Category: Stann Creek District

A viral video that captured a fourteen-year-old boy from Santa Cruz Village being bullied by a group of teenagers has led to a police investigation and mediation. Jose Amador was walking home from school when four boys from his village decided to record a video of themselves bullying him. In the video one of the teens is seen physically assaulting him. Today, we spoke with Amador in the presence of his aunt. He told us that this was not his first encounter with the boys. The Commissioner of Police also traveled down to Santa Cruz Village to meet with all parties involved, following a confrontation in the community that stemmed from the incident. We will tell you more about last night’s development. But first, News Five’s Paul Lopez tells us more about how authorities are dealing with the incident.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Fourteen-year-old Jose Daniel Amador is a student from Santa Cruz Village who appears in a viral video being bullied by a group or young men from his school. In the clip a young man is seen physically assaulting Amador. He did not retaliate.

 

Jose Amador, Victim of Bullying
“They teach me if somebody wants to give trouble, don’t listen to them, just continue your way and don’t listen to them.”

Paul Lopez
“Why do you think it is so hard for young people to do that this way?”

Jose Amador
“I don’t know really.”

 

Paul Lopez
“Because many people would have acted differently.”

 

Jose Amador
“Because they will act to protect themselves. Of course everybody will protect themselves, but I prefer leaving it into the hands of the police.”

 

His family did just that. The Belize Police Department detained the young men. This morning, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams was in Independence Village leading mediations between the family of Amador and that of the other boys.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“People from all over condemned the video and upon receiving it yesterday I gave instructions to make sure they find all those persons who are involved and to have them dealt with. The young men were eventually detained by police and were charged for using a computer to bully another. And one of them was charged for causing harm to the young man.”

 

 

 

 

Amador’s mother is a pastor in Santa Cruz Village. According to ComPol Williams, she has agreed to have the matter be referred to a diversion program through the court.  The Families and Children’s Act stipulates that a court must always do what is in the best interest of the child.

Chester Williams
“I will be asking the court for two things, one for the court to order that the children who were a part of the bullish act to make a visit to the prison, the Central Prison and the purpose of that is for them to get an appreciation for what prison is about so that they understand if they continue the life they are having in terms of bullying people where they may end up. Next thing will be to ask the court if they young boys can be the face of an anti-bullying campaign.”

 

Amador’s Aunt, Wendy Lemus spoke on behalf of the family.

 

Wendy Lemus, Aunt of Bully Victim
“I think it is for the future for others also.  It is a lesson that everyone needs to learn that at thus young age doing what they are doing. What is it that they can turn into when they become adults. So this is the correct time, for the law, the police, what they are doing, I am satisfied with what they are doing. My sister is a Christian woman and she doesn’t want to continue, none of us, none of my family wants this to escalate more hence the reason why we are here today.”

 

Paul Lopez
“Why do you think it is hard for young people to talk about these situations? Was it hard to talk to your parents about bullying?”

Jose Amador
“Yes, because I don’t know how my parents would act and react. Maybe they would say because I the look for trouble.”

Paul Lopez
“But that wasn’t the case in this. Did you see the boys videoing?”

Jose Amador
“Yes.”

Paul Lopez
“And you saw the video come out on social media, what did you think?”

Jose Amador
“I think it was dumb because that is the proof that they were doing something and I have the case won because they are bullying me.”

We also heard from a family member of one of the boys charged for bullying. Elsworth Linarez is the grandfather of the child charged for harm. He was a part of today’s mediation in Independence Village.

 

Paul Lopez
“ As a father when you saw that video, what emotions does it evoke?”

Elsworth Linarez, Grandfather of Accused
“Bad. Ih hurt me. Mih grand son and what he did to the young man is ridiculous. From the time I see it happen and understand that the people will put it in the hands of police I tell my wife let the police deh do what they have to and we in the family, mother, aunt, uncle, everybody agree a hundred percent that he do wrong. Dah nuh like nobody the try deh pan the lee bway side. Dah like weh I tell daughter, weh ih do wrong and if he have to go to court and pay a consequence for it then ih have to do it. There is noway for him to get away with it. It is there for everybody to see. I dah nuh the mind of parents that will day my pikni or grand pikni dah nuh deh type of pikni deh.”

There has been an outpouring of support for Amador across social media.  Just before our interview with him, he was on the phone with an individual who is prepared to offer him a full high school scholarship. Amador and his family say that what was meant to break him is yielding many positive outcomes.

