And while the police department has not provided an update on any of the 7 murders recorded in Belize City this month, today, the Prime Minister did speak on the Albert Cattouse murder.
In a moment that defies comprehension, the head of government had to give a narrative on a murder that police have not been able to speak to the press on for one week now. First, the PM said, Cattouse's murder was not political:...
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Now I know you said Mr. Cattouse was an activist and no doubt he was, but I considered myself very much an acquaintance of Mr. Cattouse. I knew him well and I didn't see him very often these latter days, but whenever I did we were extremely pleasant to each other."
"What I gathered from the police is completely at odds with any motion that this was a political hit and I am willing to bet my life that no UDP personality in the leadership of this party would ever do something like that. It seems that somebody caught Mr. Cattouse's taxi. The fare has him drive to a particular neighborhood where two other persons came into the taxi and then Mr. Cattouse was told that they needed to go to a particular area. By then he realize that a gun was evident and the version that the police has been told, is that he refused. He said he wasn't on that and obviously the fear was that these people were going to in fact perform some sort of a hit or commit murder, some heinous act and he refused and according to the report I saw, he told them they had to get out and stop his taxi they exited. But when they were exiting, one of them shot him and killed him."
While the media and the public are grateful for this, the first substantial update on this high profile murder, we note that the days of the Head of Government having to give the media information draws a not so inspiring parallel to the early 70's when - our media elders who used to work at Radio Belize tell us - George Price himself used to give the state owned radio the police news. Not exactly an inspiring 21st century example.