The Belize Defense Force has ramped up its presence along the Rio Hondo River to ward off cartel elements operating along Mexico’s southern border. The Belize Police Department is heading this operation. Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa and Minister of National Defense and Border Security Florencio Marin Junior recently conducted a tour of the security sites along the river. Earlier today, we spoke with Minister Marin who told us more about that visit.
Florencio Marin Jr.
Florencio Marin Jr. , Minister of National Defense
“Well you it has been in the news some time with the increase of cartel activities in the southern Mexican border, that we are concerned of it spilling on the Belize side. Hence the prime minister directed us to be able to work together. Of course this is law enforcement so it is a police led operation under Minister Musa, as his ministry. But it helps us to get a good perspective of what is happening on the ground, the challenges the policemen and soldiers face to be able to do their work effectively.”
Paul Lopez
“What role does the Belize Defense Force play in these joint ventures?”
Florencio Marin Jr.
“The Belize Defense Force are experts in patrolling, and they also have a river training, riverine training, so they bring that to the table. They bring firing support if needed and thankfully it is not needed today.”
And, if there are any questions of whether cartel elements have infiltrated the rank and file of the Belize Defense Force, Minister Marin says he has received no credible reports of such. He says that if any information arises, the matter will be dealt with swiftly. Furthermore, he noted that the B.D.F. undertakes certain measures to prevent such occurrences.
Florencio Marin Jr., Minister of National Defense
“So far I have not heard any such credible report. One of the things we do is, that is why the military is always changing their personnel, brining them from different places to bring some integrity to their work. But if anything would happen, we would like to know so that we can address it.”
Paul Lopez
“How open is Cabinet and your government in ensuring that they have all the resources they need?”
Florencio Marin
“Cabinet is extremely supportive. It is the prime minister who told us to make sure we safe guard the citizens up north with where we are right now, because if they put a foot hold then you know we will be in some problems. We have full support from the Cabinet and the prime minister.”
Paul Lopez
“How confident are you that we are able to hold at bay any potential or real threat?”
Florencio Marin
“It is an international effort and we are in contact with our Mexican counterparts and they as well, because it is affecting them. So they are putting in their proper safe guards and on the civilian side you see it affects business in Chetumal. They want to be able to assure us that Belizeans can continue to go to Chetumal and move around freely. And when they do their part and we do our part we are able to keep it down.”
And, during his trip to Mexico, Prime Minister John Briceño also spoke with President Lopez Obrador about border security issues, specifically the reported increase of cartel activities in southern Mexico. He told us how those discussions went, but also noted that the fight is not new to Belize. He says Belize has been tackling these border security issues in the north from day one.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“We spoke about many issues but certainly the issue with the threat from cartels is nothing new to us. We have been dealing with this. When I met Secretary of State Blinken, Secretary of Home Land, the Deputy of the CIA and all of the officials my message had been to them that we need help now that if we did not get help then we are going to have a totally different place. We have to do everything possible to keep out the organized crime from Mexico or the cartels. We do not have the money or the rootlessness they have and what is so ironic to me is that the Leader of the Opposition dares to criticize the government. I remember last year when we did a supplementary budget for about a million dollars to help us boost our presence in the north he was there criticizing that here we are coming for more money and now here he is saying we are not spending enough. I think he needs to get his act together. The point is that we have been fighting this from day one and we have been working on some plan, but this is not something you could invite the NGO and media and say hey this is what we are doing. This is national security.”
After a few postponements of the Senate Special Select Committee’s hearing, the inquiry resumed today at the National Assembly Building in Belmopan. The morning session presided over questions posed to Sunjay Hotchandani, a real estate businessman who said companies to which he is the director sold lands to Portico Enterprises Limited. We’ll share what Hotchandani had to say later in the newscast, but the brow-raising statements came during the afternoon session, when the developer of Port of Magical Belize, David Gegg, appeared before the panel. Flanked by his legal advisor, Andrew Bennett, Gegg opened up with a statement in which he said that despite his letter of March twenty-sixth to the Committee in which he said he would not appear because he was of the view that the Chair of the Committee was biased, he said he has had a change of heart because he felt that it is time that the facts be shared with the Belizean people. Gegg said that the idea for Portico was conceptualized in 2017.
David Gegg
David Gegg, Developer, Portico Enterprises Ltd.
