Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
Tonight, Jerry Enriquez's and his attorney Anand Ramlogan's weeks-long quest to block the general election has failed.
The first blow came on February 18th when the High court dismissed their case, and they then took an urgent application for an expedited appeal to the Court of Appeal yesterday. But, instead of an urgent hearing, the court stipulated a stately timeline for submissions in writing.
So, Ramlogan did an unprecedented thing: he tried to leapfrog the Court of Appeal and get the matter heard at the Caribbean Court of Justice. A daring move, but it was rejected today when the CCJ denied the application for special leave to appeal the timeline laid down yesterday by the Court of Appeal.
And, with a week to go before the election, there's nowhere else for them to turn, and no time to do it - the highest court in the land has slammed the final door shut.
Enriquez told us via zoom that they may have lost this fight, but the battle continues for electoral constituencies that are nearly equal:
Jerry Enriquez, Citizen Activist "It was disappointing, but we're not defeated. It was almost like David fighting Goliath. You have like six attorneys on the government side facing one attorney and myself, but we are very committed and we know that we are doing something that is right."
"And our stance remains firm that all we're doing is to ensure that government abides by the constitution that they swear to uphold and to demonstrate that they are not above the law."
Jules Vasquez "Is this the last straw? Was this the last attempt to try and block the election and now you all just have to accept that, well, we're going to the election with a malapportion list."
Jerry Enriquez, Citizen Activist "Yes, we accept that we're going into an election that is unconstitutional, that is in violation of the constitution and that the political parties willingly are continuing in that process and in maintaining the status quo."
"It does not make it right, but it is happening. Well, the point is that we have broadened public awareness about the severe injustice and we want to ensure. So even though the state has promised before that this would have happened, but this time we will definitely hold them to task right throughout to ensure that they do not just make me the promise, but that they will keep this promise."
Jules Vasquez "So we're going to election with a malapportion list about five to one, what will you do on election day?"
Jerry Enriquez, Citizen Activist "I've maintained that I will not participate in a fraudulent election. I think the government of Belize is having innocent Belizeans participate in a process that is in clear violation of the constitution."
"And so in clear conscience and in the deepest of my heart, I really cannot participate in it."
Enriquez and Ramlogan have not decided if they will file an election petition against the results after the election is concluded.
The lead attorney for the other side, the government side is Eamon Courtenay. He told the press via Zoom that Ramlogan made a fatal mis-step when he attempted to leapfrog the Court of Appeal because of the timeline they specified:
Eamon Courtenay, SC, Attorney for the AG "He did not like the timing and the pace at which the court of appeal was setting his the procedural things that had to happen and so he jumped from there and went to the CCJ. But look at the obvious. All the court of appeal was saying is file evidence by this date, file submissions by this date and we will set a hearing date. What appeal could you conceivably make from that? What error of law, what conceivable can the CCJ say or the Court of Appeal was wrong? What he wanted the CCJ to do was to say to the Court of Appeal, you reorganized your business to suit Mr. Ramlogan's schedule, and I'm forcing you to do it. And the CCJ did dismiss it without merit."
Jules Vasquez "I think the argument that he uses is that it is as if a man is to be hanged, a man or woman is to be hanged, and in the same way."
"The argument is democracy or the constitutional requirement for a free and fair election is about to be harmed. And that is the urgency or the alacrity with which he has been moving. That's his justification."
Eamon Courtenay, SC, Attorney for the AG "But that is obviously wrong, Jules. You just have to listen to that and that is wrong. When a man is hung, you cannot "undead" him he is dead. And so courts will have to move in a particular way to ensure that someone is not killed by mistake. Where there is evidence or they have a ground of appeal. In this particular case. I repeat, Mr. Ramogan has not provided a single case where any Commonwealth court has stopped an election after the House has been dissolved. There is none and there have been attempts."
Jules Vasquez "Is this the last chance that they have to try and block the election, which has been the earnest hope of Mr. Enriquez and his attorney, Mr. Ramlogan?"