Paul Lopez
“what do you say to bullies?”

Jose Amador
“I will take the apology they have given, because everybody makes mistakes. So I will take their apology.”

Paul Lopez
“And what do you say to individuals that have been bullied before. What do you say to them to deal with it?”

Jose Amador
“Please don’t be afraid to tell your family members, your parents, talk to your family members, the teachers, but talk about it.”

Reporting for News 5, I am Paul Lopez.

As we said earlier, the incident in Santa Cruz Village did not end with the bullying video. On Thursday night, the uncles of the young man who was seen physically harming Jose Armado confronted Armado’s family. Wendy Lemus, Armado’s aunt, posted a video to social media showing the confrontation. Today, that matter was discussed during mediation in Independence Village. The young men apologized to the victim’s family and their apologies were accepted. We heard from Lemus, as well as the Commissioner of Police, and the father of the men who apologized.

 

Wendy Lemus, Aunt of Bullying Victim
“Last night was a crazy night for our family. I live in Placencia, thirty something speed bumps to cross over and when I heard my sister and she was crying over the phone and couldn’t talk to me and tell me what was happening because she was traumatized by the behavior of these three young men that visited their house and intimidate them and threatened them that if they don’t drop charges they will come back and kill them. You heard the word killed you get sacred. Everybody got scared. My sister got traumatized and when I heard her voice over the phone I wish I was there.”

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“The mother of the young man is a very forgiving person. She is outstanding. I must say. She is a pastor. We discussed the matter upstairs and the father of those who went to the home last night was also present and he had something to say.  They all apologized to her and like I said she is a woman of God. She is very forgiving. So, both parties are willing to put this behind and see where we go from there.”

 

 

 

Elsworth Linarez, Grandfather of Accused

“One of the mistakes my sons they made, cause my oldest son said he knows the dad and one of the sons. One of the son actually work with my next son and son in law. He said he went there to talk with the people and I could understand the people react in a kind of way because they don’t know what might be your intention. And from there the thing.”

Paul Lopez

“Do you condone that type of behavior?”

 

Elsworth Linarez

“None at all, absolutely none at all, that is the reason why I came here today, to put in my lee contribution and if something is there to work it out and encourage whatever or discourage whatever that is what I am here for.”

Earlier today, a video depicting a minor being harassed and assaulted by a group of his peers began circulating on social media. In this video, a male youth is seen being followed by at least four male individuals hurling insults for several minutes before punching him in the face. The group then continues to follow him. In response to this video, Commissioner of police Chester Williams released a statement condemning the act and assuring the public that police have intervened in the situation. In his statement, Williams says, ” please note that police are addressing this situation. An official report has been lodged with the police and the boys doing the bullying are in custody.” He further explains that the police are going to be working with the parents of the individuals involved and their schools so that this incident does not reoccur. Williams advises parents to monitor their children’s activity and notes that behaviors such as these are how gangs emerge.

Two cyclists were injured in an accident on Monday in Dangriga, while riding along the Hummingbird Highway. They are eighteen-year-old Reynaldo White and seventeen-year-old Tamron Morris, both members of the Griga Cycling Club. The two were returning from a ride with another member of the club around one in the afternoon when Morris suddenly fell to the ground due to a truck swerving in his direction, the truck then proceeded to hit White, resulting in several injuries. Annis Gordon, Secretary of the Griga Cycling Club, took to social media to caution drivers when sharing the road with cyclists, but the post was met with criticism from skeptics who believed the cyclists to be at fault. We spoke with Gordon and Morris today, for more details on the incident.

 

Tamron Morris, Injured Cyclist

“I noticed that we was coming back from our ride. We left from around ten o’clock. We went to mile twenty and was coming back from five miles. I heard so many vehicles passing us so I didn’t pay any mind because we was at the side of the road and all I see was a blue pickup truck.  A blue pickup truck  breeze me off the road and it knocked my partner in front of me, and when he fell, I dropped on top of him, and then I see myself in a ditch.”

