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, the messages coming out of Guatemala City are not good for Belize, especially Prime Minister Briceno.
We're talking about the incursion into Belizean airspace by a Guatemalan military plane six days ago. The Guatemalans maintain it never happened.
They said this at the UN on Saturday, and President Bernardo Arevalo repeated it at a press conference this afternoon in Guatemala City, which we present with captions for the translation. He started by saying he was surprised PM Briceno took this complaint to the floor of the UN General Assembly:
Bernardo Arevalo, Guatemalan President "We were surprised that he brought up this issue and mentioned it in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, and the right of reply established in the Assembly's rules of procedure was used to give a response."
"There was no such flight as claimed. Later, we saw that there was a 17- or 18-year-old young man coming out with an app indicating that through it he had seen this... it's a thing..."
"In any case, we have made the aircraft available to the Organization of American States-the one indicated as allegedly having been involved in that regard-so they can come and review its records. Because those recorded logs are what show the flight path taken, and so on."
"We are very calm because, fortunately, we have a permanent international monitoring mechanism. In fact, the Organization of American States has an office in the Adjacency Zone between Guatemala and Belize, whose function is precisely to facilitate contact between the two countries and, above all, to observe the situations that arise in this Adjacency Zone."
"We have a mechanism that will prevent any incident that occurs from escalating into something more. In any case, this flight did not take place, and we are waiting for them to come and verify it."
And for clarity, President Arevalo said, quote, "This flight did not take place."
But that's not what Prime Minister Briceno told us on Monday.
He said that he has a good personal relationship with President Arevalo and that the Guatemalan military was basically on its own timing.
He added that the President personally apologized to the visiting Rossana Briceno for what happened. For context, we bring back that part of Monday's interview:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "And while she was there, the President apologized to her, told her to please tell me, apologize about what is happening, because sometimes there are people-not his words, my words-there are people within the military that want to do as they wish."
Well, maybe that story was just wishful thinking, because Arevalo doubled down on his country's official position today. And also doubling down today was the Special Envoy herself.
Rossana Briceño's office put out a press release today talking about the trip to Guatemala City.
It says, quote, "Her Excellency Rossana Briceno participated in her official capacity as Special Envoy for the Development of Families and Children and as the spouse of the Prime Minister of Belize, thereby ensuring that Belize was represented and that its voice remained present in an important regional forum... Briceno's involvement... underscores that... we can engage confidently with our neighbours while maintaining our national interests. Especially in challenging times, Belize must continue to occupy its rightful place at regional and international tables. It is precisely during such moments that our presence matters most." End quote.
We note that this is the first official acknowledgement of Briceno's Guatemala visit; nothing was known of the visit until the news was first reported by 7News in a news post on Saturday.
As September comes to a close, the Office of the Auditor General has yet to release any audit findings regarding its investigation into the Ministry of Defence.
On June 22nd, it was announced that the Auditor General would conduct an audit into allegations of related-party contracts connected to Defence Ministers Oscar Mira and Florencio Marin Jr. The time span given was three months.
That deadline has come and gone, and this evening, Auditor General Maria Rodriguez confirmed to 7News that a date has been set with the CEO to discuss the report with him. We reached out to that CEO, Francis Usher, who told us, quote, "The Auditor General is still conducting interviews. When she has completed those, then a date will be set."
Two men have been fined after pleading guilty to uttering false documents, following the discovery of fake Belize driver's licenses they allegedly purchased from individuals who promised to obtain the documents through an expedited process.
Forty-three-year-old Edgar Lionel Ramos Ico, a Guatemalan salesman of Belama Phase 5, and 31-year-old Julio Ernesto Lopez Gomez, a Salvadoran construction worker of Belama Phase 6, were separately caught using driver's licenses that Belize City Traffic Department officials determined were not registered in the system. Both men appeared before the Chief Magistrate today and pleaded guilty.
They were each fined $800, payable by March 31, 2027. Failure to pay will result in three months in prison. The court heard that both men are first-time offenders. Earlier this week, 35-year-old Yadira De Los Angeles Aldana, a Nicaraguan national of Jennifer Street, Belize City, was also charged with uttering a false document after allegedly presenting a fake Belize driver's license on Cemetery Road on September 24. Aldana pleaded not guilty and was granted $2,000 bail. She is due back in court on November 27.