Eamon Courtenay, SC, Attorney for the AG "In my opinion, it is the last hope. There are directions given by the Court of Appeal, and the Court of Appeal is going to determine when it's going to entertain the case."
"I do not believe that the Court of Appeal is going to fall for what Mr. Ramlogan is attempting to do."
"There is a long and consistent line of cases in the Commonwealth that says when a Prime minister dissolves the National Assembly, it is time for the people to speak and courts will not restrain the holding of elections."
And now with these successive setbacks for Enriquez and Ramlogan, there is a possibility that the other side - which is the government - could apply for them to bear the costs of government's very expensive attorneys. That bill could go easily into the 6 figure range.
We asked Courtney if they will apply to have costs awarded against Enriquez:
Jules Vasquez "Will the government be asking for costs as we see this matter still, ever escalating."
Eamon Courtenay, SC, Attorney for the AG "The issue, Jules, on costs is as follows. As a general rule in public law and constitutional law cases, the state does. If it wins, it does not usually get costs, unless the court is persuaded that the claimants acted wholly unreasonably, that they are persisting in circumstances where the law is obviously against them, or the facts are against them, and they are still taking up court time. Then an application can be made by the state to say listen, In this particular case, there was some unreasonable behavior and we are asking the court to exercise its discretion. I have no instructions at this stage from the Attorney general to say, go after anybody for costs, go after Mr. Enriquez for costs. I will say this: The application to the Caribbean Court of Justice was, to quote the Caribbean Court of Justice "without merit." That application was conceived of by Mr. Ramlogan, not by Mr. Enriquez. There is something called wasted costs, which focuses not on the client but on the lawyer. And I think that that is something that needs to be looked at in this particular matter."
And while Courtenay is keeping the pressure on Ramlogan - about whose professional conduct he has not minced words - we asked him about the affidavit filed by his client the Prime Minister - which contained a falsehood. It said the Prime Minister had not known any other Prime Minister to announce the data of a general election inside the National Assembly - when Said Musa did it in 2003.
Courtenay says it was just a simple error of recall:
Jules Vasquez "Do you regret that your client, the Prime Minister of Belize, made a rather obvious misrepresentation in his sworn affidavit when he said that he, to his knowledge, had never known a prime minister to call an election in, to announce an election date in the National Assembly, when, as we now know, he sat beside Said Musa as he did it in 2003."
Eamon Courtenay, SC, Attorney for the AG "That was obviously a mistake, I can tell you that I didn't remember Prime Minister Musa announcing it, but it's immaterial. It's a mistake and we all make mistakes."
Jules Vasquez "But a mistake in a sworn affidavit is a matter of consequence, when. especially when it's from the highest office in the land."
Eamon Courtenay, SC, Attorney for the AG "Agreed. Agreed. And I think, I mean, you interviewed him. I mean, I don't think he denied. I mean, I didn't see. I don't know but you interviewed him. We will not insist to the contrary. But I obviously say it was a mistake that was made, and, we would have easily have said that the it was done once, as far as I know, if it's the only occasion."
And so while Jerry Enriquez and Anand Ramlogan have thrown in the towel on their fight to block the election - the Belize Peace Movement still had a chance. They had a hearing today in the high court before Justice Hondora to try and do the same. But, the papers weren't filed properly - so the hearing could not be held:
Eamon Courtenay, SC, Attorney for the AG "There was an order by Justice Hondora that the record be prepared and filed and it was not filed. It is 852 pages, and it was sent to me electronically at 437 yesterday. The judge indicated this morning that he had not read it. He had not even received it. And, Miss Sharon Pitts, for the claimants, apologized. And the judge gave her a time to file it. He asked her to explain the urgency, and she gave her explanation that the elections are coming. It was pointed out to her that her clients are not asking the court for any urgent relief, any interim relief and an injunction. So what is the rush? So if you ask me my view, I would say to you that, we don't know when we're going to actually physically get the record of 852 pages, I assume later today. Tomorrow, I don't know. But when we get it, the judge will have to make a determination as to what is the urgency where you're not asking for a, you know, an injunction or something."
