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Mexican Artist Showcases Works in Belize
As part of a Central American Tour, 50-year-old, Carlos Vivar has brought his art canvases and sculptures to the Mexican Institute where his exhibition entitled, Contemporary Mexico will be unveiled tonight at seven o’clock. The Public Relations Officer for the Mexican Institute in Belize City, Marcelino Miranda spoke to the media to tell us what can be expected.
MARCELINO MIRANDA
“The Mexican Embassy is very proud to present this exhibition by a Mexican artist, who has a long career in Mexico and internationally. We are going to have an opportunity to look at his most recent works and he’s presented different images of contemporary Mexico that is the title of the exhibition, Contemporary Mexico. So, the public will have this chance to look at images from the countryside, from more urban images and he’s using specifically oil on canvas and he’s having these big floor mats for his paintings and his style is figurative and abstract mainly. This exhibition has started in Mexico and it is now being presented in Belize then it will we presented in the rest of Central America. We are inviting the general public; I think it’s going to be a very good opportunity especially for young artists and for children as well. A part of his work, he’s inspired by pre-Hispanic or pre-Columbian codecs from central Mexico and at the same time, people will identify certain images of Mexico. For example, the Agave plant where the tequila comes from and also other images of Mexico like churches but especially more images about the urban areas of Mexico. People will see the reference also to schools that are incorporated into Mexican culture specifically at the time of the day of the dead.”
Belize CAN Adopts The Occupy Movement
Occupy Belmopan started today with more than a hundred and fifty persons. The protest-like initiative is being led by Patrick Menzies of Belize Can with demands to the Government revolving around five key requests, most of which relate to the Revised Gender Policy 2013. Menzies explained:
PATRICK MENZIES
“Our main focus is the gender policy that it be retracted and once they retract it they can take off all the LGBT agenda and just leave it as a woman’s agenda; we support the women’s agenda. We are also asking (2) that gender be declared officially as either male or female because the gender policy has it as the role played by male or female which can be played by a transgender or anybody else; (3) we are asking for an end to victimization to a policy or law like a whistleblower’s law; (4) we are asking that the preamble of the constitution be protected so that they don’t change preamble to add the LGBT to the agenda or anything else; (5) we are asking that Section 60 of the Criminal Code that was changed in December that makes it illegal to spank your child or you go to jail if the child is below the age of 12; you go to jail for 15 years minimum, maximum to life and UNICEF says that if you spank your child that is called child abuse and if the child is between 12 and 17, you go to child for ten to fifteen years. We want that law clarified; what does ill treatment mean? So, that it is not a broad net to catch me when I spank my child or anybody else and the funny thing is that Patrick Faber was the very same one that told us that he would never allowed corporal punishment to come out of the home and he is the same that was the Chair that approved that mess and so we are fighting against it.”
Man Stabbed Whilst Walking Home in Belize City
Fifty year old Wayne “Bomb” Jones is recuperating at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize City after being stabbed last week. According to Jones, he was going home in the wee hours of Friday morning when a man came out of nowhere and attacked him on Lancaster Street in Belize City. According to Jones he was stabbed on his back with a butcher knife and left for dead.
WAYNE JONES
“I was going home on Thursday night about after twelve and a man just approached me out of the blue and asked me what I was doing around here. The man got off his bicycle and stabbed me in my back with a butcher knife then he got back on his bicycle and left me there bleeding. This happened after twelve last Thursday night; I was going home and he just came out of nowhere and stabbed me. I fell to the ground and I yelped out because I felt like the knife bucked but no one came out to help and I started walking to the hospital and I was yelling for help but no one helped me. I managed to walk to the stop light by Cinderella Plaza but then I passed out.”
Mother of Two Cries Rape
A 19-year-old girl is alleging that she was raped at gunpoint on Friday, June 13 in Belize City. The young mother of two reported to police that her rapist was a 65-year-old man known to her family. She says that on Friday, sometime after 3 o’clock, the man picked her up as he had promised to show her some apartments that were up for rent around miles 8 on the George Price Highway. They set out on the highway and drove for a bit when the man reportedly made a left turn into Homeland Memorial Park. With a gut feeling that something was about to go wrong, the young mother reported that she asked the man where they were going and his only response was that they were going to his property. They continued down a dirt road for about five minutes when the man then made a left turn and headed to a secluded area underneath a tree where he parked his pickup truck. It was at that point the woman’s nightmare began as she said the man pulled out his licensed revolver and demanded that she take off her clothes. Fearing for her life, she did as she was told and with a gun pointed at her face, the girl was forced to have sexual intercourse with the man. According to the woman, it didn’t end there as the man then forced her pose nude while he took photos of her. As what can only be summed up as an act of intimidation, the man then reportedly fired a warning shot in the air. Police took a statement from the woman on the following day. The accused is yet to be apprehended as police says the investigation is ongoing.