The Public Service Union has formally challenged the appointment of Abelardo Mai Jr. as Acting Director of the Belize Solid Waste Management Authority, alleging that established hiring protocols were bypassed to favor a politically connected candidate over experienced public officers. Mai Jr. is the son of Hon. Jose Mai Sr., PUP Area Representative for Orange Walk South.
In an official letter addressed to Rolando Zetina, CEO in the Ministry of Public Service, PSU President Dean Flowers raised serious concerns over the recruitment process for the senior technical post. Mai Jr., a recent graduate of CATIE Agricultural College in Costa Rica, was allegedly placed in the executive role without internal advertisement or consideration of serving career officers in the Ministry of Sustainable Development.
The union is demanding answers and confirmed that if the matter is not adequately resolved, it reserves the right to escalate the issue, including bringing formal proceedings before the Public Services Commission.
We did reach out to CEO Zetina for comment, but had not received a response by news time.
Effective November 1st, Tropic Air will close its doors in Punta Gorda. The company announced it today in a press release, which immediately raised alarm in Toledo's tourism and business sectors.
The airline cited sustained financial losses, rising operational costs, and long-term commercial unviability, as well as growing uncertainty surrounding proposed changes to Belize's domestic aviation infrastructure.
However, the news sent shockwaves through the BTIA. In a joint letter, the Toledo Chapter warned that the loss of flight operations extends far beyond tourism.
BTIA Toledo member and leader of the People's National Party, Wil Maheia, spoke to us today via Zoom about what those repercussions will look like:
Wil Maheia, BTIA Toledo Chapter / People's National Party "It's not only about tourism. I know that a large part of it has to do with tourism, but imagine no airline flying into PG. Think of the health risks that people having an emergency... yesterday I was on the airline with a lady who could not take the road to PG, so she had to take the airline. What would happen to people like this? People ship out vegetable from PG to Belize City and elsewhere, fish and other products on the airlines, so I just find it that this is like a 7.5 magnitude earthquake that hit PG and the Toledo District in a way, because this is... and this is something that can be avoided, so we are definitely calling on the Government of Belize to intervene and do something."
"The other day, I believe one of the biggest employers in the Toledo District, Copal Tree Farm, had to lay off some workers. How are these workers going to pay their loans and things like that, because fuel prices are just out of the world? We understand that the war is going on and fuel prices are going up, but how in the world can Guatemala and Honduras and Mexico have fuel prices lower than Belize? So we know that the government can do something to lower the fuel prices. I believe that Tropic Air is going out of business in Toledo because Copal Tree, where they had to lay off some people because the fuel prices are so high, this $10 rider fee that's coming into play. I mean, that's ridiculous-$10 rider fee, what's that for? You are driving away customers, and I believe Tropic right away saw that the riders have backed off because they cannot continue to fly on this airline when the prices are so high. Right now, as it is, it is cheaper to fly from Belize City to Miami than to fly from PG to Belize City. So it's crazy."
"In the north, every year you can go to the archives and you will see when the sugar season is about to start, all the cane farmers take to the street, and overnight the government finds a 10 million dollars to relieve the cane farmers up north. They can do the same for the people of Toledo District, because we are suffering here, and the pain is really real right now."
And we also spoke with the BTIA Toledo Chapter's Secretary, who told us they were completely blindsided. She explained that they will hold a public meeting tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. and are inviting not just tourism stakeholders but the entire community to attend:
Joanna Audinett, Secretary, BTIA Toledo Chapter "We have been aware that the airstrip would be closed for an upgrade, and as tourism stakeholders, we were very excited that we were getting a new runway. But yesterday, we found out that Tropic would be ceasing all operations in Toledo, and to be honest, we were totally blindsided. This is going to be a devastating impact on our already struggling tourism product. If we are honest, we have never really bounced back since COVID days, and connectivity is huge. We are a wonderful district with many wonderful tourism destinations, but getting passengers here is key to that market."
