During our interview with Moses “Shyne” Barrow, he accused those who support the Alliance for Democracy of corruption. He said that the Alliance wants to take over the U.D.P. and he went further to say that the real leaders of The Alliance are John Saldivar and Patrick Faber.
Moses “Shyne” Barrow
Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader, U.D.P.
“What is at play here is not the constitution of the UDP, is not dictatorship, it is ego, it is entitlement, it is all personal agendas, personal ambitions. And that is why those politicians, the Alliance for Corruption they are against me because I’m not a part of their cabal. I am not a part of their network that existed. Many of them are friends because they used to do their hustling and corruption together. I am not a part of that. And I represent change. I represent integrity. I represent justice. This is an era of politics where elected representatives will actually make sure that the people of this country are getting the goods and services that they deserve and they will not sell themselves to the highest bidder in the private sector and special interests. They want to steal the UDP. They want to overthrow the UDP. This is a failed coup d’etat. And this is not about constitutionality. This is not about any dictatorship. This is about the dictators in the alliance wanting to have control and power. In particular, John Saldivar, Patrick Farber, and they are merely using Tracy Panton as exactly what they say, interim. Even in the Alliance for Democracy Party, she is the interim, because the real leaders of the Alliance for Democracy Party are John Saldivar and Patrick Faber.”
Marion Ali, Reporter
“Do you get advice from former Prime Minister Dean Barrow?
Moses “Shyne” Barrow
“Yes, we speak.
Marion Ali “Does he agree with you, with what’s happening and the way you’re handling the Alliance?”
On Sunday, hundreds of U.D.P. supporters and party members gathered to participate in a convention hosted by the Alliance for Democracy under the U.D.P. The convention was to recall party leader Moses “Shyne” Barrow, which Panton says they successfully did. Barrow has described the convention as a farce, saying that it was a waste of time and money. But according to Taegar-Panton, the purpose of the convention was to unite the United Democratic Party.
Tracy Taegar-Panton, Area Representative, Albert
“That convention sought to do a couple of things. One, to convene it so we can hear the voices of the delegates of the party. And two hundred thirty-two delegates requested that the convention be convened. Two, to recall the former party leader, Shyne Barrow from his position of party leader. And we had two hundred eight delegates who triggered that recall. And we met the threshold and at the convention the party leader was recalled. Three hundred forty-seven delegates voted. Three hundred thirty-four in favor of the recall and thirteen against the recall. And the third objective of the convention was to deal with the business of the party. What would be our platform, the need for constitutional reform was the big one. Also where we stand on women and youth and economic development and all those the policy platform committee, which would have to be working now in preparation for the next elections because it requires quite a bit of consultation with with our supporters and members of the social partners, et cetera. And of course the last motion of the day was to seek the consensus, if you will, of the people. The National Convention as it relates to who is the leader of the position in the house. So that business was conducted on and on behalf of the United Democratic Party.”
Following the U.D.P. convention on Sunday, participants have expressed their views on the legitimacy of the event and the removal of Moses “Shyne” Barrow as party leader. This raises the question of the future of the building on Youth for the Future Drive, which has long served as the U.D.P. headquarters. The Albert Area Representative, who was named interim party leader at the convention, stated in an interview with News Five that the building is not the U.D.P. but rather the people.
Marion Ali
“The headquarters and the elected executive, as they were, are still in control of the UDP headquarters. So in terms of getting the business off the ground.”
Tracy Taegar-Panton, Area Representative, Albert
“There’s a there’s a fixation, I believe, on this building. The institution as I maintain is not a building. The people represent the institution. If you talk about that workspace, I have a workspace, Patrick has a workspace. Our chairperson has a workspace. If we’re looking at the workspace, I know the headquarters may be symbolic in terms of the institution, but it’s not the institution and we will give it no greater importance than that.”
Today, six Belizean prisoners appeared before the High Court to contest the parole board’s decision to deny them parole. The inmates, who were convicted of serious crimes such as manslaughter, murder, and kidnapping, argue that the board’s decision was unconstitutional, as it failed to follow the legal mandate to assess whether their release would pose a public safety risk. Leslie Mendez, their attorney, explained after the court session that the parole board did not properly address this key consideration.
Leslie Mendez, Attorney-at-law
“The parole did not make its decision according to the law and the considerations that they ought to have taken into account. So what we say and what the cases say, and in fact what the Caribbean Court of Justice has said, that when you’re determining whether or not to grant parole, the question is whether or not the prisoner continues to pose a threat to public safety. And in this case, we’re seeing that the parole board did not take that, or did not answer that question, really, when it decided to deny parole.”
Reporter
“All the prisoners would have because it’s parole, completed their time served, time allotted. And they have had good behavior and so in prison to warrant parole?”
