Peter Contreras Gets 15 for Killing Mother In Law; His Ex-Wife Says It’s Not Enough

44 year-old Peter King Contreras, the man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter for strangling his mother-in-law, will spend 15 and a half years in prison. That was the sentence handed down by Justice Adolph Lucas today.
In December of 2010 Contreras offered to give his mother-in-law, 50 year-old Argentina Garcia a ride to the bus stop. It was a short distance, but he and Garcia, got into an argument in which he says Garcia told him, quote, “Why would (my daughter) want a loser like you?”
The insult enraged Contreras who punched Garcia twice in the face, and she tried to get out of the vehicle. Contreras then grabbed a piece of rope, which he used to restrain her. He then took the rope and strangled her to death. After that he stuffed her body in the trunk and drove around with it for hours, leaving it in the vehicle for most of the night.
At around 3 a.m., Contreras was trying to find somewhere to dump the body, when he was stopped by a police patrol which discovered the dead woman inside the trunk.
When he was initially questioned about the body, he told police that he knocked the woman down, but under further questioning, he confessed to police what he had done.
He confessed again last week Tuesday and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter, which Justice Lucas accepted.
In his mitigation hearing yesterday, he told the court that truly sorry for what he did, and if he could take it back, he would, and that the guilt has been a heavy burden to bear.
After considering his mitigation hearing, Justice Lucas sentenced him to 18 years, but he deducted 2 and a half years, for the time he spent on remand while awaiting trial. As a result, he will spend only 15 and a half years in jail.
The victim’s daughter – who is Contreras’s former wife - became outraged today when she heard the sentence, and she accused the court of being too lenient even though Contreras admitted to killing her mother.

When Justice Lucas asked the officers to escort her out for being disrespectful to the court, she stormed out saying that the court will be bothered by its conscience.

FECTAB Fires At FCCA’s Platinum Club

The Florida Caribbean Cruise Association – it represents 15 cruise lines operating 100 vessels in this hemisphere and, for those reasons, is considered to be tremendously influential in the cruise tourism business – a business which brings in more than half a million visitors to Belize every year.
And that’s why it is news that an FCCA subsidiary called PAMAC, the Platinum Associate Membership Advisory Council is having a cruise conference in Belize for the next few days. As the word Platinum implies, this is the super elite club of cruise executives and, in tourism circles, it’s considered a huge deal that they are in Belize.

We’ll have more on the significance of the meeting shortly, but for FECTAB their presence here is a huge problem – and that’s because they say once again, Chukka Tours, the Jamaican Outfit that’s set up a tour operation in Belize is taking a place at head table – while FECTAB’s members can’t even get a foot in the door. There’s a simple reason for that: Chukka is a platinum member and FECTAB’s members aren’t – but still, FECTAB says BTB should have done something to protect local interests. That was the subject of a press conference held early this morning – where the famous FECTAB fire was on full blast:…

David Almendarez - Fantasea Belize
"The whole way how this platinum conference set up, stinks."

Tom Greenwood - President, FECTAB
"It should have been shared, it should have been shared"

Jules Vasquez reporting
He’s talking about tours, these ones offered by Chukka:

Tom Greenwood
"Well on Friday 21st of June, all yours taking place on land here in Belize will be provided by Chukka Belize. This hit us right between the eyes like a bullet, all of a sudden 'what the twelve tours are being carried by Chukka, nobody else is getting land tours' - boom volcano."

That’s 12 land-based tours which Chukka is providing for free but these tour operators say they were willing to do the same.

Tom Greenwood
"They offered complimentary tours, we offered complimentary tours. In any scenario anywhere it would be shared, it has always been shared, this is a first. This opens the doors for God knows what."

David Almendarez - Fantasea Belize
"I think this should have been something where the BTB should have said ' you know something guys there are 50 people, let's see what your company is going to offer, come' - there isn't a single tour operator in here that would have refused that. Exposure to people who sell Belize in high season? That could have been the ultimate way BTB could have shown us, love for country, love for tour operators."

Tom Greenwood
"The more than 50 delegates who include wholesalers, members all of the platinum part of the FCCA and all the cruise line attending are going to be left with one single idea - Chukka, a Jamaican Tour Operator that has come to Belize and registered in Belize are the only one handling the land tours."