"I think we have to be really honest that this is not just a tourism issue. This is going to have a huge impact on PG and Toledo as a whole. Tropic is like this little hub that runs our whole economy. All of our business, our entrepreneurs, our chocolatiers, even our postal system needs Tropic, our medical institution sends all of our samples daily on Tropic. This is pretty much gonna cut off Toledo and PG from the rest of the country. So we have called an important urgent meeting-not just for tourism stakeholders, but for any community members-to come tomorrow morning 9:00 at the Welcome Center and House of Culture. We need to strategize. I'm of the belief that our Chairman is already in contact with Dr. Osmond Martinez, who is our Area Rep. We are going to be talking about how this is going to impact us, what can we do... we cannot lie down and let this happen, we need the community to really step up, really rally behind. I cannot see a Toledo without Tropic Air functioning."
"Toledo has everything. We are the chocolate capital of Belize, we run the Chocolate Festival every year. We're going to be having our 20th festival next year. We have nature, culture, adventure, we have beautiful birds, we have caves, we have Maya structures, we have living Mayas, we have Garifuna, we have everything here. We have wonderful hotels and ecolodges. We've always struggled getting people here, we always considered ourselves an emerging destination. We have already been hoping that we would get more assistance from BTB to send more tourists here."
Tropic Air noted that local staff in Punta Gorda will be offered opportunities for relocation or reassignment within the company where possible.
The US Government is making its biggest investment in cultural preservation yet, with the Caracol Archaeological Reserve receiving the U.S. Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation investment in conservation.
With scores of daily visitors and a new highway providing access, officials say the investment comes at a critical time for protecting one of Belize's and the region's most significant archaeological sites. Jaleeza Roberts reports:
In a significant move to protect Belize's cultural legacy, the U.S. Government has awarded over $200,000 USD to the Caracol Archaeological Reserve. The grant-the largest given in Belize by the U.S. Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation-will support critical restoration and conservation efforts.
It will fund the Archaeological Stabilization, Conservation and Community Engagement Project, targeting urgent conservation work at the Caana Complex and Plaza B ballcourt, while also supporting training, digital documentation, and community participation.
Minister of Culture Francis Fonseca says the need is very real:
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture "Today I want us to also think about Caracol as a living part of Belize's heritage. Protecting Caracol means defending knowledge, creating opportunities, building skills, and strengthening the connection between Belizeans and the heritage that surrounds us. The need for conservation is very real. Caana, the magnificent sky place, rises approximately 43 meters, remaining the tallest human-made structure in Belize. Decades of exposure to heavy rainfall followed by prolonged dry conditions have contributed to the deterioration of plaster surfaces, water penetration, weakened masonry, and structural instability. With the guidance of Drs. Arlen and Diana Chase of the University of Houston, who have worked at Caracol for more than 40 years, the Institute of Archaeology will undertake the important work of stabilizing and conserving vulnerable areas of Caana and addressing other structural concerns."
Director of the Institute of Archaeology, Dr. Melissa Badillo, expressed that the grant allows specific vulnerable areas to be addressed before deterioration becomes more pronounced:
Dr. Melissa Badillo, Director, Institute of Archaeology "So we annually, routinely monitor all archaeological sites, and so this was one of those that was prioritized within the last two years because today is the culmination of that application process and documentation. We already have ideas for future projects. So this work never ends. Conservation is absolutely needed on a regular basis. And so, you know, once we get into this one, we start looking at the other one. For right now, in the last two years or so, this was definitely one of our priorities."
"I think for us right now is really to get that message out about preservation and the impacts that we have as humans on these types of structures and these spaces. And having that education and outreach part be an essential component of a project like this will certainly help us to get the message across. And we not only want to share that with Belizeans, but with visitors to the site as well, you know, that they respect these spaces and that when they do come, we have, you know, a visit where we don't threaten these sites any more than we need to."