"It's just pure legal arguments. There is no application in that case to stop the election."
The matter has been postponed until a new date to be set - meaning it definitely will not be heard before the elections, or, in other words, DED.
Around 11 this morning, gunshots were fired near the Michael Finnegan Market. According to reports, the victim, 25 year old Edward Saldano Jr, was riding his bicycle on King Street when an officer recognized him as someone who was wanted for discharging a firearm in public. The officer followed him to the market and found him inside a food stall, hiding below the counter. The officer then ordered him to lie on the ground, after which the police report claims Saldano reached into the waist of his pants to pull out a firearm. A struggle ensued and that's when the cop shot Saldano in the foot.
And while there's a lot more than two sides to every story, Saldano's mother came to our studio to tell us their version of events. Courtney Menzies spoke to her and has this story.
A shooting at the market left vendors and buyers scattering for safety. When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that 25 year old Edward Saldano Jr otherwise known as Scrubby was shot in the foot by a police officer. He is seen here holding his leg.
Cops say he had a gun but his mother says they are taking advantage of him.
Joyce Martinez, Mother of Shooting Victim "He went to buy juice and tamales in a store he usually goes. He said a police walked in, told him 'you're wanted,' and when the police told him he was wanted, he put his hand behind his back and the police threw him on the ground, handcuffed him, and then shot him. That's what I got from him and then I have other people saying the same thing. but then they're saying, I listened to the news just now and they say he went to rob. Not because you're always picking him up, it's because he went to rob. He knew the people in the stall and if the people want to talk they could say the truth. And he didn't have any gun on him."
Courtney Menzies: "That's what the police are saying to justify."
Joyce Martinez, Mother of Shooting Victim "That's what they're saying, they will always say something because they don't like the Saldanos."
Courtney Menzies: "How is your son doing now?"
Joyce Martinez, Mother of Shooting Victim "Well they made me see him and he has the thing on his foot. So they said he's okay but he was explaining to me and said he went to buy and he surrendered himself and the same police that already shot him three months ago, the same police shot him. That's what he said, ma, the same police shot me again. So most naturally he want to kill him. if nobody was there he would have killed him."
And Saldano isn't a stranger to the law. But Martinez says that's no reason to harass him.
Joyce Martinez, Mother of Shooting Victim "I'm not saying that he's not always on the news but sometimes it's not every time things happen they did it. Most of the time things happen, the first place they come it's my house. They don't even want to find out what is the problem, as they year Saldano they want to come to my house or look for Saldano at other spots. You have to get your information, your facts straight then you deal with your investigation."
"I know they will try to put it on him but I'm going further, I'm going higher because this won't go like this. The fourth, first, second, no man, I will not."
Police reports say that the cops later found a 9mm pistol with 14 live rounds of ammunition.
Saldano is recovering at the hospital under police guard.
He left his house to go fishing with friends but never made it home. 28 year old Shawn Toledano drowned at Honey Camp Lagoon yesterday evening while in the company of friends. The group noticed that they could not find him, and after searching they found his body submerged and unresponsive north east of the honey camp lagoon road. Toledano's mother spoke with our colleagues from CTV3 this afternoon and she told them that she had begged her son not to go fishing that afternoon .
Voice of: Odelia Toledano, Mother of Deceased "Shawn was a kind person because whatever he ate, if he bought and ate something he would bring for me and his father, everything for him was his mom. The day before he came to see me and went to lay down and told me he wanted to sleep beside me and he fell asleep hugging me. That day after he like around 11 he came and told me he was going fishing and i told him not to go that right now is not the best time to go and fish. I told him not to go but he told me he was going with his brother in law, with paps and others. It was about 5 of them who went. I was here sitting in my chair at around 5. I went to sit down and i felt a strong pain in my chest, then i touched my shoulder and it was also hurting me. Then my other son came and told me mom, you look very sad, and i told him son its because Shawn hasn't come back yet. He told me not to worry that he would be back soon. And then around 6 I heard my daughter calling but she wasn't calling for me. She came crying and she didn't want to tell me anything. She was angry because her husband had gone as well and something had happened. Now my husband was telling me to come inside but i told him how can i go inside if my children are crying. When they told me it was as if my pressure had gone up again. But sometimes when someone advises you something its because they already know something was going to happen, but he did not listen to me he still went to fish. My daughter told me that her husband told her that my son wanted to go and fish so he could bring me back a fish to eat. My son was so kind, but its like how they say, God always takes the best children."