 

 

 

Annis Gordon, Secretary Griga Cycling Club

“Ronaldo, he had a cut to the left side of his eye. He was scraped. He had scraped on his arms, his back, his hip, his shoulder got fractured and Tamron was complaining with pain in his hip. When I asked about the other rider, Deshane, they told me that DeShane remained at the scene along with the bikes and the person who hit them. We were told that he accept that it was his fault and that he would meet along with us to see what he can do  to assist with damages and whatever caused by his carelessness. He also admitted that he took his eyes off the road for a minute and that happened. What he was doing, we don’t really know, but he admitted to the incident that it was his fault. I have been reading on social media ever since I posted on my page, I have been reading and I saw so many negative comments by people talking about cyclists and some said that they need to use they common sense. Some say if he honk his horn, they are knocked him down and get out of the way. And there are so many negative things that and I am sure. That more cyclists will get on the highway and ride recklessly, knowing that they could put their life at risk and causing problems. We need to be mindful of what we say, of what we say. We need to be mindful because everybody has a turn. Our boys, we tried our best to ensure and to instill that they respect traffic. The same way we would like for traffic to respect our cyclists.”

Mango is a seasonal fruit in Belize, so when the time comes around, some communities maximize their chances of drawing crowds and generating money. Hopkins is one such community and on Saturday, that southern village had on sale food and drinks with a mango twist for people who enjoy the succulent fruit. News Five attended the fest and found that there was mango in all forms, from ice cream to burgers, to mangoritas. And the monies collected from the day’s events will be invested right back into the community. Here’s that report.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

From about midday on Saturday and up until ten p.m., this was a popular sight and sound on the main street in Hopkins. Villagers and businesses were out offering their most popular beverages and treats made with a mango twist. Blending was a major part of the preparations. Leonela Aranda, owner of Blue Mantarraya Tours, was blending up a refreshing beverage to beat the heat.

 

Leonela Aranda, Owner, Blue Mantarray Tours

“Down south we call the big mango belly full mango or I think it’s known as Apple Mango as well. So I just ordered bellyful mango, diced it up, freeze it to have it like an ice cubes. We just basically put a half cup of ice, a half cup of the mango, put it in.  We get the juice, the two type of juice then we’ll have the squash and the raw mango juice, add it in and then we just blend it. I just actually get my cup and then I just label my logo on it. After all the blending, you add it in. No, before that we would put the lee rim with chamoyada and the tajin around the rim inside, the same thing. And we add it in and it have the lee red color. Just add that in and just put the tambran stick and a little mango sweet on top. And that is how we make our mango chamoyada.”

 

Marion Ali

“And it’s supposed to taste how when you drink it. Mango, slushy, everything, cold, all of that.”

 

Marion Ali

“And the tajin…”

 

Leonela Aranda

“Yeah, it just give it a little sweet and sour taste.”

 

Nice Cream took all their mango-infused ice cream treats and Yahira Maldonado let us in on what the crowd favourite was.

 

Yahira Maldonado, Sales Representative, Nice Cream

“Today it looks like a mango cheesecake, so the mango cheesecake bar and the mango cheesecake. Basically they are the same thing, the only difference is that we prep it in a different way. Like the bars, we cut them and then we make the mango jam at the top, then the whipped cream and then we have the mango ice cream and then we have a filling at the bottom which is made out of the waffle chips and then the mango cheesecake. We just add the chips inside of the mango base.”

 

 

Marion Ali

“So if you don’t taste mango, something wrong?”

 

 

 

 

 

Yahira Maldonado

“You have to taste the mango, but you have to taste the cheesecake too. My boss, she’s the head behind this. She does say, okay mek wi mek something different today. She would go in ah the shop – eena ih lee factory and say, okay, we wa add a lee cheesecake to this. Mek wi see how ih taste and then she wa bring everybody, like the workers deh mek wi sample it and tell ah yeah, that good. And then we make waffles. And then sometimes some ah deh would ah bruk, soh we say, okay, instead ah buy the biscuit, we just crush the waffles, blend it, put ah lee flavour eena it fi add to the bottom for the filling.”

 

Marion Ali

“And then everybody di buy that now?”

 

Yahira Maldonado

“It seems like that’s the hit for today.”

 

 

We came by a booth that made mango chicken burgers and a mango/strawberry popsicle.

 

Lindsay Montgomery, Sale Representative, Mangoes Beach Front Bar

“I have a ground chicken burger with Swiss cheese, bacon, and a homemade mango chutney. It’s like a spicy mango habanero sauce. It’s really good. So it gives that bite, but then with the mango, it’s got a nice sweet to it as well. Then it’s got vinegar, so it’s got a little bit of acidity and then the salt. So it hits all your taste buds and the mangoes and Hopkins are so fresh and delicious and so sweet. And then you add that habanero in for that really good bite. It’s a really good flavor.”