Caana, which rises approximately 43 meters and remains the tallest human-made structure in Belize, is a priority. The timing is particularly important as visitation to Caracol grows from the enhanced highway. The Institute of Archaeology says approximately 25,000 people visited the reserve in 2025. For Ambassador Bauer, he believes this grant can help showcase history:
Andre Bauer, US Ambassador to Belize "To me, it is essential for what makes Belize Belize to preserve these sites, and so I'm so thankful that it was prioritized by both governments. Not only America, but they came to... Belize came to the table with almost the exact same amount that the U.S. government did, and so together this is a collaboration of what we think is important, and it furthers our friendship. It shows really how closely we're aligned. In my home state, again, I said that tourism is number one, only right in front of agriculture. And so very, very big similarities I see. And so I'm glad that both my state and this country prioritize what really showcases history."
But Caracol is located about 5 miles from the Guatemalan border, and with tensions increasing, safety is a major factor.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture "I think we have had in place for a very long time a very good security structure to ensure that those who come across the border are not doing too much damage to the site. Some of that is happening, and we always have to be very concerned about that. The wider Chiquibul, as you will appreciate, is a massive, massive area of land and that's much more difficult for us to manage, much more difficult for us to really control and patrol effectively. So we're always looking for better ways of security management of the area. In the Chiquibul, as you know, we've had a long history of people coming in, cutting down the trees, gold panning, and a lot of incursions into our territory. So it's an ongoing challenge, but we work collaboratively-as I said, BDF, police, FCD, Institute of Archaeology, NICH-we all work together to do our best to try to protect and preserve this area."
And because it was his first visit to Caracol, we had to ask the Ambassador's opinion:
Andre Bauer, US Ambassador to Belize "I see why it's such a jewel and a gem now. I can't wait to get to walk to the top and see the views. But it really... it's hard to put in words how spectacular this is."
"This is clearly a jewel. When you talk about the jewel, this is a jewel, and I am so excited to get to be here today."
Turning now to statistics on the national economy, the Statistical Institute of Belize has finalized the numbers for Belize's 2025 GDP. The preliminary number they released showed 2.75% growth, but the final number is 2.9%.
Here's more from today's press briefing:
Christopher Hulse, Statistician "Looking at the annual for 2025, goods and services produced this year total 5.3 billion dollars-this is an increase of 150.6 million or 2.9% when we compare it to the 5.194 billion in 2024."
"Primary sector for 2025 total 529.9 million dollars, which is an increase of 5.8%. The secondary sector total 716.3 million dollars and saw a contraction of 4.1%. Tertiary was 3.402 billion dollars, an increase of 3.7%, and taxes was at 696.6 million dollars, an increase of 4.6%."
In his March budget speech, the Prime Minister said GDP growth would be 1.9%.
Turning now to the 2026 GDP, the numbers for the second quarter were presented today. It shows modest growth of 1.4%:
Christopher Hulse: "The second quarter of 2026 saw an increase of 1.4% as we saw contractions within the primary and secondary sector-primary at 6.1% decrease, secondary at 6.4% decrease, with the services sector showing growth at 3.4%. Again, the drivers for growth were the retail and wholesale trade industry, taxes, public administration, and the other services industry."
"Looking at sugar cane in Quarter 2 of 2026, production total 920.6 thousand metric tons-this is a 4.4% increase compared to the 881.7 thousand metric tons in Quarter 2 of 2025, which is just an effect of the better handling of the fusarium that affected the previous year."
"For marine exports overall, we saw an increase of 33.6% as we observe increase for shrimp, whole fish, and lobster meat within this quarter compared to Quarter 2 of 2025."
"We can look at tourist arrivals, where overnight saw a decrease of 1.2%; however, this was offset by cruise going up by 29%."
And the most striking number from today's presentation was the merchandise trade deficit through the first half of the year. It's over a billion dollars as imports reached record numbers and exports continued to decline:
Tiffany Vasquez, Statistician "Merchandise imports for the first eight months of this year totaled 2.207 billion dollars. That's an increase of 15.8% or 301.5 million when compared to imports for that same period last year."
"Domestic exports have been declining for years. If we focus just on recent years, say within the past five years, one can say there has been somewhat of a leveling in 2023 and 2024. But in general, after a brief rebound in 2022, we have resumed the path of decline."
