Every athlete aspires to the honour of carrying their nation’s flag at the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony. However, few would want to be the one to choose which athlete should take on this prestigious role. For some countries, the decision is simple.
Four nations will still be represented by just one athlete each. Belize, Nauru, Somalia, and Liechtenstein may seem vastly different—spanning four continents, varied in size, and diverse in languages—but they share a unique distinction: their Olympic hopes rest solely on the shoulders of a single individual.
Despite their solitary status, each athlete’s journey is unique. Belize’s Shaun Gill and Nauru’s Winzar Kakiouea could face each other directly, both competing in the 100m sprint. Puntener and Kakiouea are making their Olympic debuts, while Hassan and Gill are returning for their second Games after competing in Tokyo 2020.
Gill, a recent engineering graduate from Texas A&M University, will find familiarity in the presence of over twenty fellow Texas A&M students also competing in Paris. Hassan, who has trained in Kenya and Ethiopia, may not be widely known among his peers but has demonstrated strong performances, including a recent seventh-place finish at the African Athletics Championship.
Kakiouea’s path to the Games is particularly remarkable. Representing Nauru, a tiny Pacific island nation, he embodies the spirit of determination and resilience. His journey serves as a testament to the power of individual commitment and the unyielding pursuit of excellence.
Joseph Ryan Budna has been charged with abetment to murder in the matter related to the fatal stabbing of Armando Coy Cacao.
On Saturday, July 24, 2021, police responded to a report on Guyana Street in the San Martin Area of Belmopan. Upon arrival, they discovered the lifeless body of 50-year-old Armando Coy Cacao, a Guatemalan resident of Bethel Street, Belmopan City, with apparent stab wounds.
Investigations revealed that Coy Cacao was last seen around 5:30 p.m. on Friday, July 23, 2021, riding his bicycle in the San Martin Area. His body was later found by a passer-by.
The body was transported to the Western Regional Hospital, where Coy Cacao was pronounced dead.
Attorney Orson Elrington, also known as OJ, has been committed to stand trial for the charge of rape following a preliminary inquiry held this morning in Belize City.
Elrington’s attorney, Hubert Elrington, is expected to challenge the decision in the High Court. He told reporters, “The DPP has brought a case, right? And her first duty is to show that there is a difference between a crime and a non-crime. The magistrate must look at it and says if the evidence discloses a crime or the evidence discloses a non-crime, but she doesn’t even understand that that is the duty. So where do you go? You have to go to the high court.”
Meanwhile, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl Lynn Vidal, stated, We didn’t think that there was any likelihood that he would not have been committed to stand trial.” She says she looks forward to the defendant’s challenge in the high court.
On March 8th, Orson was charged with rape and granted bail of eight thousand dollars plus one surety.
According to reports, two women have alleged that Elrington raped them. In January, Police Commissioner Chester Williams informed reporters, “According to them, while on their way home, the attorney told them they would stop at his house for one final drink before he took them home. They agreed, and upon stopping at his house, they continued to drink and took some shots of tequila. One of the women said she drank to the extent that she could not recall what happened after leaving the nightclub until the next morning when she woke up in the nude beside the attorney, who was also semi-nude. Her friend, who was there with her, told her certain things. According to them, while they were at the house drinking, they began to become intimate, which led to him having sexual intercourse with them against their will. The next morning, when they went home, the woman from Belize City told her boyfriend what transpired, and he advised her to report the matter to the police.”
Investigators believe that 40-year-old Francisco Oscar Gutierrez murdered 36-year-old Solomon Peter Coleman. News Five has confirmed that Gutierrez, a resident of Belmopan City, has been charged with the crime of murder.
Coleman was shot dead on Thursday, May 30th, 2024. His body was discovered on Cemetery Road in Belmopan.
Andrew Muns, 32, has died from injuries sustained in a shooting incident that occurred on July 6 in Cotton Tree Village, Cayo. Muns and 41-year-old Clint Castillo were both shot following an altercation. Castillo was pronounced dead at the scene, while Muns was transported to the Western Regional Hospital.
On July 8, 2024, News 5 reported that the shooting occurred after a dispute among friends escalated into gun violence.
The altercation began on the night of July 6 when Castillo, who had been drinking with a group on the street, went outside to investigate a commotion. He was shot in the face and died at the scene. Muns, who was also present, was critically injured and paralyzed as a result of the shooting. He succumbed to his injuries today, 18 days after the incident.