David Almendarez
"There are 50 registered tour companies that does business in Belize City. 50 companies could have benefited from this event that they are partaking in this week. 50 companies could have showcased their talent to this platinum group that is in Belize. And of 50 companies only one the biggest Chukka Tours Belize, seems to be inevitable in all the right places, the right times and the right hook ups."

And one of those hook-ups is the fact that Chukka is a member of the Platinum Associate Membership Advisory Council – a membership which costs 20 thousand us dollars a year:

Yhony Rosado - Cavetubing.com
"Who made Chukka platinum in our country? Was it Trip Advisor? Was it somebody our own Belize Tourism Board? It's obvious that they are the platinum and we are the brass. By our own ministerial/government protecting us but Trip Advisor has registered us Diamond, if it wasn't for Trip Advisor we wouldn't have a job."

David Almendarez
"Platinum is a way to distinguish the have from the have not's. Ironically yesterday as my co-partner Yhonni mentioned, it was on Trip Advisor. Trip Advisor is the Mecca for tour, it's the holy grail for tour and I was perusing over it and I came across Chukka Tours Jaguar Adventure, and the platinum member only got8 reviews. Chukka Belize Jaguar Paw got 17 reviews. Of the millions of people they have taken through the caves, only 17."

Jules Vasquez
"How much did you get?"

David Almendarez
"We're getting to that. Vitalino 1,709 reviews, do you see the difference? That is alsmot over 2000 reviews, major Tom over 300 reviews, myself who is only 2 1/2 years old over 100 and add reviews and this is the person that BTB is promoting as being the umber one platinum member in our country."

A lot of bottled up anger in a small but full room where the men on the mic were talking for 50 operators:

Yhony Rosado
"The other tour operators told us to make some noise, unfortunately again they only gave us the the sword to fight but they are not here with us."

But, in the pitch and tone of their declarations, they more than compensated.

Tom Greenwood
"This is an abomination, on Friday a foreign tour operator will be hosting 12 tours for the wanted platinum conference and no Belizean operator has a part of that? In good cutters street language - that sucks! "

David Almendarez
"For the longest my generation, the status quo is to stay shut up or else they will shut down our business. All over the world the revolution is happening and we're tired. Poor people are tired, we're tired. 49 tour operators are tired of our government saying Chukka tours is the best we have to offer when we know it's not."

Yhony Rosado
"Whatever Chukka does, we can do it better and cheaper. We have gone to the bottom of the barrel to where we are now you know, we didn't come in our fancy car - we came in wheel barrow and taxi and now we have what we have because we love what we do and we love making noise when wrong is wrong. So if the BTB, if Carnaval, if Chukka - we are devil to them -then we don't care anymore. Let us be the devil's advocate because we know we're fighting for the poor local tour operators that are afraid and ashamed to make noise because of politics and because of red and blue, we don't care about red and blue. We know what we do, what time we get up and what time we go sleep and that is why nobody can't shut us up."

BTB Responds to FECTAB; Says They Should Look To The Industry’s Wellbeing

This morning after the press conference Director of Tourism Laura Esquivel Frampton responded to those bitter complaints hurled at the Tourism Board. She said there was no intentional exclusion, but the decision was made by a committee – on which BTB was only a member, as was Chukka Tours and Cruise Solutions both members of the FCCA. She said Chukka made the offer up front:

Laura Esquivel Frampton - Director of Tourism
"The fact is Chukka came to the table with 'this is what we want to do complimentary', this was open knowledge to everyone who sat on the committee that they were able to put int there two cents of what they were going to do. Let's also remember that the FCCA is an association, a membership based organization and so obviously the preference goes to members of the FCCA but there are other tour operators who are providing tours, there's even a submarine tour that is on the schedule for the Belize City tour."

Jules Vasquez
"So who had membership on that committee and why were FECTAB members not included?"