"Belize total exports for the periods January to August 2026 amounted to 272.8 million dollars-that's a decrease of 14% or 44.6 million dollars from exports of last year, where earnings within the period totaled 317 million dollars. Sugar and citrus products declined most notably of all exported commodities."
"For the first half of 2026, merchandise imports continue to rise while exports remained relatively stable, resulting in a wider merchandise trade deficit of about 1.2 billion dollars."
"By January to August 2026, imports reached approximately 2.2 billion dollars, the highest level in the series."
The numbers were also presented on inflation, which has been higher than usual this year. Here's more:
Jaime Crespo, Statistician "Inflation was at 3.9% in August 2021, and then it rose shortly to a peak of 7.4% in August 2022. Since then, inflation generally trend downward throughout 2023 to 2025; however, during the first eight months in 2026, inflation went up and currently stands at 4.4% in August of this year."
"So for the first eight months in 2026, when compared to the same period in 2025, the cost of goods and services purchased by households increased by 2.9% on average."
The Embassy of Japan has donated seven fire trucks to the Belize National Fire Service, through a partnership with the Ministry of Disaster Risk Management.
The donation is valued at 1.3 million Belize dollars, and the fire trucks are set to arrive in-country by the end of the year.
In a release issued by the Embassy of Japan in Belize, it disclosed that the fire trucks will be assigned to Corozal, Orange Walk, Belize District, Cayo, and Stann Creek.
Within the Belize District, the vehicles will support fire response in Belize City, Ladyville, and Caye Caulker, while the Cayo allocation will serve Belmopan and the Stann Creek allocation will serve Dangriga.
Along with the donation, the embassy also provided training for Belizean fire personnel, which will commence in January of 2027.
Authorities have seized 1,086 market-cleaned conch following a joint maritime patrol by the Belize Coast Guard's Second Fleet and the Belize Fisheries Department at Sanbore Caye, Lighthouse Reef Atoll, on September 29, 2026.
During the patrol, officers discovered two ice boxes containing 282 and 804 processed conch, respectively. The total catch was secured as evidence, and the matter was referred to the Belize Fisheries Department for further action.
Tonight, there are credible reports of diesel fuel rationing in Belize. Those reports say buyers in some regions will be limited to 10-gallon purchases.
The tanker is reported to be arriving Friday, so supplies should normalize by Saturday.
And while there is rationing in Belize, there is relief in neighboring Guatemala.
President Bernardo Arevalo today signed into law a decree granting temporary tax exemptions on fuel to protect consumers and commercial sectors from rising energy costs. The new measure will take effect on October 1, 2026, and remain active through December 31, 2026. The decree temporarily waives both the Petroleum Distribution Tax and the Value Added Tax on regular gasoline, premium gasoline, diesel, and commercial gas oil.
Notably, the legislation explicitly prohibits exporting, re-exporting, or transporting any tax-exempt fuel out of Guatemalan national territory-a rule which would seem to have direct implications for cross-border traffic between Melchor de Mencos and Benque Viejo del Carmen.
The Vital Statistics Unit is offline, and here's why.
An announcement this evening says the Civil Registry Department and Vital Statistics Unit has temporarily taken its Civil Registry and Vital Statistics system offline after unauthorized access was detected during routine maintenance.
The department says the decision was made following technical advice and as a security measure, allowing technical teams to conduct a detailed assessment of the system. The assessment will continue throughout the weekend, with the system targeted for restoration on Monday, October 5, 2026, subject to the completion of security checks and validation.
In the meantime, members of the public can visit the VSU main office in Belize City or district offices for information and guidance, although services requiring access to the CRVS system will remain temporarily unavailable. The department says further updates will be issued as verified information becomes available.
If you have been waiting to find out what happens to "Itzel" from The Jade Necklace trilogy written and illustrated by Ian Gibson, you won't have to wait any longer, because today he officially released The Lord of the Underworld, the second book in his series after The Land of the Night Sun. Jomarie Lanza spoke with him at the launch today, which was swarmed by schoolchildren.
Students in Belmopan and Orange Walk are one step closer to state-of-the-art learning spaces tonight.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology has broken ground on two new STEAM Pavilions at Belmopan Comprehensive School and Bishop Martin High School.