Bert Vasquez was convicted of attempted rape in 2018 for an incident that occurred between him and a 20 year old woman in January of 2011.
Vasquez appeal the conviction and acted as his own attorney in the process, going up against the Director of Public Prosecutions herself, Cheryl Lyn Vidal.
Today the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal and upheld his sentence. The court did find that his right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time was breached by the excessive delay in the hearing and decision of his appeal from the trial through the Court of Appeal.
With elections only a few days away, the University of Belize today gave their students a space to share their opinions on the country's priority issues in an open forum. They shared their perspectives on the governance system, tourism and other key social and cultural issues, all with a firm belief that their input as students and youths should be valuable to policy makers. Jomarie Lanza was there and here's what she gathered at the forum.
A panel of 5 students presented their priority issues for Belize in 2025, as part of an open forum held by the University of Belize titled "Elections and You in 2025: Exercising Your People Power."
The students had 5 minutes each to present their opinions on an issue of their choice, and how elections and our government system has a significant impact on each one. The Director for the Belize Policy Research Institute says that the purpose of this discussion is to give students a chance to voice perspectives as to why they deserve a seat at the table when it comes to finding solutions for these issues.
Dylan Vernon, Director, Belize Policy research institute, UB "There were diverse presentations on tourism education, health, legislature, women in politics and they all had something very new and useful to say coming from youth voices. But one of the things I found most interesting was that question of how to engage more youths and they themselves were putting the pressure on themselves but also answering the questions and basically saying that part of it is perhaps the wrong question is how do we the youths engage you? And the answers to that has to do with techniques you use: social media. The turnout today was not as great as we want when it comes to students we were live streaming it but it is our hope that the event is not going to be the last one and that some of the materials from it will form a publication at some point in time."
Once the students have presented then they receive feedback from 3 selected respondents. The Director for the Intercultural Indigenous Language institute says the discussions are meant to provoke thinking on what Belize's future could be like decades from now.
Delmer Tzib, Director, intercultural indigenous language institute, UB "The discussion today came about after thinking that we need to open more spaces for the public to voice their concerns and also for the youths in particular to have a say in what they feel are national issues and also what they see as the future of Belize. I think one of the rationalisations that I had one night was I was just thinking well what will Belize be in perhaps 20 years from now we are living today, what changes we need to put in place today and the discussions we should be having to inspire change. We should be engaging with so at the university we are the national university of Belize we have a responsibility as well to engage the youths and offer the youths a voice so that's really how it came about."
"Another thing that also sprung up to me was where one of the presenters was basically making a call for national development and just to stick a pin there. Our national movements started with open forums like these. Talking out the issues that were plaguing the society at that point and also figuring out what suggestions what exists out there what do we have that can contribute towards national development and really that's one of the major messages that I get from here that many of these students are interested in contributing and changing our Belize for good and part of that is how do we inspire them? And inspiring them can be through some of these same open forums."
History Student Jayden Coleman who presented on "Improving our governance system" told us why he chose this issue of interest to discuss:
Jayden Coleman, History student UB "I was really glad to be invited here but the first thing they told me was that it was not a debate it was more your opinion and I wanted to share my opinion on the people who do not vote, the people who don't feel a need to go out and exercise their right to vote, their right to suffrage I want to show them to sort of influence them to think of how that tramples our nationalist legacy this was not always a right and what we have right now it is important that we maintain it. It's important that we lead the state to do what they want to do because in time what that will evolve into is a totalitarian state and I won't be a doomsayer to say we are very close to that compared to other nations but it's still a very near possibility."
