Importers of diesel fuel and biodiesel will pay a standard tax for petroleum oil, following the passage of a new piece of legislation in the National Assembly. On Friday, the Briceño administration introduced and read through the bill in the House of Representatives. According to Prime Minister John Briceño, the reason for the tax being applied evenly is because there are no facilities in the country that can test regular diesel from biodiesel.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“The practical effect is that all diesels are going to be paying the same tax because somebody could be bringing in real diesel and seh da biodiesel and they have no way of knowing that. You would have to take that, I am told that it has to be sent to El Salvador to be able to test here. So, for practical reasons, it just means that all, any fuel that’s called diesel will pay the same tax. In this case, Puma that already has an established network and services that they provide to Belize.”
A Belmopan resident died after being held in police custody for four days. He is twenty-six-year-old Daniel Cal. A postmortem was conducted on his body today. The examination concluded that Cal died from widespread inflammation in the lungs and chronic alcoholism. His family alleges that he was abused at the hands of police officers while in custody at the Belmopan Police Station. There were clear signs of injuries on his body. On Friday, the Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa said that Cal was suffering from seizures while in custody. But Cal’s family denies he had any history of seizures. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Twenty-six-year-old Belmopan Resident, Daniel Cal died at the Western Regional Hospital after being in police custody for four days. According to reports, he was detained on the evening of September sixth, allegedly being in possession of a stolen motorcycle. He was held inside a cell at the Belmopan Police Station. Four days later, on Tuesday September tenth, his family made a horrifying discovery.
Cynthia Chiac
Cynthia Chiac, Sister of Deceased
“When my mother and my sister met my brother he was already on the ground. His hands were all pale. His eyes were already in. The police, Sergeant Moody, told my mother that my brother was in the cell and that my sister and my mother should be the one to go get him and bathe him and then after that they still have the audacity to tell my mother, that they should wash the cellblock. None of the police officer wanted to go help them. So, everything, how they pick up him, my mother and sister were the one who bathe him. They actually went into the cell block and that is when they found my brother lying, just with boxers, had no clothes, nothing on.”
Cal’s family tried to see him on several occasions that weekend when they visited the station to take clothing and food for him. They were reportedly told to leave the items and that they would not be allowed to see him. Furthermore, Cal was to be arraigned at the Belmopan Magistrates Court on Monday the ninth of September. His mother was waiting outside the courtroom, but police never showed up with him. After the discovery in the cell, Cal was rushed to the Western Regional Hospital.
Cynthia Chiac
“When we reached at the hospital that is when we saw bruises on his cheeks, his two legs, his hands. Then the bed had some blood and we were wondering, which part blood was coming out and that is when the big stitch on his head was there. We went to leave some, because he would usually ask for Electrolit. So, when my sister went they would just get the stuff and said they would give my brother. On Tuesday night we did find out, we even see that he was suppose to go on Monday at court. He did not went.”
On Friday, Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa told reporters that an investigation has been launched into the matter. He said that a review of surveillance footage reveals that there were no instances of police brutality while Cal was in custody. According to Minister Musa, Cal was suffering from bouts of seizures.
Kareem Musa
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
“From the information that I am receiving, it was seizures that he was suffering from and so he was again taken back to the hospital on Wednesday and I believe he passed away on Thursday. Because it was a case of not in-custody death, but shortly after being in custody, we have asked the NFSS to expedite the post mortem. I have been assured that that will be done on Monday. It is extremely important for the family to have some resolution as to the cause of death because, of course, the family their speculation, they are skeptical about what might have happened and so that is absolutely essential. I have also reached out to the Ministry of Health personnel to contact the doctors at the hospital that treated Mr. Cal when he was taken there on Monday, and thereafter taken there again on Wednesday for them to indicate whether Mr. Cal, during his time there at the hospital, had indicated anything to the doctors because I believe that there is some sort of insinuation that police might have hit him. But from the accounts that the police have provided so far, it seems that the knock on his head was as a result of the seizure he suffered.”
Today, a postmortem was conducted on Cal’s body. That examination concluded that the cause of death was Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome or respiratory failure caused by widespread inflammation in the lungs. The examination further reveals that chronic alcoholism also contributed to his death. Cal’s family contends that he did not have a history of seizures.