Traffic Accident in Western Belize Leaves Child Hospitalized
A child remains hospitalized following a traffic incident on Monday in the Cayo District. We hear more in this report from correspondent Fem Cruz.
FEM CRUZ
“A road traffic accident yesterday evening on the George Price Highway has left 7-year-old student, Rory Datson hospitalized. According to 32-year-old, Delmar Herrera, a resident of Benque Viejo Road, on Monday, June 16 just after five o’clock, he was driving his blue Hyundai Santa Fe from the village of Camalote enroute to San Ignacio Town. Upon reaching the village of Teakettle between miles 52 and 53, a child on bicycle suddenly rode across the highway in front of him and in order to avoid hitting the child, Herrera swerved left but the child was still clipped by the vehicle. The vehicle then crashed into a culvert as it came to a stop in a nearby drain. The child was rushed to the Western Regional Hospital suffering from a large cut wound to the forehead and the back of the head along with abrasions to the left hand and foot. He remains hospitalized and is stable. A notice of intended prosecution has been served to Herrera by the Police Department.”
Belize and Mexico Work on Trade Mission
Pro-Mexico and the Mexican Embassy in Belize are inviting local entrepreneurs to participate in another Mexican Trade Mission scheduled for this week. The first session will be held on Wednesday at the Mexican Embassy and on Thursday June 19, another session will be held at the Mexican Institute in Belize City. Javier Aguilar is in charge of trade affairs and tourism at the Mexican Embassy and explained the objective is to strengthen the trade relations between Mexico and Belize.
JAVIER AGUILAR
“On Wednesday it is going to be at the Mexican Embassy in Belmopan and on the 19th it is going to be at the Institute of Mexico in Belize. It consists of a group of companies that are coming from Mexico to offer their wide variety of products and services and also for potential partners to invest here in Belize or also find providers that might be of their interest and get imported from Mexico. There are different kinds of products; some of them are related to the food industry like jams, concentrates, drinks, wines, liquors, salsa, vinegar, vanilla and other things like that and there are certain companies that are related more to power industry like industrial solvents, chemical products, water proof coatings and there are a couple companies that are specifically related to software development like products for solutions for E-Government, CRM software and GPS. Also there is a company that specializes on chemical products for the water treatment particularly for the tourist industry for swimming pools; we are also going to be bringing water pumps and environmental sanitizers.”
Fire Destroys Home In Lake Independence
Officials are investigating the cause of an early morning fire that destroyed a building in Belize City. 48-year-old businessman Bokang Nyathi told police he left his business place at the corner of Mahogany Street Extension and Jasmine Street properly secured and when he made checks just before four o’clock this morning he saw it was destroyed by fire. He said the building did not have electricity nor was it insured. One of the neighbors, Rhonda Gomez, told us that the incident might have been arson.
RHONDA GOMEZ
“About after three this morning I heard a noise outside and so, I got up and I peeped through the window but I didn’t see anything and I heard the dogs barking but I paid it no mind and I went back to bed. Then the father of my children told me that there was a big fire over at Prince and when I looked outside I saw the big blaze and so, I called the fire station but no one answered and so, I called the police and they told me they would get in touch with the fire department. When I went over there I saw the big blaze but we couldn’t do anything. My husband got on his bike and went by his house at the burying ground and he told him that his house was on fire. I believe it is arson because I heard a man who is always in the neighborhood say he would burn down his house because they had a quarrel over mango. The fire trucks came long after but it didn’t take them long to put it out because when they came it was almost burnt out.”
Farmers Say No To Negotiations with Green Tropics
On Thursday, June 12 we told you about the thirty plus farmers and their families from Valley of Peace who had received a letter from the attorney of Green Tropics giving them notice to remove themselves from the land. Love News has been reporting that the crops that the farmers planted were damaged by aerial spraying done by Green Tropics some months back and as a result the farmers demanded that they be compensated and after meeting with representatives from Green Tropics….but right after that things started to take a twist as it was found out that the land on which the farmers planted their vegetables belonged to Green Tropics and now, based on this letter that the farmers received, they are officially being evicted with a deadline of July 15 at 3pm. Well, that was the story up to last Thursday….now today, based on a release issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources, an attempt was made to bring both parties to the negotiating table with an objective of settling the matter outside of the legal purview. That attempt to resolve the matter between the Valley of Peace Farmers Association and Green Tropics Limited led to an initial meeting held last Thursday where some progress was made as there were several points of agreement that were identified and only three points pending further negotiations.