Laura Esquivel Frampton
"Primarily it was persons who already had contracts with the cruise lines, this means that they are already meeting certain minimum requirements in terms of handling cruise passengers as far as the cruise lines are concerned and in terms of what the cruise lines would also accept themselves for going on a tour. It was also in a way that all these persons are also - while they are not platinum members of the FCCA, they are members of the FCCA. Let's not forget this is a FCCA conference so whatever we in Belize do, yes we are the host country - we must do it in conjunction with the FCCA, certainly something like the event this morning can only cause doubt and question in the minds of those executive if Belize is a right choice. So with something like what happened this morning that just means that the BTB has to work even harder to continue to convince the cruise lines that Belize is a right choice. At the end of the day it really isn't about me or you, or the cruise lines -it is about bringing the numbers here in order to keep employment up. What the industry should be doing is focusing in welcoming these cruise executives and the platinum members to our country and showing what a great country we are for them to come to."

Tonight, Esquivel is in San Pedro for the opening of the PAMAC Cruise Conference. There are 80 delegates in Belize for the meeting, which will run through to Sunday. BTB has deployed 40 staff and over three hundred thousand dollars is being spent to organize the event. According to a release, “the principal purpose of FCCA’s PAMAC Platinum Event is to discuss trends, develop ideas, and promote existing cruise destinations.” But it’s also about networking – and Belize hopes to do a lot of that to push cruise tourism arrivals over the million-passenger mark next year. Esquivel outlined the importance:…

Laura Esquivel Frampton
"It brings persons who can share information with us and how we can grow persons to become platinum members. It also gives us and other platinum members exclusive access to cruise executives. This is an opportunity for the cruise executives to tell us how we can improve - it's also an opportunity for us to tell the cruise lines what we need from them."

Jules Vasquez
"Do you expect that the by-product or perhaps the direct product of this meeting would result in a greater number of tourism calls in Belize?"

Laura Esquivel Frampton
"Absolutely, and in fact our figures this year are projected for an increase over last year, even thought it will be a marginal increase but still a good increase. Next year, however we already have projections that are taking us over the million person coming into the country, so what we want to do of course is hold on to that and we want to encourage that and keep those projections to be realities next year and then to continue push it for other years. This is definitely a fantastic opportunity for Belize, we have been told by the FCCA that this PAMAC conference is being attended the most amount of cruise executives ever to this kind of conference."

Meeting will be held in San Pedro tomorrow – and then they come to Belize City on Friday and Saturday for tours. Yesterday, FECTAB wrote to the President of the FCCA, Michelle Paige asking her to cancel or postpone the meeting – that request, we gather, was ignored.

With over 600,000 cruise visitors in 2012, Belize is ranked 7th out of 21 Caribbean Cruise Destinations.

Waters In Western And Central Belize Rising

On Monday evening, Tropical Depression 2 made landfall in Southern Belize and dropped 10 inches of rain in 24 hours.
We showed you the flooding it caused in the Stann Creek District. But the news tonight is that after TD 2 travelled over Guatemala and Mexico, with winds of about 30 miles per hour, it strengthened into a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour. The storm is now named Barry and it is off the coast of Mexico.
The projected path is for the storm to head to Veracruz, Mexico, making landfall near that port city Thursday morning. 
But while that is the situation to the north, in Belize the after effects of TD2 are still being felt. This afternoon NEMO reported rising water levels in Central and Western Belize.
NEMO reports that in the west, the Macal River is 24 inches above normal and rising while the Mopan is 12 inches above and rising. In the Belize district, The Belize River is 6ft above normal and rising throughout the District. In Lemonal by the Governor Creek culvert there is 6 inches of water across the road.
In Crooked Tree the lagoon is rising.

All Shelters have been closed in the south and the Coastal Road remains closed while the temporary crossing at Mullins River is closed to vehicular traffic as it is being repaired by The Ministry of Works.

The Stann Creek River Valley Is Like A Basin

But, while that is that situation right now, the reality is that the Stann Creek River Valley is flood prone.
We didn’t get to explore that story fully yesterday, so tonight, Daniel Ortiz revisits the floods from TD 2 in the context of what these low-lying communities face every year during the hurricane season.

Here’s his report:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
Communities in the Stann Creek River Valley experience flooding every year, and so, they’ve learned to live with the lingering threat.