"I think when you vote you are voting for, well at least this is the idea, you try to vote for someone who plans to implement a part of what you identify as yourself in the game plan that is Belize. So when you choose not to vote you choose not to be a part of that process and not being apart of that process means you leave it for other people to do what they want and a very serious issue we have in Belize and what I said in my speech was I have no proof of course and no one has ever been convicted of it but it's that people are paid to vote in one way or another and Dr, it was Mr Dennison I believe said that the people who are paid to vote or who choose to take these bribes are playing with the tools in their tool box and he is very right in that, but I also want to think and you can call this the naivety of youth but I also want to think about the people who are from an underprivileged who are all in an underprivileged situation and who choose not to vote and who choose not to take bribes why are these people doing what they are doing? Where did we go wrong? What part of Belize do they not see in themselves? So you know that's just something that I wanted to look at and it's a very serious issue and I think it needs to be addressed."
If you notice a flurry of civil works happening on your Belize City street, the mayor says it's not because the general election is near. Yesterday he explained that there's a long term plan that guides which streets are tackled and what means are used to fix them.
But what about Lizarraga Avenue/Lottie Waight Street?
Last month we showed you the craters on the street and you heard from the residents how it was affecting them. But if you were to drive on it now, it's like a table-top. We asked the mayor about it.
Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City "We have a plan."
Jules Vasquez: "I remember you talked about that but it seems to coincide with the elections."
Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City "We have an established plan we built 150 streets in our last term."
Jules Vasquez: "But you agree there's a rush at the election to pave streets?"
Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City "No it may seem like a rush to you all but it's within the scope of the plan and it so happens that you will look around and say oh elections is coming but no, it's the normal course of business. 150 streets done in the last 3 years. This year we have to slow down a bit because resources dictate that but we have a map of the plan, we have like 20 to 25 streets that we need to get done, a lot of people within the city are agitating for better streets, for decent streets. We know the chip and seal is not the best option. MIDH has indicated that the way to go is cement or the hot mix but again that comes with resources and how sustainable is it for a council."
Jules Vasquez: "So now, remember we did that story on the street which is of a disputed name because when I asked Mr D&D's, it's him that gave us the name we used."
Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City "Lottie Waight?"
Jules Vasquez: "You called it Lottie Waight. There's a 3rd Street sign and then he said that's Lizarraga Avenue, that's what he said he live on. Anyway, we know the street we're talking about. We see a big operation happening there. Explain to me what is happening out on that street of disputed name."
Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City "Well, again, just to show you, and I'll come right back to what you said. It's all in the normal days work. I sent a letter around March of last year, not this year because we're just in March. March/April of last year to the prime minister because I had a complaint from the hospital that the street was dusty and patients are there and so I asked the government if they could assist us with that project and the prime minister said yes we will assist you. And that is what is happening now in terms of that street but people have to have patience. Everybody wants streets fixed but you have to exercise patience, we can't get to all the street. We will try to get to most of them, but have some patience."
The mayor was a lot more circumspect when speaking on the subject of municipal autonomy. We know that this is mostly an illusion in municipal governance - because ultimately Cabinet calls the shots.
And so it has been for successive PUDP Belize City mayors who have toyed with the idea of introducing a residential garbage fee to help offset the 3.3 million dollars they struggle to pay Belize Waste Control annually.
The current mayor has been a strong proponent of such a fee - but every time he floats the idea, Belmopan torpedoes it. They always say that, politically, the timing isn't right.
We asked him if the timing may finally be right after next week's General election and a fresh mandate:
Jules Vasquez "Will the government in this next term of office, if a PUP government is elected a friendly government, will they finally allow you to implement the garbage tax?"
Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City "Boy, that's a good question, Jules. That's a very good question."
"A lot of things has to align for that to occur, but from my vantage point, I have been the voice crying in the wilderness for some years that the garbage fee is not something bad, if you do it in a kind of tiered system approach, similarly to what we're trying to do with the trade license."