PlusTV
His Powerful Love for you, Endures Forever
The verse of this week is taken from Psalm 100: 5 “For the Lord is sweet, his mercy endures for ever, and his truth to generation and generation”.
Environmentalists Ask to be Consulted on Puerto Azul
The proposed project at Northern 2 Caye in the Lighthouse Atoll known as Puerto Azul has caught the attention of environmentalists who have raised alarm bells about both the ecological and economic implications of a project on a scale that is as grand as proposed. Prime Minister Dean Barrow...
Caye Caulker Man Freed of Sex Charge
Today 42 year old tattoo shop operator Gerald Dawson, originally of Caye Caulker but now residing in Orange Walk Town, was acquitted of indecent assault against a 13 year old girl. On May 23, 2013 he was accused of biting the girl’s neck during a sexual encounter. The owner...
FFB Stadium Renovations Could Hinder Belize’s Participation in 2014 CONCACAF Champions League
The 2014 CONCACAF Champions League tournament is slated to start on the 5th of August. Belize, represented by the Belmopan Bandits in this tournament, is matched up with Metapan from El Salvador, and Leon, the National Champions of Mexico. While our own national champions are undergoing serious training, the...
Boaters, Beware! Manatee Mating Season is Underway!
Every year around this time, the gentle manatees get a little aggressive – or at least the males do, as they chase down their favorite female partner to mate. It’s going on right now at the mouth of the Belize River, and we had a front row seat today....
Belize Can “Occupies Belmopan” in Protest of Gender Policy
Belizean activist Patrick Menzies is known for his very direct approach to the Government as it pertains to the Gender Policy. His latest attempt to get the Government’s attention is not a one day event, however, it is for, and we quote ” as long as it takes”. This...
Ministry of Natural Resources Mediates on the Valley of Peace Farmers Issue
We’ve heard from both sides of the ongoing dispute between the Valley of Peace Farmers Association and Green Tropics Limited. Today the Ministry of Natural Resources and Agriculture, who has since been acting as a mediator between the two parties, sent out a press release to update on the...
Amandala
Wayne “Bomb” Jones stabbed and left for dead
A former footballer who was recognized as one of Belize’s best goalkeepers two and a half decades ago almost lost his life in a tragic stabbing incident that took place while he was making his way home early last Friday morning on Lancaster Street near Freetown Road on Belize City’s northside.
While the incident is yet to be reported by police, Amandala today visited Wayne “Bomb” Jones, 50, at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where he is presently recuperating from his injury. He told us that it was a completely senseless incident in which he was targeted by an apparently idle-minded assailant, for no known reason.
Still obviously shaken and traumatized, Jones said, “I was going home Friday morning about after 12:00 midnight and a man came out of the blue and asked me what I was doing around there, after which he jumped off his bike, stabbed me in my back with a butcher knife, jumped back on his bike, gone and left me right there to bleed out.”
Jones told us that when he suffered the wound, he fell to the ground and shrieked in pain, and he felt that he was going to die there and then.
Court will hear Castro’s defamation claim
At the height of the Penner passport scandal that has rocked the Dean Barrow administration, a whistleblower, Alverine Burgess, came forward with allegations that she has paid Minister of State Edmund Castro for up to 200 visas for foreign nationals.
But Castro has vehemently denied the allegation and has taken out a lawsuit for defamation against Great Belize Production, the parent company of Channel 5, which aired the story, and Burgess, the whistleblower. The parties were in court today.
An in-chamber hearing was held this afternoon in the courtroom of Supreme Court Justice Courtenay Abel, who is preparing the way with the parties to hear the defamation claim filed by Minister of State Edmund Castro.
At the last hearing, the attorney for Channel 5, Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith, had submitted an application that under the provisions of Section 35 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the case should be struck out, because the necessary complaint was made to the Integrity Commission.
Luke must pay Belize Bank $29.4 mil!
Submissions were made this morning in the Court of Appeal in an application by businessman Luke Espat to appeal the Supreme Court decision of last November, when Justice Courtenay Abel ruled that Espat owes the Belize Bank $29.4 million for loans that he had personally guaranteed for his companies that have subsequently gone into receivership.
When the court delivered its ruling in the afternoon session, the three Appeal Justices denied Espat’s application for leave to appeal the lower court’s decision.
The refusal of the Court of Appeal to hear an appeal from Espat effectively leaves him on the hook for $29.4 million to the Belize Bank.