The State of Emergency, which was declared on June 24, remains active in Cotton Tree through September. The suspected shooter has still not been apprehended, though 23-year-old Jamal Hyde has been charged for allegedly supplying the firearm.
The Ministry of Investment, through its Investment Policy and Compliance Unit (IPCU), has partnered with the Taiwan Technical Mission and the National Women’s Commission to launch an Animation Bootcamp for women and girls at the Belize City ITVET.
This bootcamp will take place in Corozal Town, Orange Walk Town, and Belize City, featuring six training sessions in Belize City: three in-person and three online. The programme aims to equip Belizean women and girls with fundamental skills in graphic art and animation, enabling them to create short animated films. These skills are increasingly sought after in industries such as film, television, gaming, advertising, and marketing.
After completing the training, participants will be encouraged to develop an original story and script to animate and share online, with the goal of creating original content that can eventually be copyrighted.
The Department of the Environment (DOE) is enhancing its national air quality monitoring program to bolster environmental stewardship. This year, the DOE has expanded its passive ambient air quality monitoring to all six districts, including Belize City, Orange Walk Town, and Belmopan City, to collect baseline data on nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide, and ground-level ozone.
In 2023, the DOE installed a Dust Sentry Pro-active air quality monitoring device at its Belmopan City office to monitor particulate matter, which can cause respiratory issues. Building on this initiative, the DOE, supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Climate Promise Project, has acquired an AEROQUAL AQM 65 system. This cutting-edge equipment will be installed in the Valley of Peace Community and will measure particulate matter sizes 1μm/m³, 2.5μm/m³, and 10μm/m³, as well as key gases such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and sulfur dioxide. This new system will provide real-time data on a 24-hour basis.
The real-time data generated by these systems will soon be accessible to the public through a Belize Weather app, set to be launched by the National Meteorological Service.
Today, a training session is being held for key agencies, including the Ministry of Health, Pesticides Control Board, University of Belize, and the National Biodiversity Office. Experts from ITS Technologies, the manufacturer of the AEROQUAL AQM 65 system, are conducting the training on installation, operation, and maintenance to ensure optimal functionality and reliability.
The national air quality monitoring program, through both active and passive monitoring, aims to provide critical information to the public and decision-makers about ambient air quality to protect human health and ecosystem function. This data will be particularly valuable during periods of heavy smoke that affect various districts during the dry season. This initiative aligns with Goal 8-Target 8.1.1 of Belize’s National Environmental Action Plan, aiming to establish a comprehensive ambient air quality monitoring network by 2026.
Minister Jose Abelardo Mai, alongside senior sector officials and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), convened at the 44th Regular Meeting of the IICA Executive Committee to address the strengthening of regional agrifood systems amidst global challenges. The two-day session was hosted at IICA Headquarters in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Minister Jose Abelardo Mai was recognised for his expertise and leadership, and was nominated Rapporteur at the 44th IICA Regular Meeting. Mai addressed critical issues, including the impact of migration on Belize’s agriculture. “Hurricanes damage our agrifood systems, but we must also talk about mass migration from the region, which leads to economic losses,” warned Belizean Minister José Abelardo Mai, who added the adverse effects of climate change, such as erratic rainfall and increased temperatures disrupting crop growth alongside a rise in pest and disease problems. According to Minister Mai, the spread of New World Screw Worms threatens Belize’s $90 million cattle trade with Mexico.
The meeting facilitated strategic collaborations, with Mai engaging in discussions on joint research and sustainable practices. Accompanied by CEO Servulo Baeza, Mai underscored Belize’s commitment to tackling regional agricultural challenges and supported the creation of the Hemispheric Fund for Agriculture Resilience.
An ordinary evening on Ambergris Caye turned into a harrowing ordeal when a man and a woman set off on a jet ski from Secret Beach. A large wave capsized the jet ski, leaving them stranded in open waters as night fell. The situation quickly worsened as strong currents separated them, forcing each to fend for themselves in the dark. The woman swam for hours, eventually finding a shallow area to stand. Meanwhile, the man drifted further into open waters. Fortunately, help arrived. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Two Ambergris Caye residents faced a great deal of misfortune on Wednesday evening out at sea when a large wave capsized their jet ski. Rolando Uh and Lenny Elias left Secret Beach on a jet ski at around four-thirty p.m. Dramatic video footage of the moment Uh was rescued by a joint patrol team, almost six hours after they left the shore, has surfaced on social media. Lieutenant Mark Choc and the joint patrol team deployed from the San Pedro Coast Guard Base after receiving a distress call.