Cynthia Chiac
“Like I said, we want justice for my brother. My brother died in there. Police killed my brother. He did not have any medical, no seizures, no nothing. My brother was healthy, everything. My mother even had lunch with him on Friday. He was good. He had no bruises, nothing. Like they were saying he had seizure. If they knew my brother had that. We were there on Monday, my brother and sister, they were there the whole day waiting for him to go to court. He did not go. Why didn’t they let my family know that he was suffering from something, you know to let the family know.”
On Thursday, sixty-one-year-old Ubaldo Guzman died after being viciously chopped with a machete by a drinking companion. The incident occurred in Guzman’s home in Santa Elena Town, while he was drinking with Peter August. Reports are that the two engaged in an altercation during which Guzman allegedly attacked August with a machete. August claims that he only retaliated in self-defense, resulting in Guzman’s death. On September fourteenth, police formally arrested and charged August with manslaughter. On Friday, we spoke with Guzman’s niece, Shamira Badillo, who told us that she never knew her uncle to be aggressive in nature.
Britney Gordon
“Do you know him to be sort of an aggressive person? Or when he drinks, is he known to do anything like this?”
Shamira Badillo
Shamira Badillo, Niece of Deceased
“Well so far we not know him. I know sometimes, yes he used to tek his drinks but in an aggressive way? I never know about that.”
Britney Gordon
“So what are the next steps for the family as you guys grieve together? What are you hoping to come of this situation now?”
Shamira Badillo
“Well not sur. Right now we just waiting because his son just told me this morning that he always used to say the day he die he wants to be buried at San Fransisco Ranch. There my grandmother and grandfather is there too. So he she he will call cuz they are relative to us too. So he will call and ask permission.”
Britney Gordon
“As you guys process this together do you feel that you can depend and lean on each other to get through this difficult time.”
Shamira Badillo
“Yes it’s a united family. So I think all will go okay. He is resting but in a hard way.”
Earlier this month, Los Angeles firefighter, Gilbert Lightburn Junior, was remanded to prison until October thirtieth after an altercation at Shisha Nightclub resulted in him stabbing three people. Lightburn claimed that he was acting out of self-defense and that he had been robbed that night of his phone and other valuables. Acting upon information received on September ninth, police launched an investigation into forty-three-year-old police officer Hersel Garcia. Hersel was captured on surveillance footage attempting to pawn two fourteen-karat Miami Cuban link chains valued at thirty and twenty thousand dollars, as well as a seven thousand, five-hundred-dollar American Buffalo Indian Head Coin cased in fourteen-karat gold. Garcia was formally charged on September fourteenth with handling stolen goods.
A police operation in Orange Walk District this morning led to the discovery of eight hundred and seventy-five cannabis plants on a plantation. The officers descended on the farm shortly after four a.m. and carried out the operation. The plants they found measured between two and six feet in height. No one was found in the vicinity and the plants were uprooted and destroyed by fire.
Over the weekend and leading up to this morning, it appeared as if Belize City experienced a tropical storm that dropped at least four inches of rain fall. Streets across the city were flooded, but there has been little to no rain in sight for the past few days, in fact it has been extremely dry and hot. So, what explains the flooded streets? The speculations were that an unusually high tide came in and inundated the streets with water. Well, the National Hydrological Service is saying that the flooding is because of both the high tide and floodwaters swelling the banks of the Belize River and Haulover Creek. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Streets across Belize City have been inundated with water for the past three days. But there has been little to no rainfall. Sharon Gullap lives on Mex Avenue. She has lived at this exact location for several decades. She is now witnessing something she says she has not seen all her life.
Voice of: Sharon Gullap
Voice of: Sharon Gullap, Belize City Resident
“The water I coming up pretty high. It comes about four or five inches across the bridge. My neighbor over there, it is like about to go in her house. Over there, it is totally downstairs. The alley there, it is totally filled. They cant even walk through it. These are all new happenings for us, not just hightide. When Belize have floods or hurricanes, we know that happen. But, I have been here, many years, over sixty years and this is new happenings.”