On October 18, 2013, the Supreme Court handed down a 25-page judgment in respect of Espat’s companies. The companies for which he had signed a personal loan guarantee are Indeco Enterprises for $12,166,995.48 and 1,028,347.21 million; Belize Crocodile and Reptile Breeders for $11,540,988.32 million; and Belize Ready Mix Concrete for $4,696,291.32 million.
Pregnant Alley gang member executed
At about 10:30 Friday, June 13, morning, the gun violence that has been plaguing the city claimed yet another life, this time that of Taylor Alley gang member Tulio “Pinelo” Caseres, 30, a resident of Taylor Alley, better known as “Pregnant Alley,” who is a building inspector employed at the Housing and Planning Department, located on North Front Street in Belize City.
Caseres was killed by a determined gunman who chased him and shot him at the junction of Majestic Alley and North Front Street, almost in front of City Hall. Caseres collapsed and died almost instantly from the many gunshots he suffered.
His family members, who went to the scene shortly after he was killed, saw him sprawled on the road, and burst out crying.
Superintendent Gualberto Garcia, Commander of Precinct 3 Police, which is located at the nearby Queen Street Police Station, told the media in a press brief held at about 2:30 Friday afternoon at the Queen Street Police Station, that Caseres was socializing in the park in Majestic Alley, in front of City Hall, under a plum tree with some men, who were sitting around a picnic table, when he was attacked.
Jasmine Street youth, 17, survives murder attempt
A 17-year-old young man from the St. Martin De Porres area of Belize City came face to face with death after being ambushed near his home sometime after 10:00 last night.
According to police, Clinton Pou was coming from Tibruce Street, heading towards his home at #179 Jasmine Street. While walking on Poinsetta Street (which connects the two streets), a dark-complexioned man approached Pou from behind, pointed a handgun in his direction, and fired a shot which caught Pou in the right cheek and exited through the left side of his neck.
Fortunately, the shooting victim was not seriously injured, and today, Amandala spoke to his mother, Dorla Foreman, who told us that when she heard the shot, her son – who went looking for his girlfriend – immediately came to mind, for some reason.
Foreman said that she left Pou at home and she would normally be at church at that time, but had instead gone to make an unusual visit to the house of one of her neighbors for leisure purposes. While there, she said, she was beset by a dreadful, uncomfortable feeling.
New UB prez appointed
Former advisor to the Prime Minister, Alan Slusher, has been formally appointed president to the University of Belize (UB) with effect from June 1, 2014.
In his role as president, Slusher will head the university’s senior management team, currently comprising an Interim Provost, Director of Finance, and Director of Human Resources.
Slusher is the sixth president to be named head of UB since 2000, and replaces Dr. Carey Fraser, who left UB abruptly. It is known that Fraser did not see eye-to-eye with the UB Board of Trustees and the Minister of Education, Patrick Faber.
While Slusher’s appointment is with effect from June 1, he was holding the post as interim president since April. Slusher was first appointed in the public sector as Governor of the Central Bank of Belize in 1985.
EDITORIAL: A bad state of affairs
We say that we have strong governments in Belize under the Ministerial constitution which came into effect with the general election of March 1961. We describe the various governments since then as “strong,” because, no matter how narrow their election victory or how violent the protests sparked by specific crises, all our governments finish their five-year term of office, unless they themselves choose, for whatever the reason(s), as in June of 1993 and March of 2012, to seek an early renewal of mandate.
The violent crises which have occurred in Belize, such as the Heads of Agreement in March of 1981 and the union-led protests of January/February 2005, do not take place along ethnic, religious, or geographical (District) lines. Our crises have a national characteristic and generally take place along party political lines.
In early 2003, the United States, planet earth’s only superpower, invaded a nation-state in the Middle East known as Iraq. Iraq was being ruled at the time by a strong arm dictator named Saddam Hussein. Hussein had come to power by force of arms, supported by a minority Sunni Muslim political party. In neighboring Iran, which is basically a Shiite Muslim state, forces loyal to the Ayatollah Khomeini, a religious leader, in 1979 had overthrown a monarchical dictatorship run by the Shah of Iran, a leader who had been supported by successive United States governments. The United States then supported Iraq’s Saddam Hussein in a war he waged from 1980 to 1988 against Khomeini’s Iran.
From The Publisher
Our overall management system at Kremandala is relatively loose. In a sense, it’s as if everyone is his or her own boss. The system works well for some individuals, who flourish in the atmosphere of freedom. Every now and then, however, there emerges an individual who is afflicted with tunnel vision, which is to say, that individual only sees what he or she wishes to see, ignoring the peripheral side of things. Such an individual can get out of control when management allows too much individual initiative.