Sarawee Village is only a few miles away from Hope Creek, and as a result, it is susceptible to the negative effects of the North Stann Creek River.

Yesterday, we found sections of the village under water; one on side, the flooding was minimal, just below knee height.

Some of the young men of the village used their yards like swimming pools, where they simply enjoyed themselves as if it was just another rainy day.

The other sections were completely cut off, passable only if the person waded through waist deep water, with a very strong current resembling that of a river.

Keep in mind, though, that what you’re looking at are actual streets these people travel on normally, not some obscure river hidden away in the far corner of the village.

The adults told us that they’ve come to expect this sort of thing, so it wasn’t any surprise.

Luis Perez - Resident, Sarawee Village
"A hurricane that passed throught the year 2000 and from then we started to have that problem with flooding, they come more higher. People now as they hear rain is coming, they start to know that flood is coming."

Robert Alexander Young - Resident, Sarawee Village
"My property experienced three flood already. The first of June flood, it went in the house about two feet and a half. But this time I don't know because I went to work yesterday evening and I can't get in up to now."

Daniel Ortiz
"Have you looked at it to see what it looks like?"

Robert Alexander Young
"Not exactly because I can't reach becaues it's too high, but my neighbor told me it went into the house."

Daniel Ortiz reporting
"So you expect that there will be major water damage to your home? Is that something that you regularly have to worry about?"

Robert Alexander Young
"Yes. Anytime flood come"

Daniel Ortiz reporting "Is flooding in this area something that is regular?"

Robert Alexander Young
"Regular"

Daniel Ortiz reporting "And how do you replace all of these items that have water damage?"

Robert Alexander Young
"Sometimes you have to spend the money to get it back or they give you as a flood victim and that is how you get some of the articles."

Daniel Ortiz reporting
"Right now you expect you will have some inventory to deal with and try to find out what is damaged."

Robert Alexander Young
"Yes because the one First of June, I lost a stove and a refrigerator and I didn't get that back."

Gerald McLaughlyn - Resident, Sarawee Village
"From I've been living here it's always been like this when it rains."

Daniel Ortiz reporting "Do you guys expect this every year?"

Gerald McLaughlyn
"Sometimes three to four times for the year it happens like this."

Daniel Ortiz reporting "And you guys how do you deal with it having to deal with flood on a regular basis?"

Gerald McLaughlyn
"Well we just take it as it comes, I'm a taxi driver. I work taxi in Dangriga town but from yesterday I came from work I didn't bring my car home because I knew this was going to happen so I left it on higher grounds."

Daniel Ortiz reporting "It looks like you will have to run taxi on a boat today."

Gerald McLaughlyn
"I will have to take the day off and hopefully it goes down this evening. It looks like it's starting to go down because we couldn't have seen that well and now you can see it."

Daniel Ortiz reporting "Do you expect it to remain like this for a next day or two?"

Gerald McLaughlyn
"If it doesn't rain tonight then maybe it might go down from tonight."

Daniel Ortiz reporting "Has anyone had any kind of mishaps because of flooding like this in this village?"

Gerald McLaughlyn
"No., we're always prepared."

Sittee River Village, also in the Stann Creek District, is about 20 miles away from both of these communities, and to get there, you must travel on 2 separate roads. However, one other thing it shares with these other villages is that there is a river which runs through it.

It was mostly untouched by Tropical Depression 2, but driving along the river, the street dips too low and the riverbanks start to spill water unto it.

To provide transport over this flooded area, a few villagers dedicate their time to help out. But, like this effort, all the communities seem to have learned to adapt to the quick rise in water:

Elroy Wade - Chairman, Hope Creek Village
"They knew exactly what to do. Whatever stuff that would have been damaged by water they raised it up to a certain height. Stuff that could be dried out they didn't really worry about that. We have families that are in water right now, some of their stuff has gotten wet or destroyed by the water but they chose to let that happen because this water rose very slowly. They had time and notice to do whatever necessary step they needed to do."

Mariano Ack - Resident, Hope Creek Village
"The Chairman himself, you see him running back and forth and doing his thing and working with the community and the villagers. I got to see that everybody was aware of it and they knew that this isn't something to play with, it's very serious - it's life and danger so you have to move out."