When we arrived at Gullap’s home this morning, the water had receded partially. She placed a wooden pallet to access her property. She also had to clog some pipes to prevent flooding on the first floor. King Street, Dean Street, areas of Port Loyola and Belama all saw flooded streets and yards. Residents initially suspected that this was being caused by an abnormal high tide over the past three days. But the National Hydrological Service says otherwise.
Carmelita Blanco
Carmelita Blanco, Hydrologist, National Hydrological Service
“The flooding that is currently being experienced in Belize City is as a result of the riverine flooding since the Belize River is making its way naturally down the riverine system and emptying out into the Haulover Creek. So, all the areas that are along the Haulover Creek are the areas that are currently experiencing the flood.”
Paul Lopez
“There are some suggestions that it could be as a result of hightides, I don’t know if you are hearing that.”
Carmelita Blanco
“Yes, that is in the areas found more in the Marine Parade area. That is where the interaction with the hightides comes into play.”
According to Blanco, excess rainfalls experienced last week led to the Belize River reaching flood stage. She advises residents to continuously monitor the situation as they are unable to provide an exact time period for the river to return to its average height.
Carmelita Blanco
“So all this rain allowed the Mopan River, Macal River reach a bank full stage. As we know, the Macal and the Mopan River form the Belize River. So, all this water needs more space, more room for it to flow. So, since it has arrived at maximum capacity, that is what allows this overflow to take place. What I would advise residents is to continue monitoring the flood forecast that is being issued everyday.”
But for Sharon Gullap and her neighbors, this explanation may provide little to no sense of comfort. Her home is situated near the Belize City Pumping Station. Only last week, the street that runs parallel to hers, Myvett Street, was completely under water.
Sharon Gullap
“Since they did the streets everything started acting different, and since they put that thing there at Yabra it is a whole different thing cause this, I would want to blame it on that, because we never see it before. Give it two hours, it would be there, then it goes down and it comes back up. But we were not having any rain, but now we are going to have some rain, so I don’t know what is going to happen. I am sure climate change has a lot to do with a lot of what is happening, but this drainage, we need drains. I think Belize needs drainage. We don’t have drainage.”
Fifty years ago, British Honduras, now Belize, celebrated the country’s first ever gold medal on an international stage. The National Women’s Softball Team, now dubbed the “Golden Girls” were the ones to secure that medal at the twelfth Central American and Caribbean Games. The Golden Girls lost only one match in those games to Puerto Rico. Ironically, they faced off against Puerto Rico in the gold medal match and dominated. The Golden Girls returned home to a hero’s welcome at the international airport, a motorcade through the streets, and sports enthusiasts filling local stadiums to watch the Golden Girls in action. Half of a century later, they were honored as Belizean patriots. But how much does the nation know about and remember the Golden Girls? News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Half a century after the Golden Girls secured the country’s first gold medal in any sport on an international stage, the members of that historic women’s national softball team are being recognized as Belizean patriots. Fifty years ago, they were teenagers with their entire lives ahead of them. Five members of that team have since passed away. The surviving members have aged graciously. We sat down with International Hall of Fame Softball Pitcher Linda Lewis-Brown and her 1974 teammate, Deborah Theus- Sanchez.
Linda Lewis- Brown
Linda Lewis- Brown, Former Softball Athlete
“At that time when we went for that team, I was playing with Berger and she was playing with Guiness. Originally, both of us played for Guiness. We were junior players. We started when they had the Lynchs and the Budna, all the high players that use to go to Jamaica. We aspired to be the same.”
Lewis was sixteen years old at the time. Theus was nineteen years old.
Linda Lewis-Brown
“It was so competitive. The players that was selected really worked hard. We went to practice at four o’clock in the morning. We were working and going to school, and then in the evening and on the weekends my dad made sure I was on the road, the Cemetery Road. We were extremely fit at that time. And Jude Lizama, he is one of the previous coaches, he reminded me that preparing for these games we played against the men team.”
Before being selected for the national team, Lewis and Theus were rivals on the softball field. But, on the national softball team, they were encouraged to put aside their differences and egos to represent Belize. By the time the national selection travelled to the 1974 games in the Dominican Republic, they already had a reputation as one of the dominant teams in the region.