Funded through the "Skills for the Future" initiative, the project expands hands-on training in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.
We begin in Cayo for highlights from Belmopan Comprehensive's groundbreaking:
Hon. Ramon Cervantes - Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Science & Technology "As one of the largest secondary schools in the country and as an education upliftment school and E-UP school this school serves as significant and diverse student population and with that comes an equally significant responsibility to ensure that our young people have access to the kind of education and facilities that prepare you for the world ahead. That is what this STEAM Pavilion project represents. We are creating spaces where students can move beyond simply learning about, science, technology and innovation just from text books to actually experiencing them."
Uzias Guerra, Student Belmopan Comprehensive School "This moment represents the beginning of an exciting, opportunity for the students to engage in a modern environment that promotes creativity , innovation, collaboration and discovery. I would like to express my sincere and more genuine appreciation to all the partners these leaders and individuals who dedicated and whose support have helped to make this vision and actual living reality."
Korah Dunn, Student, Belmopan Comprehensive School "Knowledge was the first of humanities pursuits, the need for knowledge is what pushes you it drives, it controls it guides. Knowledge is a necessity for life but building that knowledge effectively should be chosen selectively. The hands on learners, the engineers who connect with the physical, who thrive on connection and motion, the readers and the writers, the poets, the scholars and the philosophers, they give meaning to what is often overlooked."
Meanwhile, in Orange Walk, construction is already well underway at Bishop Martin High School.
Once complete, that facility will feature a fully equipped science lab, a modern recording studio, and an engineering maker space designed for student innovation.
Here is a look at the ceremony in Orange Walk:
Angel Leiva, Principal, Bishop Martin High School "Works started about 2 weeks ago and I am so happy that this project is coming to fruition I think it was back in 2023 when Ms Yolanda Gongora informed me that our school had been chosen as the school in the Orange walk district to be one of the STEAM hubs, a STEAM Pavilion and it is ocming to pass. What this STEAM pavilion is going to do to Bishop Martin high school is going to transform our school we have always been a school that prides itself in accomplishments especially in Science having won several…."
"The Science fairs nationally and Bishop Martin high school has won about 3 or 4 of them."
Juel Neal, Bishop Martin High School "This Pavilion is more than building, it represents opportunities, innovation, creativity and possibilities it will give us a space to explore new ideas, solve problems, work together, discover talents that can help us make a difference in our community and beyond."
Ministry officials say both facilities are expected to open to students later this school year.
Coastal residents across Belize are coping with elevated water levels this month as the annual "King Tides" season is in high gear.
Driven by the Moon reaching its closest orbital point to Earth, water levels are swelling far past normal high-water marks. The result? "Sunny day" flooding occurs in low-lying areas when the high tides arrive.
Belize City's coastal communities are seeing saltwater push into roads and storm drains during peak tides.
Elevated tides will persist in cycles through mid-October.
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"We were surprised that he brought up this issue and mentioned it in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, and the right of reply established in the Assembly's rules of procedure was used to give a response."
John Briceno, Prime Minister
Well, maybe that story was just wishful thinking, because Arevalo doubled down on his country's official position today. And also doubling down today was the Special Envoy herself.
Two men have been fined after pleading guilty to uttering false documents, following the discovery of fake Belize driver's licenses they allegedly purchased from individuals who promised to obtain the documents through an expedited process.
The Public Service Union has formally challenged the appointment of Abelardo Mai Jr. as Acting Director of the Belize Solid Waste Management Authority, alleging that established hiring protocols were bypassed to favor a politically connected candidate over experienced public officers. Mai Jr. is the son of Hon. Jose Mai Sr., PUP Area Representative for Orange Walk South.
Effective November 1st, Tropic Air will close its doors in Punta Gorda. The company announced it today in a press release, which immediately raised alarm in Toledo's tourism and business sectors.
"It's not only about tourism. I know that a large part of it has to do with tourism, but imagine no airline flying into PG. Think of the health risks that people having an emergency... yesterday I was on the airline with a lady who could not take the road to PG, so she had to take the airline. What would happen to people like this? People ship out vegetable from PG to Belize City and elsewhere, fish and other products on the airlines, so I just find it that this is like a 7.5 magnitude earthquake that hit PG and the Toledo District in a way, because this is... and this is something that can be avoided, so we are definitely calling on the Government of Belize to intervene and do something."