Leslie Mendez
“Right. So again sentences in Belize and what the case is established, as I mentioned, are served in two parts. Basically, the first part is your non-parole period. And sometimes the judge sets that or the parole acts as that. But after you have served that non-parole period where you can absolutely not be released, you have to remain confined. The next part of the sentence is a security period where you remain confined. If you continue to pose a threat to public safety, it’s a very specific question that must be answered by the parole board in order to for them to determine whether to deny you parole.”
The six prisoners who appeared in court argue that they do not continue to pose a threat to public safety and can be reintegrated into society with adequate supervision. Their defence attorney, Leslie Mendez, told reporters that the purpose of the trial is to review the decision of the parole board to deny the prisoners, with the goal of coming to a new decision, having made the adequate risk assessments.
Leslie Mendez, Attorney at Law
“The submissions were concluded today, but what the court did is that the court heard us, she has all our written submissions as well, all our authorities, but the court asked that we come back in November because the court wants to have time to review the written submissions, and then basically continue the discussion, have further submissions before the court. We’re not here for the court to grant parole or not. We’re here to review the decision of the parole board. So all of that evidence of good behavior or bad behavior would have been presented to the parole board. At this point what we’re telling the court is that based on what was before the parole board, there was no reason to deny them parole because none of them have established a real risk that they continue to present a threat to public safety. And so what should obtain now is their re-integration into society but supervised.”
Eight claimants, including Anwar Barrow, Aquity Holdings Limited, and six other companies, have filed a constitutional claim against the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Attorney General. The claimants allege that the FSC misapplied a merger fee during the consolidation of thirteen companies. They are also challenging the FSC’s policy requiring domestic companies with foreign shareholders to pay for services in U.S. dollars. The claimants argue that these actions violate their constitutional rights to legal protection and protection from discrimination. We spoke with Hector Guerra, one of the attorneys representing the claimants, for more details.
Hector Guerra
Hector Guerra, Attorney-At-Law
“This claim emerged because Aquity Holdings Limited was engaging a merger of thirteen different companies and was required each company that participated in that merger was required to pay a fee. Aquity’s primary grievance is that that was not required under the Company’s Act. It is also alleging other things, for example, when the Company’s Act was passed in 2022 it introduced various new requirements. These included the need for companies, domestic companies with foreign shareholders, even CARICOM shareholders to file documents through what is called a registered agent. It also required companies with foreign shareholders to make payments using U.S dollars. So, the companies are saying, what that amounts to is discrimination, in that we are all Belizean companies but you are putting additional burdens on me to operate in the Belizean market that companies who have solely Belizean shareholders are not required to do. So that is in a nutshell what the claim is about. It really to benefit the financial service area in Belize, because it has been a matter that has been raised repeatedly but it has not been properly litigated. So, what we are saying is this litigation will inure to the benefit of the financial services market.”
Police are investigating a case of attempted murder that occurred on Tuesday night in Belize City. At around eight forty-five p.m., forty-eight-year-old Mary Flowers was exiting the residence of her former partner on Santa Barbara Street when suddenly she heard two loud bangs. Flowers reported feeling a sudden sensation in her neck and started bleeding. After Flowers fell to the ground in pain, Smith rushed to her aid and transported her to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Police canvassed the area and found no expended shells; however, the neighbouring house was also found with gunshot damage on the side, and one slug was retrieved from that specific area. Police have reviewed surveillance footage and spoken to several people in the area as their investigation continues.
Fifty-one-year-old Cecil Franklin was remanded today on a charge of rape after he allegedly raped a woman inside her apartment. The victim told police that Franklin, whom she knew and who goes by the nickname “GI Joe,” ambushed her at her apartment door, placed a knife at her throat, forced her inside, and raped her on her bed. With the help of someone in the area, the rapist was detained shortly after the incident and was handed over to police. Franklin, a shoe repairman and bike repairman, was denied bail because of the nature of the charge. The fifty-eight-year-old woman told police that on Monday night around eight-forty p.m., she arrived at her apartment, and upon opening her door, Franklin held her from behind, placed a knife to her throat, and pushed her into the apartment and raped her. She said that a neighbour heard the commotion inside her apartment and called the police. Franklin is no stranger to the court or police. He has a long rap sheet with several convictions for robbery, wounding, and burglary and has also been bound over to keep the peace before. He was remanded to the Belize Central Prison until December nineteenth.
A security guard of Ambergris Caye has been fined four hundred dollars for slapping his common-law wife. Forty-year-old Jose Garcia was arraigned in the magistrate’s court today and admitted to slapping Norma Noh twice. The incident happened on Saturday at their residence thirteen miles north of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. In the absence of a magistrate in San Pedro on Tuesday, Garcia was brought to the Belize City Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of harm. He expressed remorse and told the court that he should have thought before reacting. The magistrate told Garcia that while he saved court time by pleading guilty early, the fact that he slapped Noh not once but twice was an aggravating factor. Since he is a first-time offender, however, and because he expressed remorse, she did not impose a custodial sentence. In a report to police, Noh stated that at around four o’clock Saturday evening, she left work and got a ride on a golf cart, and Garcia met her, and they headed home. According to Noh, they got into an argument, and that’s when Garcia assaulted her. A doctor has classified her injuries as harm, and Noh requested court action against Garcia. He was given until December twentieth to pay the fine; in default, he’ll spend three months behind bars.
