Prime Minister John Briceño is on an official visit to Mexico where he was warmly received by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the National Palace. The PM’s trip comes during a time of heightened concerns among Belizeans, following a recent spate of cartel-related violence in Quintana Roo. During his visit to Mexico City, PM Briceño signed an agreement on behalf of Belize establishing the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency. The Prime Minister was accompanied at the signing by Ambassador Oscar Arnold. Belize bolsters the regional integration mechanism by joining twenty-one other countries in signing the accord. It will also be able to enter into cooperation agreements with other Latin American and Caribbean countries involving satellite observation of environmental conditions and other risks. ALCE, as the agency is otherwise known, will use the technological capabilities of the member countries to promote development, improve satellite communication systems; and increase the observation systems involved in preventing natural disasters and improving agriculture. Mexican Foreign Secretary Alicia Barcena witnessed the signing of the ALCE agreement.
Tag: 2024-05-07
Police Leading Rio Hondo River Operations; BDF Lending Support
The Belize Police Department, with support from the Belize Defense Force, has been conducting increased operations along the Rio Hondo River in the Orange Walk District. This is being done to address the security concerns in that area that stems from an increase in cartel activities within parts of neighboring Mexico. The Rio Hondo River has long been a hot spot for border jumpers, contrabandists, human traffickers and narco-traffickers. But, with the perceived threat stemming from recent occurrences, law enforcement officials and the Government of Belize are taking no chances. Significant resources are being pumped into law enforcement efforts along the northern border. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
The Belize Police Department and the Belize Defense Force have increased their presence along the Rio Hondo River, in response to a recent uptick in cartel-related violence in neighboring communities along the Mexican border.
Colonel Anthony Velasquez, Deputy Commander, Belize Defense Force
“The area has always been an area of interest for us. There has always been the contraband issue. There has always been human trafficking and also the drug trafficking issue. Recent occurrences in Chetumal area, the Quintan Roo area has brought to our attention that the security issue has become increase.”
Commissioner of Police Chester Williams describes the operation as highly sensitive.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“This is a very highly sensitive operation that we’re conducting and because of the nature of the operations, we cannot include NGOs or persons who are not a part of the security apparatus in the planning for several reasons.”
According to ComPol Williams, the Government of Belize has spared no resources to equip the department in its efforts along the northern border.
“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.”
The Belize Defense Force is working alongside the Belize Police Department in this operation. But BDF soldiers act only in a support role. It is the police department that is leading the charge; however, the BDF has doubled its troop presence in the area. The effectiveness of these operations is depends on the relationship that the BDF has with its Mexican counterparts.
“It is a very pivotal relationship. We share information. The Mexican military impart critical information to us that helps us to perform our operations in an effective manner. So, it is a very important relationship. Also, we share information with them when it is necessary, and we coordinate our actions along the border. So, there is there is a hot spot or a flash point, we coordinate the area and saturate the area on both sides of the border in order to maintain peace in the area.”
These types of operations are not foreign to the Belize Defense Force. It has provided support to the Belize Police Department in intercepting numerous drug planes and detaining suspected narco-traffickers. The Belize Defense Force is also equipped with air and riverine assets. Colonel Velasquez says that the show of increased presence alone acts as a deterrent.
“Majority of our operation are to maintain military presence and deter illegal activity out there. So, we also have operatives in the area that are intelligence operatives. They are covert, but generally we saturate the area with soldiers so that people can see we are patrolling. We are doing vehicle patrols, river patrols and foot patrols so that people can see we are out there, and we also do intelligence driven operations where we receive critical intelligence and we react to that, always in conjunction with the Belize Police Department.”
These operations undoubtedly come with several risks. Common dangers include encounters with wild animals and falls. Greater risks include encounters with armed cartel elements. That is why the riskiest operations are assigned to the elite units within the BDF.
“Yes, Belizeans should feel safe. However, that does not negate your personal responsibility to take care of yourself as well. Do not travel in these areas. Do not cross the border illicitly in these crossing points. Many Belizeans do. You are putting yourself in danger. But law-abiding citizens should be confident that the police department and the Belize Defense Force are out there to maintain our territorial integrity, our sovereignty, and to maintain the rule of law.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.
Foreign Affairs Delegation Travels to Guatemala
Moving now to Belize’s southern frontier, tensions on the Sarstoon River were high a couple weeks ago when a group of reporters accompanied by Belize Defense Force soldiers had an encounter with Guatemalan Armed Forces. As we reported, the GAF claimed the entire Sarstoon River as Guatemala’s territory and informed the group of Belizeans that permission is needed to traverse the river. Following the encounter, many Belizeans, including the Leader of the Opposition, called on the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to issue a protest note to the president of Guatemala. There is also the issue of Guatemalan incursions, illegal logging and farming within Belize’s forest reserves. Well, Minister of Foreign Affairs Francis Fonseca was in Guatemala on Monday, along with Chief Executive Officer, Amalia Mai. There they met with Guatemala’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Martinez. Based on a press release from the ministry, it appears that these issues were raised. But the ministry’s release summed up the results of that discussion in only one sentence. It says quote, “during their meeting, they reached a mutual agreement to foster cordial neighborly relations and maintain an open dialogue to effectively address challenges along the shared border”, unquote. There is no indication that the actions of the Guatemalan Armed Forces and Guatemalans within Belize’s forest reserves were strongly protested or that a commitment was made to put an end to these illegalities. We will continue to follow.