It’s one thing for the residents to be prepared, but quite another to be cut off from each other, and from assistance of the National Emergency Management Organization.

That’s exactly what happened with Hopkins, where vehicular traffic was strangled due to the floods.

The same thing, to a minor extent, happened at mile 5 on the Hummingbird Highway, which isolated Hope Creek from Sarawee and Dangriga, the NEMO Hub in the South.

This is the biggest challenge these communities face because getting supplies, relief, and emergency assistance past these choke points become dangerous and time consuming, where life and death could be mere minutes apart.And one place our news team didn’t get to was mile 31 on the Southern Highway near Georgetown. That’s an area where the road caved in. these images provided to us by A.L. construction show that what started as just a hole in the road – ended up in it being completely undermined beneath. A.L. construction had a division nearby and so they responded and had traffic flowing again in a couple of hours.

Murder Down 15% Through End Of May 2013

April and May 2013 had 16 fewer murders than the same period in 2012 – and now latest police crime statistics through to the end of May show that the number of murders is down compared to last year’s record pace. How much down. Well up to the end of May, there were 60 murders in 2012; while at the end of May 2013, there have been 51 murders – a decrease of 15%.
Reports of major crimes such as burglary, robbery and rape are also down – while theft is about the same as last year.
Carnal knowledge – on the other hand - is up more than 100% over last year’s figures.
Today Police Minister John Saldivar held his monthly review with the Department’s Senior commanders where for the second consecutive month, the Northern Zone and the Orange Formation of the Police Department registered the greatest reduction in major crimes.

Today the press was invited to the session at the Police Training academy in Belmopan. Police commissioner Allen Whylie discussed the crime trends:…

Allen Whylie - Commissioner of Police
"Our statistics are out, it is showing that at the end of May we had 51 recorded cases of murders compared to 60 at the same time in 2012. In terms of rape we had 12 reported up to the end of May compared to 14 in 2012. In terms of robberies we had 117 cases reported compared to 216 for the same period in 2012. In terms of burglaries we recorded 403 cases compared to 470 cases in 2012. In terms of theft we have record 394 cases compared to 393 cases in 2012. Where we have seen a spike is in the area in carnal knowledge where we have recorded 39 cases for 2013 compared to 17 in 2012. Over all we have seen 1016 cases of major crime reported of 2013 at the end of may compared to 1170 cases for the same period in 2012. That is a reduction of 154 reported cases. We have also seen increases in terms of police apprehension and interdiction in many of these cases that have been recorded. So as I've said we are seeing the graph change in a positive direction, where we want to go, but we are not yet there but with the continued hard work and with the leadership as well as the direction strategically, the support of the ministry and the government - I'm certain that we'll be able to deliver the same kind of service and allow the citizens to enjoy the kind of safety and security that they deserve and we are striving to ensure that they enjoy."

There is a disconnect in that area and definitely we'll work at trying to strengthen that in trying to report back to the nation the results. Many of these investigations that take place, allegations are made, investigations proceed and sometime those persons that made those allegations refuse to assist or cooperate so whilst the allegation has been thrown out, our department has not been confrontational to say that persons have refused to cooperate and this is what it is. We do have to do more of that in terms of exactly what we're doing and where we are. If the files have been submitted to the DPP if it's an indictable matter then we need to say those things."

For its top performance, Police Minister Saldivar presented a Certificate of Appreciation and a Cheque for $1,000 to Northern Zone Commander Senior Superintendent Joseph Myvette.

Police Senior Command Will Investigate Cop Who Could Not Identify Hon. King

Last night, 7News told you how Minister of State, Mark King, was acquitted of all charges in relation to his outburst at the Princess Casino in February.
Viewers may remember that he threw an ugly tantrum resulting in him being ejected from the Casino – and then later having a confrontation with police.
Due to the lack of cooperation from the officers who made complaints against him, Magistrate Clive Lino was forced to acquit him of all charges.
Well, that’s not sitting well with Commissioner of Police, Allen Whylie, and he told the media that members of the Professional Standards Branch have been dispatched to investigate the officer who refused to cooperate with the prosecutor.