"So it's a phased approach, but you can't have close to 800 plus streets being served by a city to pick up garbage, which costs $65,000 a week. Imagine you have to find out per week, Jules, along with $300,000 plus every two weeks for salaries."
"Imagine that. You can't sleep."
Jules Vasquez "You have to watch your bank account. You can't sleep."
Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City "You can't sleep. And so it's not asking a lot. It has to go to our local government and then into the cabinet to get it approved."
"But all the other municipalities have the right to charge a fee."
Jules Vasquez "Mayor, if we had true autonomy, you could do this."
Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City "That's what we've been agitating for for so long."
Jules Vasquez "We don't have true autonomy."
Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City "Local government needs greater autonomy, greater decentralization."
"It's a cry in the region, in the Caribbean. It's a cry in the Commonwealth. Greater decentralization."
Jules Vasquez "You have amended. The people of the city elected you. If you say, I will increase it, the cabinet should not have a veto over your decision, over your council's decision."
Today the Prime Minister was in Belize City, making a stop at SJCJC. He was asked to speak to the students and to answer some of their questions. Later in the day, we caught with him on the campaign trail in the Albert division and asked if he felt that the younger generation was disillusioned with politics. But he says on the contrary, the country is in good hands, and his "Hi Everybody" slogan has really caught on with them.
Tomorrow you'll hear more from Briceno and the Albert standard bearer, Kaya Cattouse.
And while the PM is on the campaign trail, the UDP standard bearer for Collet, Patrick Faber, was on Sunup on 7 this morning, discussing his work in the division that he's represented for over 2 decades. Faber is a part of the Tracy Panton faction and says that rather than try to position himself to regain the throne, he's supporting her fully as the next full time leader - since following their unity convention she was declared interim leader. Here's what he told the hosts this morning.
Patrick Faber, TP UDP Standard Bearer, Collet "I'll be clear that nobody forced me to resign from leadership of the UDP. It is a decision that I made back in 2022 because the situation that I was in, to me, did not put the party in the best position."
"I did not wish to be an albatross around the neck of the party. And so I made a conscious decision not to continue to lead the party. And I decided back then to put my support behind the Honorable Tracy Panton."
"That was an easy decision for me. And I've said to Tracy, and I've said to everybody who would listen, that that is where my support is. And I have no intention, I'll make that very clear now, of contesting against my colleague, the Honorable Tracy Panton."
"I have full confidence in her leadership. I have full hope that she will be the first female prime minister. I have full hope that if she does not make it as the first female prime minister, that she will be the first female leader of the opposition."
"Either way, she is going to blaze a trail. She's going to make history, and I'm going to be fully in her corner. So there's no ambition on my part in that, and you can take that to the bank."
Host "While in your division, people will see on the ballots, one blue, one red, you know, in other divisions, there are multiple reds happening. As somebody who has decades of experience, do you feel like this will confuse voters or make it harder for voters, and there'll be more spoiled ballots at the end of the day?"
Patrick Faber, TP UDP Standard Bearer, Collet "Absolutely, the fact that, especially where there is a case where there are the two reds stack together, and this comes because of the alphabetical order in which candidates are listed. In fact, if Rivers was nominated in Collet, Faber then Rivers, given that Daley would first alphabetically would have created some confusion and I believe this is, I need to be careful of how I accuse the election on boundaries, but it is political. I believe this is why they did what they did because it favors the incumbent government, you know."
"This is going to create confusion and it's going to favor the PUP, so why not do it? But I'm thankful it is not happening in Collet, but also voter education is important and from Tracy Panton's side of the party, we are going to do the best job that we can do to educate our voters."
Last week we broke the story that Belize had left the Hague Group, that's 9 countries from the global south that took a stand against Israel and for Palestine - demanding that the rulings of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court against Israel be upheld.
Well, according to best reports, Belize left that group in mid February - even though the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister have refused to confirm what the world knows to be a fact.
Today, the former Foreign Minister - who first suspended ties with Israel in November of 2023 took a realpolitik approach, telling us that when the realities on the diplomatic landscape change, nations have to adjust:
Jules Vasquez "Do you think that leaving the Hague Group would be advisable in light of the fact that the United States is staunchly pro-Israeli at this time?"