At the newspaper, individual freedom is automatically regulated by the assembly line reality. What I mean is that most workers must complete their specific assignment in order for another worker to begin work on the unfinished product which will become the newspaper you read. For example, the journalist has to research and write/type his or her story before the copy editor and the proofreaders can go over the material. That material, after editing and proofreading, then goes on to the pagemaker people, who use computers to set up the page dummy. This is proofread again, following which it is photographed by the lithographer in the darkroom, developed on film which is prepared on a light table by a technician before burning on a metal plate by the printers. After the printers roll the press, the pages go to the folding room for packaging by the collators. The newspapers are picked up before dawn on Tuesdays and Fridays for delivery to the main distribution depot, where independent vendors purchase at a wholesale price and then hit the streets to sell you at a retail price.
Bain sues UWI, secures injunction against termination
Amandala has confirmed from legal sources in Jamaica that Professor Brendan Bain — the head of the Caribbean HIV/AIDS Regional Training (CHART) Network whose termination was announced after a lobby by the LGBT community and their supporters, calling for his removal by the University of the West Indies (UWI) — can continue to serve as head of the regional HIV body after the Jamaica Supreme Court ruled Friday, June 13, in his favor.
The court issued an injunction to halt his termination pending the outcome of a lawsuit Bain has filed against UWI. In that suit, Bain is challenging the constitutionality of his termination, which was to take effect Sunday; he is also claiming damages.
Today, CHART still lists Bain as CHART RCU Director — Professor of Community Health; Infectious Disease Specialist; Lead Coordinator of the University of the West Indies HIV/AIDS Response Programme (UWI-HARP); and Principal Investigator and Project Director — Caribbean Health Leadership Institute (CHLI).
Not so fast, Agriculture Ministry tells BGYEA
In spite of being the victors in a Supreme Court ruling which went in their favor last Friday, June 13, the Belize Grassroots Youth Empowerment Association (BGYEA) still find themselves in a position in which they are prohibited from carrying out a proposed corn-planting project in the Harmonyville Buffer Zone at Mile 41 on the George Price Highway.
In a press release sent from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Agriculture today, the Government of Belize (GOB) indicated that it wanted to “clarify” the outcome of the court hearing involving the injunction order which was recently levied against the representatives of BGYEA and their investor, Sam Patton.
After reiterating the complete scope of the interim injunction which was filed by GOB on May 22, the Ministry maintained that although the injunction expired last Friday, GOB is “at liberty by law to apply for another injunction,” since the “substantive claim for trespass by way of Fixed Date Claim is scheduled to be heard on June 30, 2014.”
Solicitor General’s error leads judge to lift injunction against BGYEA
Less than 48 hours after Prime Minister Dean Barrow adamantly stated at his press conference that the Belize Grassroots Youth Empowerment Association (BGYEA) would not be allowed to plant corn in the so-called buffer zone at Harmonyville, the administration suffered a legal setback today when Supreme Court Justice, Courtney Abel, lifted the ex-parte injunction against BGYEA.
Late last month, the Harmonyville community halted its plans to plant corn in an area of land that the Government, through the Lands Department, has designated as a road reserve in their settlement between Miles 41 and 42 on the George Price Highway. The roughly twenty-five acres of land that lies between the highway and the 1,325 acres which make up the Harmonyville community became a flashpoint issue between BGYEA and the government, when the latter obtained a Supreme Court injunction to prevent the planting of corn in the buffer area.
But today, when the matter was scheduled to be argued in court, the submissions were never made when both parties met in the Chambers of Justice Abel. After the almost one-hour meeting, BGYEA’s attorney, Audrey Matura Shepherd, emerged to brief the media on the outcome of the case.
Arana orders GOB and Maya to court-connected mediation
The four Maya communities—Conejo, Midway, Crique Sarco and Graham Creek—which have been battling the Government of Belize over the manner in which it wants to proceed with drilling inside the Sarstoon Temash National Park (STNP) in Toledo did not get the court injunction they had applied for, but shortly after 3:00 this evening, Supreme Court Justice Michelle Arana handed down a decision ordering the parties to “court-connected mediation.”
Prime Minister Dean Barrow had said in his press conference last week that his administration would not hold discussions with the Sarstoon Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM), led by Maya leader and activist Greg Ch’oc, SATIIM’s executive director, on this matter, but today’s ruling means that Government is expected to engage SATIIM and the four claimant communities, who had chosen Ch’oc as their representative.
“The communities are extremely upset and angry at what continues to transpire. A day will come when I cease to ask them to restrain themselves and when that day comes I am hoping that we are able to contain the anger of the community. For now, my duty is to try to channel that energy in using the courts as the medium through which we find a resolution,” Ch’oc told Amandala.