“On launching Magical Belize in 2017, and after engaging with consultants in Miami and preparing a detailed business plan, I immediately engaged with the then Minister of State and Chair of the CSCI, Mrs. Tracy Panton. The first documented evidence was dated June 16th of 2017. Volumes of correspondence exist in that regard. In addition, there were several meetings with the CSCI in 2018, 2019, and in 2020 at which presentations were made that, among other things, justified our location over the others. These presentations and the supply of information generally were all prior to the signing of the Definitive Agreement. I also met with then Prime Minister Barrow, and it was he who instructed that an MOU be prepared and signed with the Government of Belize. That meeting was arranged by then Senator Duncan, acting as a financial advisor, and was also attended by Mrs. Karen Bevans, the Director of the BTB at that time. The meeting was held in the Whitfield Towers on Coney Drive, where the prime minister then had an office. The MOU, as we all know, was signed in September of 2017 by the then minister of Trade, Economic Development, Petroleum and Investments. Mr. Erwin Contreras and co-signed by Minister John Saldivar. The MOU was non-binding and states that it would be cancelled at any time, but either party without consequence period. There was never any discussion at any time about a cancellation of that MOU, but there were discussions in Cabinet on several occasions about the steps being carried out by Portico according to Erwin Contreras, who I have no doubt will collaborate on this. With our environmental studies in high gear and with the necessary steps being taken to ultimately secure the rights to develop Magical Belize, a team of senior executives from Boscales agreed to visit the country as a meeting had been arranged with then Prime Minister Barrow. That meeting took place on December 12th, 2019 at the Laing Building near to the Municipal airport as requested by the PM. That meeting, also attended by Senator Duncan, letters, plural, were delivered to PM Barrow by a senior Boscales representative. The primary letter was titled Cruise Terminal Magical Belize Equity Commitment Letter Proposal and was dated 3rd December, 2019. That letter indicated that Boscales was prepared to cover the full equity position of the financial requirements of the project. A second letter was also provided to Prime Minister Barrow which featured a list of European bankers providing references for Boscales. The NEAC meeting of August 28th had approved our environmental compliance. I could not believe it. I was over the moon. Please keep in mind that our draft definitive agreement had already been in circulation since June 1st to Ministers Panton and Peyrefitte, as well as to Minister Contreras. My elation was short lived a few days later when there was a suggestion that there may not have been a quorum at the meeting of August 28th. However, in that same meeting of the NEAC of August 28, they had also approved the EIA for the building of the Sartaneha Road, and an Environmental Compliance Plan was quickly prepared and signed. The local media had reported that partial funding for that project would come in the form of $100 million deposit that was to be made to a private New Yorker. account. In early September of 2020 and wanting to ensure that the government representatives understood the financial commitment which Boscales had provided, freshly dated letters to P.M. Barrow with copies to Tracy Panton and Erwin Contreras were delivered to the offices of those persons at their Belmopan locations. I personally delivered those letters. The letters, two different letters, once again contained the equity commitment by Boscaeis and the references from their European bankers. Those letters were, dated September 2nd, 2020, and I delivered them on or about September 4th in Belmopan. Having not heard from NEAC as regard the approval from Minister Panton or anyone else in the progress of the Definitive Agreement, I reached out to Minister Contreras for some guidance on how to proceed. He indicated that he needed to review the situation before he could commit to the DA, as he foresaw the environmental clearance being an issue. I immediately pointed out to him that the Definitive Agreement for Harvest Caye had been signed prior to their receiving environmental clearance. Mr. Minister Contreras said that he would seek advice and get back to me.”
Gegg said he instructed his attorney, David Morales, to draft up a letter to former PM Dean Barrow and copied to then Ministers Erwin Contreras, Michael Peyrefitte and Tracy Taegar-Panton. When Senator Bevington Cal probed Gegg on the role that former Minister of Economic Development, Erwin Contreras signing the document Definitive Agreement, and the authority he had to do so without further approval, Gegg said he didn’t think Contreras needed any, but he said key persons in the previous government, including the former Prime Minister knew about it.
Bevington Cal, P.U.P. Senator
“I know you said that Prime Minister Barrow – just to track back a bit – that Prime Minister Barrow, Honorable Panton, Erwin Contreras, all of these persons knew about this project that was coming up to the signing of the MOU.