Eamon Courtenay, SC, Attorney for the AG "I would say that like every country in the world, particularly those in this part of the world, Belize is undergoing a review of its foreign policy in relation to changes not only in the United States, but changes in Europe as well."
"I know the foreign minister is actively looking at different aspects, different issues, looking at the position of Belize. He and I have spoken about it from time to time, so I know that the ministry is deeply looking at analyzing the position."
"All I would say to those and I would say no more about this. There are people who are saying quite a lot right now about certain decisions that the government is taking in foreign affairs. And if you look at things in isolation, you may say, I think we should do X."
"But if you look at that very same issue and you ask, well, what is the consequence of doing X on Y, Z, A, B, C? Other things that the government is doing or the government is pursuing. We, when I was at the ministry, and I'm sure it is the same now, you have to start first with your principles."
"Secondly, what is your national interest? And that requires careful calibration. where you have a world that is in turmoil. I have, based on my experience, full confidence in our foreign service officers, our minister, our CEO, in the ability to analyze the different issues and implications for Belize, consult with regional governments, consult with friends of Belize when coming to make decisions in the interests of Belize."
"So I am not at all worried, and I am also not at all concerned if we take a new and different position on a particular issue because circumstances have changed."
And while Courtenay seems to remain involved, or at least in tune with Belize's Foreign Policy, why is he still on the political rostrum giving speeches? We saw him giving a bawdy one at a weekend rally in Orange Walk South - and we asked him, why the rostrum for a man not on the ballot?:
Jules Vasquez "You know, you're not on the ballot, per se. You remain very much in the in the thick of the PUP. We know you are a very close advisor to the prime minister. He consults with you on Christmas Eve about elections. But I'm just asking, why do you feel it necessary at this point to still make appearances in the hurly burly of politics when it's not perceived as your, your original jurisdiction, or your theater of choice."
Eamon Courtenay, SC, Attorney for the AG "I was invited by Minister Mai to speak and to introduce him at the rally in San Lazaro. He and I work very closely. When I was Minister of Foreign Trade and he was Minister of Agriculture, looking for markets, helping on the sugar issue, etc., etc.. And I think that he is the excellent standard bearer, and I could never have said no to him."
The north is hot based on the recent murder of Raheem Usher and the cartel murder of two Belizeans in a Mexican border community.
And now, the Commissioner of Police is on a 2 day tour of the border crossing areas in the north.
He has met with officers assigned to the Northern Operations to find out how they can address all the challenges they face along the border in villages like Santa Cruz, San Victor, Douglas and Botes. In a post made by the Belize police department's page on FB
It details that " With heightened cartel activity in neighboring Chetumal, it is only prudent that we reassess our operational objectives to ensure no vulnerable areas are left exposed to potential spillover effects. We remain committed to targeting local Belizeans known to associate with cartels in an effort to disrupt their activities."
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"It was disappointing, but we're not defeated. It was almost like David fighting Goliath. You have like six attorneys on the government side facing one attorney and myself, but we are very committed and we know that we are doing something that is right."
"He did not like the timing and the pace at which the court of appeal was setting his the procedural things that had to happen and so he jumped from there and went to the CCJ. But look at the obvious. All the court of appeal was saying is file evidence by this date, file submissions by this date and we will set a hearing date. What appeal could you conceivably make from that? What error of law, what conceivable can the CCJ say or the Court of Appeal was wrong? What he wanted the CCJ to do was to say to the Court of Appeal, you reorganized your business to suit Mr. Ramlogan's schedule, and I'm forcing you to do it. And the CCJ did dismiss it without merit."
And while Courtenay is keeping the pressure on Ramlogan - about whose professional conduct he has not minced words - we asked him about the affidavit filed by his client the Prime Minister - which contained a falsehood. It said the Prime Minister had not known any other Prime Minister to announce the data of a general election inside the National Assembly - when Said Musa did it in 2003.
