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The San Pedro Sun

Police Report: August 11 - 16, 2012
Drugs Trafficking On Monday 13th August 2012 at about 2PM San Pedro Police officers visited the residents of Gilbert Henry 29 year old of a Sea Grape Drive Address where a search was conducted. During the search police found 10 transparent plastic bags and wrapped inside were what appeared to be 7.1 grams suspected cannabis and four plastic bag containing buff substances suspected to be 8.2 grams of crack cocaine. Police also discovered cash totaling $356.85 believed to be proceeds from the sale of drugs. Henry, the suspected drugs and the money were taken to the San Pedro Police Station. As a result police later charged Henry for the crimes of being in possession of control drugs and drugs trafficking. Sudden Death On Monday August 13th at 9:15AM police personnel and Dr Lorenzo Nicholson responded to a call where they visited a pier centrally located in San Pedro Town. Upon arrival they saw the motionless body of 55 year old Barcley Dawson Rader, retired American of 10 miles north of San Pedro Town lying face up wrapped in a white sheet on a plywood slab. The body had been transported to the pier by boat. Initial investigation revealed that on Sunday August 12th at about 9:30AM the deceased went to sleep in his room. At about 8:45PM on the same date his son, namely 22 year old Dalton Paul Rader an unemployed American of the same address went to check on him and found him lying on his left side apparently dead. The police then transported the body to the San Pedro Poly Clinic where he was pronounced dead on arrival. There was no visible sign of violence and further investigation reveals that the deceased have been suffering from heart disease, high blood pressure and pulmonary infection. No foul play is suspected.

Wolfe's Woofer: The Mexican Lawyer
"You having salbutes tonight, Mr. Dennis?" "No," I told the lady at my favorite roadside restaurant. "I'll have two tamales." I took a seat at one end of the picnic table. At the other end, Mario, a local construction worker was having his dinner. "Where is Jose tonight?" I asked him. "I'm used to seeing you guys together." "Jose had to meet with an abogado. I think you call him a lawyer," Mario said. "He didn't know what for." Eventually Jose came in and ordered. He took his seat near Mario who asked, "Why you had to see the lawyer?" "Is kind of a funny story," Jose said. "This lawyer is from Mexico." "Mexico? You ain't been in Mexico since we went to Merida together four years ago." "That's right. We got drunk in Playa del Carmen on the way back and spent all of our money. Remember that?" "I sure do," Mario said. "We had to walk and hitchhike almost all the way back."

Dr. Love: Confused
Dear Doctor Love, I have been to Belize twenty times in the last three years. Six of those times have been one-week vacations and the other times were holiday weekends where I get away from my job in the U.S. for four or five days. I love the country, but what keeps me coming back is a man. I met him in the Cayes where he works as a fisherman and a tour guide. Although he is very poor, I helped him by buying a boat for him and he is doing much better now. I know that he is no saint, but I don't expect him to be when I am only here for a little bit of the time each year. On my last visit, though, I heard some very disturbing rumors from people who live on the island. Someone told me that he got two of the local girls pregnant. I confronted him about this and he says it is all lies. He says people are just jealous of him because I bought the boat for him. On this visit, I did not call to contact him before I came down and I made it a surprise visit. When I finally tracked him down, he was at a house with a woman with three children. It was obvious that he lived there, even though he denied it. All of his clothes were there at the house and even his boat motor. He said it is not what it looks like. According to him, he is just staying there because he got kicked out of his room. The woman in the house says that is true and she just gives him a place to stay when he doesn't have any place to go.

Misc Belizean Sources

Queen of the Bay pictures
Congratulations to Jasmine Arce, who is Queen of the Bay Belmopan. She represented St. Matthews. Nicole Smith was 1st runner up, and Elsa Cardinez was 2nd runner up. Queen of the Bay Belmopan 2012 Awards: Miss Amity: Miss Teakettle, Elsa Cardinez Miss Photogenic: Miss St. Matthews, Jasmine Arce

BNYCF's Youth Chess Camp
The Belize National Youth Chess Foundation had their Youth Chess Camp at the GPC. It was for 3 to 7 year olds to learn the foundations of chess. Looks like they learned a lot and had a great time doing it. "my awesome Junior coaches and junior coaches trainees- making learning of chess possible even for the 4 year old ones! Love this week camp at GPC: here we are"

LOVE FM

Friday, August 17 Police News
There was another shooting on Thursday night and the area where it happened is besieged with this type of crime. Flamboyant Street in the Lake Independence area, where an apartment complex once stood, was the scene of Thursday night's shooting that has left a youth hospital...