He explained why:

Allen Whylie - Commissioner of Police
"My understanding, having heard the news last night and speaking to the officer commanding is that the police officer PC Ramos went to court and withdrew the charges so he did not wish to proceed. Immediately last night I called the assistant commissioner, Mr. Leal, who is the commander of the professional standards branch and he directed that he and a team proceeded to Corozal this morning and to do an internal investigation then he'll be making recommendations to me. It is my view that that officer was a police officer when this incident occurred, he was not an ordinary citizen and he had no authority to withdraw that case or to refuse to testify. It's a matter I view very seriously and as soon as the investigation is concluded we'll be taking the appropriate action against him."

Reporter
"To be honest with you people didn't expect this to go anywhere, nobody was surprised that the charges were withdrawn and people listening to this will say that nothing will happen with this, and that this is done. How far are you to take this?"

Allen Whylie
"In my view what he did as I said was wrong, there's an investigation ongoing and we will do what we need to do. We have a trust and a service to provide to the community and when a police officer does things that we believe breaches that trust, it erodes their trust and confidence in us and myself as the head will do all that is necessary to ensure that that breach is remedied."

COMPOL Explains Delay In Noh Mul Investigation

Commissioner Whylie also discussed the investigation into the wrongdoing at Noh Mul. As has been very extensively reported, the main temple at the northern site was bulldozed – and the company that did it – publicly owned up to the error. So why no charges? Whylie explained that for the police it is an unusual investigation.

Allen Whylie - Commissioner of Police
"I have directed the regional commander to ensure the investigator move vigorously to complete the directives that the DPP had passed to him and he should be proceeding by Friday at the latest in that case to formally hand over to the DPP. Once she approves it and she feels satisfied that the investigation has been thorough or have the necessary grievance to lay a charge then she will direct our officers and we will comply promptly."

Reporter
"What has been the difference in this case because I know there have been cases where the evidence was there that it was destroyed, Mr. Grijalva took responsibility but there was no arrest - all this going to the DPP before charges are laid. Have there been consideration made on the fact that Mr. Grijalva is a political aspirant and very well connected in Orange Walk?"

Allen Whylie
"No that has not factored in any at all in our investigation. You must understand that it's an investigation that requires technical skills. Those skills were given to us through NICH, it's an unusual investigation and you want to be thorough and methodical as best as possible. Consultations were held, further directives were given to the investigating officer and he is proceeding. You have to understand that investigation is not an over night process and you go and you speak to people and if they want to cooperate they do and if not then you have to find another way to get to the desired objective. So I am confident that the officer is doing what he needs to do. I have directed the regional commander to spur him along and hopefully I'm confident that that file will be at the DPP office."

The maximum fine for destroying a monument is ten thousand dollars – a lw that experts agree needs to be revised…..

Nike Sponsors Belize’s Football Uniforms

We’ve been reporting regularly on the Belize National Football Team’s performances in the friendly matches while preparing for the Gold Cup.
The glimpses we’ve provided are of the only of the players in action, and from a far distance away. So today, the Football Federation of Belize decided that it was time for the Nation to meet the selection which will represent Belize in the US three weeks from now.

They also unveiled the uniforms which have been provided by NIKE. Here’s how that unveiling went:

Marlon Kuylen - Executive Member, FFB
"We have the official Belize Jaguar's logo and as you look behind us it's on this banner here so that will be on all of our promotional items. Genesis Arts had come up with this design and they will be selling promotional items which we have in the back here, which we have, and each item that they sell - 15% of the proceeds will come to the National Team. Now we're proud to come to one of the items that we've been patiently waiting for and patiently introduced to the Belizean public. We have been in talks with Nike about sponsoring our National Team's - their headquarters is in Portland, Oregon where we will be playing USA in our first match. So when we go up there we have a meeting set with them to come fully on board to sponsor all our National Teams.

In the meantime they've been kind enough, even though we have not had these official talks and contracts signing and so forth - they have been kind enough to give us the travel and playing uniforms that we will be using at the gold cup. We have the unveiling of our home and away uniforms for the 2013 Gold Cup."