And we also spoke with the BTIA Toledo Chapter's Secretary, who told us they were completely blindsided. She explained that they will hold a public meeting tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. and are inviting not just tourism stakeholders but the entire community to attend:
"We have been aware that the airstrip would be closed for an upgrade, and as tourism stakeholders, we were very excited that we were getting a new runway. But yesterday, we found out that Tropic would be ceasing all operations in Toledo, and to be honest, we were totally blindsided. This is going to be a devastating impact on our already struggling tourism product. If we are honest, we have never really bounced back since COVID days, and connectivity is huge. We are a wonderful district with many wonderful tourism destinations, but getting passengers here is key to that market."
The US Government is making its biggest investment in cultural preservation yet, with the Caracol Archaeological Reserve receiving the U.S. Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation investment in conservation.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture
Dr. Melissa Badillo, Director, Institute of Archaeology
Andre Bauer, US Ambassador to Belize
"I think we have had in place for a very long time a very good security structure to ensure that those who come across the border are not doing too much damage to the site. Some of that is happening, and we always have to be very concerned about that. The wider Chiquibul, as you will appreciate, is a massive, massive area of land and that's much more difficult for us to manage, much more difficult for us to really control and patrol effectively. So we're always looking for better ways of security management of the area. In the Chiquibul, as you know, we've had a long history of people coming in, cutting down the trees, gold panning, and a lot of incursions into our territory. So it's an ongoing challenge, but we work collaboratively-as I said, BDF, police, FCD, Institute of Archaeology, NICH-we all work together to do our best to try to protect and preserve this area."
Christopher Hulse, Statistician
"The second quarter of 2026 saw an increase of 1.4% as we saw contractions within the primary and secondary sector-primary at 6.1% decrease, secondary at 6.4% decrease, with the services sector showing growth at 3.4%. Again, the drivers for growth were the retail and wholesale trade industry, taxes, public administration, and the other services industry."
"Merchandise imports for the first eight months of this year totaled 2.207 billion dollars. That's an increase of 15.8% or 301.5 million when compared to imports for that same period last year."
"Inflation was at 3.9% in August 2021, and then it rose shortly to a peak of 7.4% in August 2022. Since then, inflation generally trend downward throughout 2023 to 2025; however, during the first eight months in 2026, inflation went up and currently stands at 4.4% in August of this year."
The Embassy of Japan has donated seven fire trucks to the Belize National Fire Service, through a partnership with the Ministry of Disaster Risk Management.
Authorities have seized 1,086 market-cleaned conch following a joint maritime patrol by the Belize Coast Guard's Second Fleet and the Belize Fisheries Department at Sanbore Caye, Lighthouse Reef Atoll, on September 29, 2026.
Tonight, there are credible reports of diesel fuel rationing in Belize. Those reports say buyers in some regions will be limited to 10-gallon purchases.
Students in Belmopan and Orange Walk are one step closer to state-of-the-art learning spaces tonight.
Hon. Ramon Cervantes - Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Science & Technology
"This moment represents the beginning of an exciting, opportunity for the students to engage in a modern environment that promotes creativity , innovation, collaboration and discovery. I would like to express my sincere and more genuine appreciation to all the partners these leaders and individuals who dedicated and whose support have helped to make this vision and actual living reality."
"Knowledge was the first of humanities pursuits, the need for knowledge is what pushes you it drives, it controls it guides. Knowledge is a necessity for life but building that knowledge effectively should be chosen selectively. The hands on learners, the engineers who connect with the physical, who thrive on connection and motion, the readers and the writers, the poets, the scholars and the philosophers, they give meaning to what is often overlooked."
Here is a look at the ceremony in Orange Walk:
Angel Leiva, Principal, Bishop Martin High School
Juel Neal, Bishop Martin High School
Coastal residents across Belize are coping with elevated water levels this month as the annual "King Tides" season is in high gear.
