Ladyville. Stevens was charged for a burglary committed on October thirtieth. He is accused of entering the BWS compound and stealing an assortment of items in the offices of Hugh Kennedy Crawford Construction Services. Stevens pleaded not guilty […]
In April of this year, we covered extensively the referendum in Guatemala. And one year later Belize will be making its own historic decision on whether Guatemala’s territorial claim will be heard at the I.C.J. in The Hague. While in Guatemala this week, the local media met with a number of stakeholders, who participated in […]
There are currently one hundred and fifty Guatemalan families living within the adjacency zone in the west. Many may not know, but Guatemala has a consular office in Benque Viejo del Carmen. Edgar Felipe Aguilar Chan is the Consul General. His role is primarily to assist Guatemalan nationals and to foster relations among communities along […]
Thousands of Guatemalans are known to reside in Belize; and most of them have acquired citizenship. Today, we also took the opportunity to ask the Consul General about the population of Guatemalans living in Belize. While he admits that any numbers they have on record would be less than the actual population, he did provide […]
They are foul-smelling, noisy, and move in groups of up to three hundred. They are an important species to the environment, but are on the verge of extinction. A recently released report revealed that the white-lipped peccary, or Warrie, is on the verge of extinction. The animal can be found across the Meso-American region and […]
In the Lake Independence area of the city, businessman James Young and Glenda Trapp Johnston today hosted their annual Christmas party for the children of the area. Johnston has been visiting from the United States for over a decade, primarily for the Christmas party. She teamed up with Young to make the season a merry […]
‘tis the season to be reading and today, children from across Belize City flocked to the Leo Bradley Library to participate in an annual Christmas party hosted by four Belize City based libraries. Dozens of children participated in games, winning prizes and got the chance to be read a story by Santa Clause. Hipolito Novelo […]
Final farewells were bid today to the late Jane Usher. The day started with her last trip to the Holy Redeemer Credit Union where her credit union family paid their last respects. The pioneer of the credit union movement spent sixty-five of her hundred and one years at the H.R.C.U. from where she helped thousands […]
A family in the island of San Pedro came under attack over the weekend. Their home in the San Pablo area was shot multiple times and police have recovered numerous expended shells. The investigation, which involves the U.S. Federal Bureau, is ongoing at this time, but points to Lucinda Turley’s husband who resides in the […]
In the Supreme Court this morning, two men were sentenced in high profile cases. Justice Adolph Lucas sentenced Ernest Thurton Junior, known as “Dangalang,” to life imprisonment, but the twenty-six-year-old must serve twenty-nine years before he is eligible for parole for the double murder of Robert Young and Frank James. The murder goes back to […]
Also in the Supreme Court….thirty-five-year-old Bert Vasquez learnt his fate today for a second sexual assault case. Justice Colin Williams imposed the sentence ordering that it run consecutively with his previous ten-year conviction for the offense of forcible abduction, sexual assault, and harm against a sixteen-year-old minor, which was imposed on him by Justice Adolph […]
A police officer lost his life in a road traffic accident in Punta Gorda late this evening. Sometime between four and five o’clock, Police Constable Kenyon Pandy and WPC Zuniga were travelling in a vehicle when they met in an accident near the dump just outside of Punta Gorda. Pandy succumbed to his injuries, while […]
The education campaign in Belize has attempted to cover the extensive history of the Belize/Guatemala dispute. The over two hundred-year-old dispute hinges on a few pivotal moments in the history of both countries. One of those moments is the signing of the 1859 Treaty. If Belizeans vote ‘YES’ to the I.C.J., the 1859 Treaty is […]
For Belizeans, a decision to vote “YES” or “NO” to the I.C.J. depends on understanding what exactly is Guatemala claiming. During the education campaign in Guatemala earlier this year, some paraphernalia showed a claim of half of Belize, but there have been times when it has been the entire country. While in Guatemala over the […]
What about those disconcerting maps of Guatemala that include Belize? We asked Morales to explain why – if Guatemala is seeking a resolution – that it is still being used in a number of publications and government offices. Carlos Raul Morales, Former Foreign Minister, Guatemala “According to our law, we still have the map […]
Despite the offer of a hefty reward on information of her whereabouts, Anisha Young remains missing. Her family has now turned to Jose Luis Espat, who has previously assisted families in similar circumstances. The twenty-three-year-old has been missing for more than a week after leaving a nightclub in a taxi along with her boyfriend. While […]