And at that press conference, FFB President, Ruperto Vicente, also announced the change in mentality that everyone associated with the team will now be operating by.

According to him, Belize needs to take itself seriously as a football nation, for the rest of the world to do the same:

Ruperto Vicente - President, FFB
"We are not going to settle for the first round of competition, we will not only participate - this was in the past. Participation is all in the past. We and this nation will not invest its monies in young people who will only go to a tournament to participate. That's in the past gentlemen and Belize. We're now entering tournament to win not just to participate. We are now winners, we were never trained to win in the past but now as we move forward with our football federation, understand that we're now on the winning quest. We are the winning road and you and all of us must develop the winning attitude. We gotta win, we cannot settle for just participation. Other nations must now begin to consider you as serious football players and the nations must also consider Belize as a serious football nation. We have the talent and we must display it - we must show the world that we are capable in competing against the best in the world."

The National Team continues to prepare vigorously for their first match against the US.

Belize Obesity Rate At 60%, Health Ministry Educates Food Providers On Nutrition

The Ministry of Health held a nutrition seminar today for popular food providers around the city. It is in conjunction with the celebration of the annual Caribbean Nutrition Day. With an obesity rate of 60 percent countrywide, the Ministry’s objective today was to educate these vendors about the basic nutrition principles of preparing a healthy meal.

Robyn Daly - Nutritionist Ministry of Health
"We're doing a nutrition seminar for food service providers. It is in recognition of Caribbean Nutrition day, which is celebrated June 1st. The overall objective for this training is to show and to educate the people that are preparing food for us, our food service providers. We have about 35 of them all over Belize City and we made sure we reached the very popular ones. So we have representation from Chon Saan, Li Chee, Kick Down Fence - some of our vendors that are on Coney Drive, Farmers Markey - where people access more or less everyday for lunch. We want to bring them out together and teach them about nutrition and what they need to know about our nutrition situation in Belize. They need to know how bad the situation is - looking at over 60% obesity rate in the country and looking at about 14% prominence of Diabetes, 28% of Hypertension - we need to reach out to the people that are preparing our food. We use these people every day to eat and they need to be trained in nutrition to prepare healthy meals for us."

The Ministry of Health plans on conducting follow up seminars in the near future with other food providers around the country.

Garifuna Collective Heads Out On Tour In support Of New Album

Andy Palacio’s backing band was known as the Garifuna Collective – and now they’re preparing to embark on their first major world tour without him. The Collective left for Minnesota today where they lead off a 25 stop, 19-city North American tour – to be followed later in the summer by a European Tour. It is in support of their first album – which will be released in Belize a month from now. Produced by Stonetree Records, the album, called “Ayo” picks up where Palacio’s “Watina” left off.
But the tour is different that just a straight Garifuna affair. For a few dates, they will be teaming up on stage with Canadian folk singer Danny Michel – for a compelling musical fusion.

It should make for an interesting journey and we spoke to them today at the PGIA, just before liftoff:….

Lloyd Augustine - Singer, Garifuna Collective
"Everything is feeling great because we have prepared ourselves in terms of rehearsing the songs and also we are launching a new album."

Joshua Arana - Drummer, Garifuna Collective
"The name of the album is Ayo which is a final goodbye. First we think about people like Ras Chi, we think about Justo and Andy - those people that have gone before us, who started this work with us and now that they're not here it's an extra boost for us because we know now that it's more important that these guys dreams remain alive."

Deseree Diego - Singer, Garifuna Collective
"The main thing is to leave a mark and that is what we're doing. We're performing with other artists who we don't even know, I think it's a good experience."

Lloyd Augustine
"We are happy to be right in the forefront with Danny Michel and I think that this is imporant for us because we are taking our culture again because Andy Palacio has started this so we are taking it and continuing his work because he has introduced it to the world. We are proud to have Danny Michel as part of us."

Joshua Arana
"The power of the spirits of our ancestors, the power of these people that have worked along with us will always be on stage with us. As a matter of fact they are here with us right now. It is for them that we want to continue this particular legacy."

That clip is from the first video from “Ayo” – it’s called Mongulo and will premier in July.

After the Minneapolis tomorrow night, the band plays Chicago on June 21st.

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