Deborah Theus- Sanchez
Deborah Theus- Sanchez, Former Softball Athlete
“They would take us to the park like two, three hours before the game. Those teams would be out there throwing ball, batting, running. We were not use to that. We use to get up in the morning practice, go in the evening practice. But we did not have those hours to be out there warming up. Mr. Lashley made a very important decision when he said, look ladies we are not going be out here with these people. Come out, observe what it going on and when it is time for us to play, we will do what we normally do.”
Fifty years later, they have a hard time remembering the exact statistics of each of the games played, except for the gold medal game. In that matchup against Puerto Rico’s national team, they won convincingly over their opponents, fourteen runs to two. News of Belize’s first international gold medal went across the Caribbean and made it back home before their return.
Linda Lewis-Brown
“To tell you the truth, from that day, until we landed, after we landed, the reception we got from the Belizean community was amazing. I could still remember coming at the airport, greeted by a lot of people at the airport. The next day we had a parade. The children were on the sidewalk. It was unbelievable.”
Deborah Theus- Sanchez
“The whole celebration thing was exciting. As a Belizean, it was the first time that you would see a mass of people coming out to see these people that won this gold. It was very exciting to be on that truck and everybody was waving. It was like the tenth of September. We were happy and excited about the parade itself.”
As Theus and Lewis explained, the Golden Girl brought the nation together as they travelled across different softball stadiums to play friendly matches and put their talent on full display. Only a few years later, they both migrated to the U.S.A, which was a common practice at the time for young Belizeans seeking out better opportunities. Today, Theus is enjoying her retirement back home. Lewis frequently travels back to Belize. On this occasion, she returned home to be honored at the Tribute to Belizean Patriots Award Ceremony.
Deborah Theus- Sanchez
“I was honored and humbled to be recognized in that way. But, at the same time I think the team was forgotten, because as an Olympic person I think that is etched in history in whatever country you go to. If you are an Olympian it should be etched in the history in not only the softball, but the entire country of Belize. That means, if you become a minister or something, you should have known about the Golden Girls, because we were the first. We put Belize on the map and I think we should have been recognized a little earlier than now. Even though it is done and we appreciate it. I would appreciate if it could be something that don’t wait until a hundred years to come back and say thank you for what we did, you know.”
Linda Lewis-Brown
“I want to give credit to the prime minister. He did say that this team, he recognize this team as the very first gold medal team. I was very impressed by the way he recognized us. Thinking of it, a lot of people have forgotten us, but in his speech he recognized us and he remembers us.”
The Belize Police Department has confirmed to News Five the cause of death of 26-year-old Daniel Cal. According to the Department, Cal died of “Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, pending histological and toxicological analysis. Other significant conditions contributing to his death included chronic alcoholism.”
The post-mortem examination, conducted on Monday, September 16, is still pending further histological and toxicological analysis to fully determine the circumstances surrounding his death.
Caal, who died shortly after being in police custody in Belmopan, was detained on September 6 for possession of a stolen motorcycle. While in lockup, he began experiencing seizures and was taken to the Western Regional Hospital for treatment. He was later released back into police custody, only to suffer more seizures, leading to a second hospital visit. Caal passed away on Thursday after being released from detention, leaving his family searching for answers.
An investigation is underway to determine the full circumstances of his mysterious death. Last week, Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa, addressed the concerns raised by Caal’s family, who are questioning whether he may have been mistreated while in custody. Musa acknowledged that there is speculation about a possible head injury, but emphasised that the police have reported the injury likely resulted from a seizure, not external force. He assured that further enquiries, including a review of Caal’s medical treatment, are ongoing, and has asked the National Forensic Science Service (NFSS) to expedite the results to provide the family with resolution.
Prime Minister John Briceño is scheduled to give the State of the Nation Address on Tuesday. An official media invitation was sent this afternoon. The Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Address is expected to begin at 9:30 a.m. It will be LIVE on News Five’s Facebook and Youtube online platforms and cable television.
Usually, the prime minister’s State of the Nation address is given during the Official Independence Day Ceremony in Belmopan.
On Monday, September 16, between 4:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., police officers carried out an operation in the Orange Walk District, leading to the discovery of a plantation containing 875 marijuana plants. The plants, measuring between 2 and 6 feet in height, were found without anyone present in the area. All the plants were uprooted and destroyed by fire.