Mark Choc
L.T.J.G. Mark Choc, Operations Officer, Belize Coast Guard
“At around twenty-two hundred hours, or ten p.m. yesterday, Wednesday twenty-fourth of July. The Belize Coast Guard Operations Center received a report of a possible distress situation of Secret Beach in San Pedro. The information we received was that a male person Mr. Rolando Oh who is the manager of Secret Beach Water Park along with a female companion Ms. Len Elias departed from Secret Beach around four thirty and they headed northwest from the area.”
The Coast Guard launched a search and rescue operation at around ten p.m. That is five hours after the individuals left Secret Beach on the jet ski. And, according to Lieutenant Choc, that was when they received the distress call.
LTJG Mark Choc
“Moments after the search was launched it was reported that around ten-twenty p.m. it was reported that the female, Ms. Len Elias was located.”
A group of San Pedro residents had launched their own search and rescue efforts. They rescued Elias near Prince Island, four nautical miles north of Secret Beach. She found shallow waters where she waited for help.
LTJG Mark Choc
“Reports was that she was heard screaming by a search team and she was found wearing a life jacket. Apparently, she had been swimming for the past three hours until she reached to a shallow area where she was able to stand.”
Search efforts to locate Uh continued. He was not found until eleven-thirty, one hour later. The joint patrol team found him drifting in open waters about three nautical miles north of Secret Beach.
LTJG Mark Choc
“Mr. Uh was found in the water floating and drifting. So, he was quickly recovered from the water and transported to safe harbor where he received medical evaluation. Based on the medical evaluation, both individuals were found to be in good health. The effects of the elements did not have an effect on them. This was due to the quick and effective response of the search and rescue team.”
According to the locations where both individuals were rescued, they drifted far apart and spent a great deal of time alone, hoping to be rescued. Unlike Elias, Uh did not have a life jacket, which means that he had no aid to assist in keeping him afloat. There are no official details on the amount of time that elapsed between the jet ski capsized and when both individuals were rescued.
LTJG Mark Choc
“Based on the information we received it was reported that both individuals were on the jet ski. However, there was a large wave that knocked them off the jet ski, causing them to lose control of the jet ski.”
Paul Lopez
How lucky are they today to be alive today, having been in the water for so long?
LTJG Mark Choc
“I will be very honest, survival in the water is difficult to achieve. After several hours in water, they could have been severely dehydrated and reach to a point of severe hyperthermia and leads to death. Again, we are thankful for the quick response of the search team. They were able to be located quickly and any prolonged search efforts after that would have more than likely led to something severe and even loss of life. Our main priority during search and rescue missions is to quickly locate the individual. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack. It is a very difficult task but collaborating with different agencies makes our effort a lot more easier like we did last night with the police.”
The mass migration of Central American nationals northward over the past several years has increased and taken on new, innovative methods. We’ve heard of the practice that migrants purchase two-way plane tickets to Belize, but upon arrival, they simply move to other countries in their attempt to reach the U.S. Some CARICOM nationals even use the privilege of free movement to travel to Belize, which makes it easier for them to reach the U.S. through Central America. Today, News Five’s Marion Ali sat down with the U.S. State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Eric Jacobstein, who said that Belize has been making significant strides to tackle the issue.
Eric Jacobstein
Eric Jacobstein, Dep. Asst. Sec., Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S State Dept.
“We’re grateful for Belize’s leadership on migration management in the region. Under the Los Angeles Declaration for Migration Protection, what we have right now is a really regional approach to migration, and Belize has stepped up as a key leader on this. In Washington in June of 2023, Belize and the United States co-hosted the ministerial meeting of the Los Angeles Declaration at the World Bank, which Secretary Blinken and your former foreign minister co-led. We recently had a meeting in Guatemala City on the Los Angeles Declaration at which your Foreign Minister Fonseca was present. And so we’re really grateful for Belize’s leadership on a number of fronts especially on lawful pathways through the regularization process, through temporary work programs, Belize has really stepped up in the region. And our feeling is that the United States has expanded lawful pathways more than any administration in decades, but our message is clear: that individuals should not take the dangerous journey north to the southwest border. And that’s why we feel it’s so critical to have lawful pathways, not just the United States, but to countries throughout the region.”