David Gegg
David Gegg, Portico Developer
“That was really the first thing that happened and they knew about it because so many other things happen after the MOU. The MOU was September of 2017 and that kind of paved the way for everything else that happened after that. And Bishop Benguche, by the way the, studies that you might like seeing are all online with the Department of the Environment, but I would be happy to send copies directly to you, if I had the means to do so.”
Senator Bevington Cal
“I’m looking at the signatories to the MOU. I see, and we’re yet to verify these, but I’m sure that, or maybe I should ask the question. Who were the signatories to the MOU?”
David Gegg
“The ones that I remember were myself, of course, Mr. Contreras and Minister Saldivar.”
Senator Bevington Cal
“Mr. Saldivar. And why did Honorable Panton not sign if she was the –“
David Gegg
“Senator, it was my understanding. It is my understanding that Minister Panton did not approve of the government signing an MOU with us and she refused to sign it.”
And while the Portico developer said that at least three past Cabinet Ministers knew about the Portico project, he was also solicited for campaign financing in exchange for environmental clearance for the project, but he did not reveal the name of the person. And when he did not provide the funds, his project did not receive the clearance prior to the elections.
David Gegg, Developer, Portico Enterprises Ltd.
“Around the middle of September, after the August 28 NEAC meeting, which supposedly approved our environmental clearance, I received a message, and I interpreted that message as saying to me that the environmental documentation approved on August 28 would not be concluded in the absence of a significant campaign contribution.”
Senator Bevington Cal
Senator Bevington Cal
“That was mid-September of 2020”
David Gegg
“Correct.”
Senator Bevington Cal
“By whom?”
David Gegg
“I can’t say.”
Senator Bevington Cal
“What was the amount asked for?”
David Gegg
“Seven figures.”
Senator Bevington Cal
“Can you state the number, the figure?”
David Gegg
“Seven figures.”
Senator Bevington Cal
“And that, I would anticipate, was members of the then government, the then UDP government.”
David Gegg
“They were the only ones in a position to conclude the ECP. Let, me say also, after that there was another meeting of the NEAC called on October 15th. My analysis, by then they knew nothing was in the pipeline, and they were hoping for something smaller. And they didn’t get that either. And the fact that administration did not conclude our environmental clearance should put that issue to rest.”
The Government of Belize officially inaugurated the Remate Road in the Corozal District. The road is also referred to as the Corozal bypass. It serves several communities in rural Corozal. It is also used as a short cut to get to the Belize/Mexico border. Millions were invested in the construction of the road, as Prime Minister Briceño pointed out following today’s ceremony. He also spoke on how this upgrade will serve the communities in the areas.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I think that for those of us that lives here in the north they will think about the Remate Road or the Corozal Bypass that during the dry season dust and during the rainy season mud. So many times we try to avoid using this road. But as I pointed out earlier this is Plan Belize at work, that the foundation of plan Belize is about people, how is it that we are going to make the lives of people better. And we are doing the Remate Road and upgrading the Phillip Goldsom Highway is all about that. We are spending about ninety-three million dollars of we are grateful to the United Kingdom approximately around thirty-seven million dollars as a grant and working with the CDB. And what is important to point out is that when would you hear the Ministry of Infrastructure Development or the Ministry of Works as it was then, building something for less than it was budgeted. That is exactly what MIDH has done. They had considerable savings that they could use in other areas.”
We will have more for you on the inauguration in Thursday’s news cast.
This week, dozens of stakeholders from across various organizations are gathering to participate in the Multi-sector Marine Spatial Planning Workshop. This workshop is one of many carried out for the advancement of the Belize Sustainable Ocean Plan. The purpose of the workshop is to kickstart activities that for the delivery of commitments related to the Belize Blue Bond Agreement. Today’s events covered what marine spatial planning is and possible areas for new biodiversity protection zones. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Marine spatial planning refers to a process where stakeholders plan what activities will be restricted to certain areas of the ocean to ensure that the sea space is being used with conservation in mind. To meet the milestones outlined in the Belize Blue Bond agreement, consideration for biodiversity reserves and sustainability must be kept in mind when making these decisions. That is why a Multi-sector Marine Spatial Planning Workshop was held today in Belize City. Samir Rosado, MSP Process Lead at the Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute, explained how these topics would be covered in today’s workshop.