Around 11 this morning, gunshots were fired near the Michael Finnegan Market. According to reports, the victim, 25 year old Edward Saldano Jr, was riding his bicycle on King Street when an officer recognized him as someone who was wanted for discharging a firearm in public. The officer followed him to the market and found him inside a food stall, hiding below the counter. The officer then ordered him to lie on the ground, after which the police report claims Saldano reached into the waist of his pants to pull out a firearm. A struggle ensued and that's when the cop shot Saldano in the foot.
"He went to buy juice and tamales in a store he usually goes. He said a police walked in, told him 'you're wanted,' and when the police told him he was wanted, he put his hand behind his back and the police threw him on the ground, handcuffed him, and then shot him. That's what I got from him and then I have other people saying the same thing. but then they're saying, I listened to the news just now and they say he went to rob. Not because you're always picking him up, it's because he went to rob. He knew the people in the stall and if the people want to talk they could say the truth. And he didn't have any gun on him."
He left his house to go fishing with friends but never made it home. 28 year old Shawn Toledano drowned at Honey Camp Lagoon yesterday evening while in the company of friends. The group noticed that they could not find him, and after searching they found his body submerged and unresponsive north east of the honey camp lagoon road. Toledano's mother spoke with our colleagues from CTV3 this afternoon and she told them that she had begged her son not to go fishing that afternoon .
Bert Vasquez was convicted of attempted rape in 2018 for an incident that occurred between him and a 20 year old woman in January of 2011.
With elections only a few days away, the University of Belize today gave their students a space to share their opinions on the country's priority issues in an open forum. They shared their perspectives on the governance system, tourism and other key social and cultural issues, all with a firm belief that their input as students and youths should be valuable to policy makers. Jomarie Lanza was there and here's what she gathered at the forum.
"There were diverse presentations on tourism education, health, legislature, women in politics and they all had something very new and useful to say coming from youth voices. But one of the things I found most interesting was that question of how to engage more youths and they themselves were putting the pressure on themselves but also answering the questions and basically saying that part of it is perhaps the wrong question is how do we the youths engage you? And the answers to that has to do with techniques you use: social media. The turnout today was not as great as we want when it comes to students we were live streaming it but it is our hope that the event is not going to be the last one and that some of the materials from it will form a publication at some point in time."
"The discussion today came about after thinking that we need to open more spaces for the public to voice their concerns and also for the youths in particular to have a say in what they feel are national issues and also what they see as the future of Belize. I think one of the rationalisations that I had one night was I was just thinking well what will Belize be in perhaps 20 years from now we are living today, what changes we need to put in place today and the discussions we should be having to inspire change. We should be engaging with so at the university we are the national university of Belize we have a responsibility as well to engage the youths and offer the youths a voice so that's really how it came about."
"I was really glad to be invited here but the first thing they told me was that it was not a debate it was more your opinion and I wanted to share my opinion on the people who do not vote, the people who don't feel a need to go out and exercise their right to vote, their right to suffrage I want to show them to sort of influence them to think of how that tramples our nationalist legacy this was not always a right and what we have right now it is important that we maintain it. It's important that we lead the state to do what they want to do because in time what that will evolve into is a totalitarian state and I won't be a doomsayer to say we are very close to that compared to other nations but it's still a very near possibility."
If you notice a flurry of civil works happening on your Belize City street, the mayor says it's not because the general election is near. Yesterday he explained that there's a long term plan that guides which streets are tackled and what means are used to fix them.
"We have a plan."
"I'll be clear that nobody forced me to resign from leadership of the UDP. It is a decision that I made back in 2022 because the situation that I was in, to me, did not put the party in the best position."
And while Courtenay seems to remain involved, or at least in tune with Belize's Foreign Policy, why is he still on the political rostrum giving speeches? We saw him giving a bawdy one at a weekend rally in Orange Walk South - and we asked him, why the rostrum for a man not on the ballot?:
The north is hot based on the recent murder of Raheem Usher and the cartel murder of two Belizeans in a Mexican border community.