What if there was a way for your money to earn interest or dividends outside of a traditional savings account? Many Belizeans place their hard-earned money in savings accounts, earning up to two percent annually at banks or up to four percent at credit unions. However, those savings could also be invested in securities that offer competitive, often higher, interest rates. In this week’s installment of Five Point Breakdown, News Five’s Paul Lopez explores Belize’s securities industry in detail.
Paul Lopez
Paul Lopez
Let’s talk about securities. And no, we are not talking about home security or business security. We are talking about a financial instrument that has monetary value and can be traded. Let’s look at how this industry is reshaping the financial sector in Belize.
1). What are Securities?
We sat down with Economic Consultant Rumel Arana for an explanation of the securities industry.
Rumel Arana
Rumel Arana, Economic and Financial Consultant
“Securities are generally of two types; you have debt securities and equity securities. Equity securities represent an ownership stake in a business or however is giving that security. People of Belize might recognize that in the form of shares or stocks. The return people get from those comes in the form of dividends. So, when dividends are declared by the business at the end of the year, you as the shareholder receive and amount depending on the percentage or the amount of shares that you own.”
The Belize Telemedia Limited is one entity that deals in equity securities. Recently the telecome giant issued a public notice informing shareholders that the company will begin to pay final dividends for the 2023/2024 fiscal year. And then there is debt securities.
2). What are Debt Securities
It is called debt security, because the issuer is essentially a borrower. The investor does not receive shares in return but rather a stream of annual interest payments. For further explanation, we turned to the Belize City Council. They have issued bonds in the past to advance their development operations.
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
“It empowers you as a municipality that you are now able to access funding outside of the traditional way of how municipalities use to access finance. They would either do an overdraft. They would either do loans. But what we found out is that the Belize City investment climate is ripe for issuing securities. We have close to eight hundred million in excess liquidity in the banking system. For Belize City we offer interest rates on our bonds, between four-point five percent and five and a half percent. That is competitive compared to the market. It helps us fund roads, streets, bridges. That is what it does for municipalities.”
3). Regulating Belize’s Securities Industry
And every effective securities industry needs a regulatory body. That is where the Financial Services Commission (FSC) comes into play. At its core, the FSC is mandated to protect and enhance the reputation of Belize as a financial centre while protecting investors from unfair and fraudulent practices. Guided by the Financial Services Commission Act, the Securities Commission Act, and the Municipal Securities Act, FSC’s Securities Policy Analyst, Shawn Gordon, further explained the role of the FSC.
Shawn Gordon
Shawn Gordon, Securities Policy Analyst, FSC
“A large part of our mandate as the securities regulator is to ensure that investors are well protected at all times. So really, if you have an entity or a company that wants to conduct securities business, they must be registered to do so within our jurisdiction. We need to ensure that one, the company and also the personnel involved are fit and proper or even qualified to do so in our jurisdiction. We also regulate offerings, so for example, the Belize City Council bonds. Typically, when an officer wants to put something to the market, the have to get the approval from the commission, the security regulator. So, typically how that works they have to submit a prospectus, a document that has all the material you as an investor need to make an informed decision.”
4). The Future of the Securities Industry
Belize has the components necessary to expand the market for securities to be issued, which is also known as a primary securities market. But there is a next step in the process where these previously issued securities can be bought and sold by investors. This is referred to as a secondary market. The stock exchange market is an example that does not currently exist in Belize.
Rumel Arana
“At the stock exchange, you need several things that happen before that. You need underwriters, investors, what we call a central securities deposit. We can’t hold them all in terms of the physical certificate. If I want to trade, that would be harder. I would have to walk with my certificate to you and say here this is worth ten thousand dollars, purchase this from me and you hand me ten thousand dollars, you know the risk involved in that. So you need central security, institutions and an economy that is ready for it. If you are being honest the average Belizean household is making ten thousand dollars or less, so that doesn’t give them disposable income to make that purchase.”
5). Become A Smart Investor
So, until then, the key takeaway for potential investors is that opportunities exist to earn passive income outside of the banking system through securities investments. But, as FSC’s Securities Policy Analyst, Shawn Gordon, explained, every potential investor must always do his or her due diligence.
Shawn Gordon
“The key thing here is to ensure that investors are doing their part, their own due diligence. So, if you are seeing an advertisement from a firm, whoever it is, domestic or international, you must always doublecheck with the commission via our website or simply send us an email to ensure that entity is registered to carry out securities business.”