House in Santa Elena partially destroyed by fire
The house of Olga August, 56, of Cemetery Road, Santa Elena, has been partially destroyed by fire.
Two of the four bedrooms were completely destroyed, including all its contents, but the remainder of the two rooms just suffered heat and smoke damage.
The incident occurred at about 8:20 yesterday morning, on Cemetery Road in Santa Elena, Cayo. Santa Elena fire officials, in an interview with Amandala, said that they received the fire call at about 8:20 yesterday morning, and they quickly went to the area and began fighting the fire.
The fire was completely out within 20 minutes, they said. The cause of the fire is not yet known, said the fire official, and an investigation is being carried out by the Santa Elena Fire Department and the police.
IDB announces US$10 mil education loan for Belize
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced today that it has approved a US$10 million loan “designed to help Belize improve its primary education and the governance of its education system.”
The loan is for 25 years, with a grace period of 5 years. The interest rate is pegged to the LIBOR, meaning London Interbank Offered Rate – a variable London-based benchmark which represents lending rates between leading global banks.
According to the IDB, the initiative is a part of a program to enhance the quality of primary education and governance of education system.
“The program aims to prepare the teachers of today and tomorrow by supporting training institutes for new teachers and by training close to half of the country’s current primary education teachers,” the bank said.
GSU beat down father and son, then charged them for harm
A father and son who say they were both badly beaten by police over the weekend appeared in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court this morning along with their attorney to answer to a number of charges [...]
Theft reported in Belize City and San Pedro
Boat and golf cart stolen Police report that a boat valued at $55,000 has been stolen from the Conch Shell Bay area of the city, and a golf cart valued at $16,000 has been stolen from [...]
Jealous park ranger shoots at his co-worker for talking to his girlfriend
Park ranger Oscar Gordon, 30, of Caves Branch Outpost, is unhurt after his co-worker and fellow park ranger fired a shotgun at him, but missed, due to the distance between them. The park ranger was about [...]
Walter Beaton, 40, shot twice near Cumberbatch Field
Bullets were flying once again over this past weekend in Belize City as a number of shooting incidents have been reported in which there were at least three shooting victims; however, none of those incidents proved [...]
Corozal conman impersonated CIB detective
Sayyed Jaffer Koya, 46, a businessman of 6th Avenue, Corozal Town, and owner of City Light Guest House at the same address in Corozal Town, was conned out of three days’ rent money and a bicycle [...]
Attempted robbery of store on George Price Highway
The owner fired at the thieves; police later nabbed one Trevor Guy, 20, a Belize City resident who is one of three persons accused by police of attempting to rob Delcid Store at Mile 8 on [...]
Burglary in Corozal Town — over $800 in goods stolen
Corozal Police are seeking the thief or thieves who burglarized Corocell Repairs and Services on 5th Avenue, Corozal Town, between the hours of 6:30 p.m. on Friday 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. Waseem Khan, 38, a naturalized [...]
Arson in San Pedro
Four San Pedro men were released on bail of $6,000 each and ordered to return to court on July 24 after they were charged with arson and damage to property. Police say that at about 1:30 [...]
Dangriga woman chopped up
A Dangriga woman’s neighbour entered her house at about 3:00 o’clock yesterday morning and inflicted several chop wounds to her for reasons that are not yet clear to police. Lanesha Balthazar, 19, of the Wagierale area, [...]
4 shots fired at 2 men on Antelope Street
A 17-year-old young man of an Antelope Street address reported to police that a man whom he knows only as “Froggie” fired about four shots at him while he was walking along with a friend on [...]
“Man of the Match”
Mariano “Man of the Match” in debut with Houston Hurricanes Belize national team player Evan Mariano, who signed a contract on June 5 with the Houston Hurricanes Football Club of the Texas Premier Soccer League (TPSL), [...]
Tigersharks win
Tigersharks win nailbiter over Western Ballaz in Game 1 of NEBL Finals series The inaugural National Elite Basketball League (NEBL) tournament began its championship Finals with a thrilling Game 1 yesterday at the Roman Catholic School [...]
TIDE Junior
TIDE Junior FWC Semifinals today, Finals on Friday The TIDE Junior Freshwater Cup (FWC) 2014 football tournament has reached the playoff stage, and the semifinals for primary school female and male teams were played today at [...]
CYDP Peace Cup
CYDP Peace Cup games results for Sunday, June 15 The CYDP Peace Cup tournament had 3 games yesterday, Sunday, at the Racoon Street Field in Week 2 of the competition. In game 1, Complex Admiral dropped [...]