Samir Rosado
Samir Rosado, MSP Process Lead, CZMAI
“During the workshop, day one of course, would be setting the stage for what spatial planning is. Specifically, what Marine spatial planning is. Giving the definitions, the context and really setting the stage for day two. which would be actually getting into the work. So we’ll be looking at existing conditions, in order to plan for the future, we definitely need to understand what the demands for space are currently. We’ll also be looking at compatibility between uses. Within our ocean space, as we refer to it there are a lot of different demands for related to various activities, fishing, tourism, so on and so forth. And so we need to see spatially, where overlaps exist if they are complementary or if they conflict. And really the purpose of day two and part of this workshop is to really determine where those conflicts would be and to assess whether or not, they can be assessed and separated to avoid any sort of negative effects to the delivery of the activity.”
Jamani Balderamos, a marine spatial planning specialist at The Nature Conservancy, told us that part of the workshop would be learning how to make use of a tool designed specifically for spatial planning. He said that the Marxan is publicly available on the internet and can be used by anyone with a graphic information system.
“Marxan is actually a spatial planning tool, and it’s to help achieve conservation goals and objectives. So it will look at the entire ocean space, and in Belize we’re considering our internal waters, territorial seas, and exclusive economic zones. You can put in data such as ecosystems and human uses, and Marxan will look at how all these things are valued and try to minimize tradeoffs. you can customize the program to help you determine the best use of space to meet particular objectives. So if you want to look at the blue economy, you And we want to look at allocating space for tourism and so on. Marxan can then look at the tradeoffs and help us to determine the best use of space.”
A key component in the Belize sustainable Ocean Plan is the Belize Blue Bond agreement, which enables the country to reduce debt-burden and increase long-term ocean conservation. Safira Vasquez of the Blue Bond and Finance Permanence Unit explained how this factors into today’s discussions.
Safira Vasquez
Safira Vasquez, Senior Technical Officer, Blue Bond and Finance Permanence Unit
“The Belize Blue Bonds have several conservation milestones and commitments. And today’s event is actually a part of us leading up to our milestone four which we should meet in this year, November 2024, which is the for the designation of. up to twenty-five percent of our ocean space in biodiversity protection zones. So today’s event is basically they will be building upon some of the ground work that has been done by the coastal zone management authority, which is the government lead agency for our Marine Spatial Plan, which is known as the Belize Sustainable Ocean Plan. And so they will be building up on some of the work that they have been conducting with our various ocean users.”
Rosado said that allocating space within the ocean for varying uses such as fisheries, tourism, coastal development, and protection for ecosystems is a necessary step in conservation.
Samir Rosado
“There’s a lot of power in assigning space for activities because it takes away the instability of these activities and ensures that moving forward, these activities are sustainable over time. And really, the objective of marine spatial planning is to assign the space with a view to balance the multiple objectives that these activities may have. There’s environmental uses, there’s social uses, recreational, and then there’s economic uses. And the idea is to have, establish that balance to ensure that all of these objectives are satisfied through one process.”
A trio of loggers, including a Guatemalan national, was arraigned earlier today for illegally felling trees within the Monkey Bay National Park back in January. The men were charged jointly for four offenses, including unlawful cutting of forest produce, unlawful possession of forest produce, unlawful conversion of Mahogany using a chainsaw and unlawful collection of forest produce. Forty-two-year-old Tyrell Banner, a truck driver of Camalote Village, his son, nineteen-year-old Kaylon Gabourel, and Guatemalan national David Morales Sandoval, a resident of Salvapan, appeared before a senior magistrate this morning where they were read the four charges. They pleaded not guilty to the offense and were offered bail in the sum of eight thousand dollars, or two sureties of four thousand dollars. During the arraignment, the senior magistrate inquired about the length of time that it took for the men to be brought up on charges. According to a representative of the Forestry Department, they had to seek legal advice on how to proceed with the charges. The matter was adjourned to July tenth, 2024.
Williams said that contrary to Barrow’s comment that the government has done little to address the issue in the north, the Prime Minister and the relevant ministries have been receptive and have supported the police in the effort and that they have always done so.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“We remain in constant communication with our Mexican counterparts. And again, I must say, I must commend our Prime Minister and the Minister of Home Affairs and the Minister of Defense for the input that they have been putting into this operation and the support. I can say that whenever we approach the Prime Minister for equipment or resources to be able to carry out our mandate, the Prime Minister is always willing to assist. Likewise, Minister Marin and Minister Musa have been with us in on the frontline. We met, we discussed the issues and we planned in terms of how we’re going to execute and we’re doing just that.”