Slovakian Businessman Released on Bail
Forty-two year old Karol Mello, a businessman from Slovakia who was remanded into custody after he was charged with uttering on a false document and perjury, was released on a bail of $10,000.00 today after he was offered bail by Justice Denis Hanomansingh. The bail, two sureties...

Flood Waters Recede in Corozal
Residents of the Corozal district continue to endure flooded villages and neighborhoods. Overnight rains on Wednesday caused at least nine villages and parts of Corozal town itself to be inundated. A number of persons from affected areas had to seek refuge in the Guadalupe ...

Amandala

$763,000 IN AGRICULTURAL LOSSES DUE TO ERNESTO
Papaya losses estimated at $695,000 Hurricane Ernesto passed right north of Belize, through Mexico, causing minimal impact on the country; however, the cyclone did leave behind a trail of damage in the agricultural sector of northern Belize. According to the Initial Situation Assessment Report received by Cabinet on Tuesday, August 14, 2012, the sector suffered $763,000 in direct losses, mostly due to 23 acres of papaya loss from Bomba and Little Belize, Corozal, tagged at $695,000. The remaining losses included corn, plantain, sweet pepper, and apiaries (bees). Sugar cane losses, according to the report published by the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO), were not included in the figure and they are expected to be negligible. The report said that 180,000 people across Belize felt varied impacts of Hurricane Ernesto. The shelters were occupied by 592 people seeking refuge from the storm, while 911 evacuated the islands of Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker and stayed on the mainland until the hurricane passed.

Blogs

International Sources

Vice president of Taiwan arrives in Belize
Vice President Wu Den-yih arrived in Belize Saturday from the Dominican Republic on the second and final leg of a 12-day visit to the Latin America region that began Aug. 13. Wu was welcomed at the airport with a military salute and greeted by Belize Governor General Sir Colville Young and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington. He was expected to meet with Taiwanese expatriates Sunday evening and with Young and Prime Minister Dean Oliver Barrow Monday. At a meeting with Taiwanese media following his arrival, Wu said the United States has accorded him "full respect and cooperation" to make his transit stops in New York and Los Angeles during his trip between Taiwan and Latin America. He attributed this to the rebuilding of trust between Taiwa

S&P says region's default rose in July
On the heels of Belize announcing a default in its repayment of its external debt, a major credit rating agency says that the Caribbean's default rose in July as governments around the world incorporate policy responses to avert a repeat of the 2008 recession. The Wall Street-based Standard & Poor's Rating Services said that the speculative-grade default rate in Latin America and the Caribbean has edged up to an estimated 1.97 per cent, as of July 31, after "bottoming" at 0.52 per cent in July. "During the financial crisis of 2009, the speculative-grade corporate default rate in Latin America and the Caribbean increased sharply, but it was significantly lower than the global default rate and less than half the US default rate," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research. In an article, titled Emerging Markets Credit Metrics: Defaults Increase In Latin America And The Caribbean As The Global Economy Slows, Vazza said the emerging markets speculative-grade default rate peaked at 7.25 per cent in October 2009 before declining steadily and bottoming at 0.52 per cent in July 2011. She said since then it has been "creeping up" and that so far this year, 14 entities have defaulted in the emerging markets, including seven from Latin America and the Caribbean. Vazza said Standard & Poor's estimated 12-month trailing speculative- grade default rate for the emerging markets as of July 31 is 1.97 percent.

Belize private sector supports renegotiation
The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) says it supports the decision to renegotiate the "super bond" after the Dean Barrow government announced earlier this week that it was defaulting on the repayment of its external debt. A statement from the Office of Prime Minister Dean Barrow said that the next interest payment of US$46 million on Belize's accumulated US$544 million foreign debt, referred to as the "super bond" is due on August 20. The payment would have been the country's first under the interest payment plan on the US dollar Step Up Bonds due in 2029. The government said that the reason for the non-payment is that the stepped up payments represent almost one half of the country's total public indebtedness under the new stepped up 8.5 per cent rate. The main opposition Peoples United Party (PUP), which said it was neither consulted nor informed of the government's decision, has called on Prime Minister Barrow to address the nation on the implications of his administration's decision to default on the external debt payment. In a statement, the BCCI said that it believes that, without exception, "debts must be paid and that we must be financially responsible citizens. "However, where the economic viability of our country is at stake, the terms of repayment should not be so onerous as to strangle or deter the country's economic growth. It is in this vein that the BCCI, in principle, supports the renegotiation of the bond with the goal of making debt repayment more manageable."


Last edited by Marty; 11/17/12 09:53 AM.