Patrick Jones
CAPPS Elects New Executive
The Cayo Association of Principals of Primary Schools elected new executive members during their final General Assembly for this school year , Thursday, June 12th, 2014. They will serve a two-year term. President – Alfred Serano;Vice- President – Pauline Gilharry; Secretary – Ingrid Cunil; Assistant Secretary – […]
Belizean youth get training in road safety
A two weeks training project targeting youth and road safety started on Monday in Belmopan. Young men and women from all over the country are taking part in the training which is being held at the George Price Center in the nation’s capital. Facilitators of the training are […]
Caye Caulker man freed of sexual assault charge
Today 42 year old tattoo shop operator Gerald Dawson, originally of Caye Caulker but now residing in Orange Walk Town, was acquitted of indecent assault against a 13 year old girl. On May 23, 2013 he was accused of biting the girl’s neck during a sexual encounter at […]
Greg Choc says Prime Minister has a problem with him
On Monday following the unsuccessful application for a post-judgment injunction by Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM) and the four Maya communities it represents against the Government of Belize and U.S. Capital Energy, executive director Gregory Ch’oc responded publicly to comments made last week by Prime Minister […]
IDB grants funds for bird tourism
Belize is a popular site for bird-watching, but the Belize Audubon Society and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) believe it can become another product in the Belizean tourism package. The bank has granted the National Audubon Society, based in the United States, a total of $2.6 million from […]
Boaters asked to beware mating manatees
Manatees are known for the gentleness and the hard luck associated with being run over by boat propellers from time to time. But when it is time to mate, they get a little aggressive – or at least the males do, as they chase down a heated female […]
Environmentalists want consultation on Puerto Azul
The proposed project at Northern 2 Caye in the Lighthouse Atoll known as Puerto Azul has caught the attention of environmentalists who have raised alarm bells about both the ecological and economic implications of a project on a scale that is as grand as proposed. Prime Minister Dean […]
Cotton Tree Village Council takes Government to court
The first hearing of a claim by the Village Council of Cotton Tree against the Ministry of Natural Resources took place before Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin on Monday morning in the Supreme Court. The village complains that its consent was not obtained before a parcel was blocked out […]
Valley of Peace farmers need assistance says area representative
We have been following the efforts of the farmers of Valley of Peace, Cayo, to seek a negotiated solution with Green Tropics Limited over destruction of valuable crops by herbicide spraying which occurred some months ago. Recently the attorney for Green Tropics appeared to slam the door on […]
Fight over Harmonyville land continues
A statement issued on Monday by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Agriculture attempts to, in its words, “clarify” Friday’s judgment of Supreme Court Justice Courtney Abel in favour of the Belize Grassroots Youth Empowerment Association (BGYEA). While acknowledging that the court declined to continue the interim […]
Birding in Belize – Six of the Best Spots
Belize sits within the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, which stretches from Mexico through Central America and is home to a diverse range of birds and wildlife, helping to make the little country a birders’ paradise, with some 618 resident species and visiting migrants sharing the rich biodiversity of Belize. At Chaa Creek alone, the Birds without Borders project, conducted in conjunction with the Zoological Society of Milwaukee and Foundation for Wildlife Conservation, recorded 308 different species within the eco-resort’s 365-acre private nature reserve.
Since that ambitious project, Chaa Creek has supported naturalist guides who are interested in broadening their knowledge of birds, so that there are now dedicated birding guides to share their experience and lead birdwatching expeditions. We’re finding that, in addition to the people who come here specifically to enjoy this richly rewarding pastime, some guests have developed a passion for birding after getting their first taste of it at Chaa Creek.
San Pedro Lobster Festival in full swing
While some people are sadly experiencing June snow as you can see from the picture below, those in Belize are hot hot hot and enjoying San Pedro Lobster Festival in full swing. If you are wondering just how hot is it? San Pedro is a balmy 29C today but it feels like it could be 37c or higher and definitely multiple rinse downs throughout the day weather.
Sunday night was the special vip dinner at Pirates Treasure restaurant just across the bridge, Monday Hol Chan Marine office and museum was the place to get stamped. Monday night Crazy Canucks was the hot spot for more lobster and live music.
Today you can drop by Sunrise Realty on Front Street to get your passport stamped and a lobsterfest pin if there are any left. Tonight the feasting continues with Lobster Fest ’74 Grill Night at Pineapples Restaurant located at Ramon’s Village Resort.