 

 

Marion Ali

“So you just came up with this or it’s been around for a while?”

 

Lindsay Montgomery

“This is the first time I’ve done it. It’s debuting here today at Mango Fest.”

 

Marion Ali

“And it’s popular, I would imagine.”

 

Lindsay Montgomery

“Yeah, oh definitely.”

 

Marion Ali

“And this in your hand?”

 

Lindsay Montgomery

“This is a strawberry mango popsicle with fresh mango blended right into it and frozen. And it’s only $3 and it’s nice to cool down on a hot day like today.”

 

 

Further up the street we bumped into retired media personality, Rodel Beltran Perrera and his friend Kathy Cuellar, who told us it was their first time at the event.

 

Rodel Beltran Pererra, Attendee, Hopkins Mango Fest

“This is called a mango margarita, or a mangorita, I’d call it. It’s so good. This is incredible. This is what I came for here today. I was going to be very upset if I hadn’t gotten one. And I want to thank that young man. He’s the one that makes the best. It’s the first time I’m coming to this festival, but we heard about coming to this tent and tasting their drinks and it is really good.  A very good friend Kathy, said let’s go, what you’re doing today, and I said I’m doing nothing. So let’s go to Hopkins and check out the festival.”

 

 

Kathy Cuellar, Attendee, Hopkins Mango Fest

“It’s great to see so many things, so many people trying out the products, inventing different food, dishes, et cetera, et cetera, with the mango. That’s interesting.”

 

Marion Ali

“How is that?”

 

Kathy Cuellar

“This is a standard – I believe a mango margarita. I got the mango. I’m looking for the “rita” but with the weather, you wouldn’t want to go too strong.”

 

 

 

Except for the halt that COVID brought on almost every activity, the Hopkins Mango Fest has been a yearly event since the early 2000’s. The event was started by Mary Castillo, a villager who passed away in 2008. Treasurer of the Hopkins branch of the Belize Tourism Industry Association, Desiree Rodriguez says that the village boasts well over a dozen types of mangoes. This event has drawn tourists from all over and generates funds that the community can put to good use.

 

 

Desiree Rodriguez, Treasurer, B.T.I.A., Hopkins Branch

“We took over last year, this new chapter, we’re looking at infrastructure. So there’s two things that we want urgently: we need a multipurpose building and we also need a garbage truck. Garbage is a problem in our community, so we’re going we’re pushing towards infrastructure. So coming to these fests will help us You know if we come every year and it gets bigger then we’ll have more funds To go in that pot to put that money back into the community. So we want people to know that it’s not for us to fill our pockets. We’re not getting paid. We’re volunteering 100 percent popular. Is it among the tourists?  Very much popular. It’s Mango Street Fest is now a thing in our community. So looking at this year, I’m already seeing that we’ve doubled the number.”

 

Marion Ali for News Five.

A group of investors is interested in constructing a sixty-million-dollar facility at the Commerce Bight Port. Today, Michel Chebat, the Minister responsible for Ports, introduced a bill for certain exemptions on taxes and duties for the Southern Deep Port Development Limited, the company that will be undertaking the project. Today reporters asked the prime minister about the project and the players involved. Here is what he told us.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“What is more important, why is we want to try to develop the commerce bight port? The Commerce Bight Port was closed around 2004 and every time when election time comes, we have been promising the people of Dangriga that we will do everything possible to open the port. A number of people have come, even the U.D.P. has had a number of people that are just fly by night people trying to get their hands on that port with no plan. Now we have a group of people, investors, and I can name one in particular Basilio Zabaneh who is one of the largest Belizean investors in the tourist industry. Nobody can question his legitimacy and what he has done for the tourist industry. They have put together a plan where they want to convert the commerce bight into a small cruise port. Apparently, there are these cruise ports for high end tourist for about four hundred, six hundred people. So he wants to convert that to a port where these cruise ship can come there and offload the passengers and the passengers can have a look at especially we are saying that Dangriga is the culture capital lets put that to work, the artisans, the food, the crafts men and also to visit the different areas in the District. Stann Creek is one of the most beautiful districts we have. We have sea, low lying coast and mountains. So we have everything within that area. So, they have put together a group and I am told that the investment is going to be around sixty million dollars.”