International Sources
This Is What Your Flight Used To Look Like (And It's Actually Crazy)
great article, lots of fun links off the article also with additional information and photos….. Air travel has come a long way since the 1950s, this we know. We're deep into our bizarre affection for SkyMall, personal TV screens and in-flight WiFi (not to mention WiFi in general).
But in the 50s, flying was something different. It was something magical and marvelous. Air travel exploded into its Golden Age, and airplane trips weren't just a means of getting to your vacation -- they were a vacation in themselves. Passengers dressed in their finest to fly. They lined up for group photos before boarding. Riding an airplane made them feel like a movie star because it pretty much took the salary of a movie star to do so.
But not everything was so rosy. If you took a flight in the 1950s...
4 Countries That Welcome American Retirees
Belize. Just over a decade ago the government of Belize enacted legislation to allow qualified retired persons to obtain permanent residency in their country. This is a quick and efficient program. As a QRP you could become a full-time resident of the country, but you can also enjoy the benefits if you spend as little as one month a year in Belize.
Belize’s QRP residency program isn’t only for senior citizens. It’s available to anyone age 45 or older, and it grants a host of incentives designed to encourage foreigners to come and bring their money. These incentives include a permanent exemption from Belizean taxes, including income tax, capital gains tax, estate tax and import tax on household goods, automobiles, boats and even airplanes.
The only requirements to qualify for Belize’s QRP program are that you be 45 or older, consider yourself to be retired and have at least $2,000 a month in guaranteed income to support yourself in Belize. While pension income can be shown to meet the last requirement, the easiest way to prove financial means is simply to deposit a minimum of $24,000 per year into a Belizean bank account.
In practical terms, the "consider yourself to be retired" requirement means that, as a QRP, you can't apply for a work visa. This is not to say that you can't do international, Internet or even local Belize business as an entrepreneur. You just can't take a job working as an employee of someone else in Belize.
Invest in Belize: Retirement Paradise or Real Estate Scam?
He began to build a condo, but the labor cost was high
His partner stole his money, that left him high and dry
His land is still a mudhole, where you sink up to your knees
And he’s just another gringo in Belize
—Lyrics to Jerry Jeff Walker’s Gringo in Belize.
The “gringo in Latin America” has a certain image: A ne’er-do-well in a panama hat and a guayabera with a terrible command of the local language and money from questionable sources — a walking caricature of a Jimmy Buffett song.
But Latin America — and particularly Belize — has also long been a popular retirement destination for Americans, Canadians and Europeans looking to enjoy great weather and a fantastic lifestyle for considerably less than what they might pay in West Palm Beach, Fla., or Scottsdale, Ariz. Belize also has no taxes on income or property, making it an ideal escape — for those who want to live in or just invest in Belize — in an era of bankrupt government and creeping taxation.
With the baby boomers now starting to retire en masse, the Central American retirement industry is booming — but unfortunately, so is the industry of scamming unwitting gringo retirees out of their nest eggs.
From Mine Excavations to ESPN, Arch Aerial Drones Fit Any Scenario
Why pilot a drone manually when it can pilot itself? That’s exactly what Ryan Baker, founder of Arch Aerial, was thinking when he designed a multi-rotor drone to take to an archaeological dig in Belize.
The terrain is harsh where he was headed, so he needed something that can loiter, hover, or auto-pilot a flight path outlined on Google Maps. And when all else failed, Baker wanted a drone that still had the option to be piloted manually.
What started as tool for archaeologists has morphed into something free from the strictures of definition. That is, the use case for the Arch Aerial drone isn’t relegated simply to excavation sites.
Vineyards can use them to check their sprawling land for irrigation leaks. Small businesses can use them to promote their company at an event like CES or SXSW.
But one of the most interesting applications is football: ESPN agrees with that. So, we sat down with Baker to hear more about the drones and how they ended up on an Outside the Lines (OTL) segment on May 25.
A Boy and a Jaguar’ gives voice to those with speech issues
“A Boy and a Jaguar” is the true story of Alan Rabinowitz who struggled with stuttering as a boy. The book’s beautiful illustrations, rendered in acrylic and charcoal, were done by painter Catia Chien....
Videos
Video: The Ron & Fez Show 06/16/2014 - Ron's Belize Fantasy, 5min.
Caller talks about pizza in Belize, Ron fantasizes about dropping out.
Video: Cave Tubing Belize May 2014, 7min.
Video: Belize Dive, 4min.
Video: Footage : Tour of Belize, 9min.
Tour of Belize from a horse-driven carriage super educational! most interesting: almond nuts are the seed from a fruit.
Video: Ocelot at The Belize Zoo, 2min.
Video: Collared Aracari at The Belize Zoo, 1min.
AmbergrisCaye.com 