Youth Shot During Double Murder Undergoes Surgery
Police continue to investigate the double murder of Saida Perez and her common-law husband, Morcel Neal of Roaring Creek. The couple was at their home in the Hilltop area of the village on Sunday night when they were targeted. Perez’ fifteen-year-old son was also shot but survived the deadly ordeal. He has undergone surgery to remove a bullet that was lodged in his leg and his prognosis is said to be promising for a full recovery. Perez, a cook, had hoped to be able to provide for her young son since his father had died some years ago. Now that she has also died, his only family ties are his aunt and elder sisters who live in Belmopan. An arrest in this recent incident in Roaring Creek is yet to be made.
Trio Arraigned for Illegally Logging in Monkey Bay
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.
Fisherman Arrested for Attempted Murder
Tonight, a Los Lagos fisherman, is on remand at the Belize Central Prison after he was arraigned for abetment to murder and attempted murder charges. He is thirty-three-year-old Ludrick Andrew Usher, who was brought in for the attempted murder of twenty-year-old Jahshiel Cervantes. On Saturday, around ten fifteen p.m., Cervantes had been socializing in Majestic Alley with a group of men when he was approached by an SUV and fired at. Using surveillance footage from the area, police were able to locate the vehicle and suspect. Usher, who was unrepresented, appeared before a Senior Magistrate in Court at around two thirty p.m. today where he was read two indictable offenses. Allegations being made against Usher are that on Saturday he purposely aided an unidentified individual in the commission of murder. Due to the nature of the offenses, no plea taken from Usher and Usher was remanded to the Belize Central Prison until August seventh, 2024, where he is pending bail.
Did Jasmine Hartin Complete Court Ordered Community Service?
The family of slain police officer, Superintendent Henry Jemmott has written to Chief Justice Louise Blenman inquiring about the three hundred hours of community service that Jasmine Hartin was ordered to serve. On May thirty-first, 2023, Hartin was convicted of manslaughter by negligence, but was not sentenced to prison. Instead, she was fined seventy-five thousand dollars, ordered to complete three hundred hours of community service, and take part in producing a public service announcement. While Hartin met the fine and subsequently left the country, Jemmott’s sibling is asking the head of the Senior Courts what happened to the service hours and the PSA. In the letter to Chief Justice Blenman, Marie Jemmott writes, “The Jemmott family is deeply, deeply hurt and disturbed that the criminal justice system could so fail and dishonor the memory of one of its own law enforcement officers by allowing Ms. Hartin to simply ignore that part of her sentence. Is this all our brother’s life is worth?”.
250 Students Graduate from Belize’s PEACE Program
Today, two hundred and fifty students graduated from the Positive Engagement and Civic Education Program, PEACE. This program was launched in October 2023 with the goal of reducing the number of adolescent arrests made in the country. It caters to children living under challenging circumstances or those that require supplementary support and guidance. PEACE was piloted in ten schools within the Belize District and will be implemented in other districts in the second phase of the program. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with more on today’s ceremony.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
For several years, Belize has used GREAT, which is the Gang Resistance Education and Training, to take early action against gang activity among youths. In September 2023, the American-based curriculum was phased out in Belize and replaced by the Positive Engagement and Civic Education Program, PEACE. While this initiative is still supported by the US Embassy, it was designed to cater to the challenges specifically encountered by Belizean youths. It seeks to target majority of the sixty thousand students across the country. Today, an award ceremony was held for the ten schools that participated in the first phase. Assistant Commissioner of Police, Howell Gillett gave us some more details on the ceremony.
Howell Gillett, Asst. Commissioner of Police
“Today we are having a graduation certification program. It’s for two hundred fifty children from ten schools within the Middle East District. The total number of children who will be graduating over a longer period will be just over eight hundred. But for logistical purposes, we’re only doing a sample from each school. So it’s twenty-five from each school, which brings us to two hundred fifty young people. So these young people, they’re from middle and upper primary. It’s during their formative ages.”
Gillett explained that while the GREAT program was a strong initiative, it was not the right fit for Belize. PEACE caters to the problems that Belizean children face. He said that there are sixty thousand children across Belize that the program seeks to influence.
“We will try our very best to reach to them because the program is strategic, it’s evidence based and we may never need to make an arrest if we properly and in time work with young people to remain positive. So it deals with bullying, making right decisions, how to resist gangs and all the other areas that we, and it’s tailored for beliefs. The GREAT program was a more U.S. based program. This one is tailored solely for, um, police. It’s in its pilot phase in the ten schools. Come September, we will launch it across the country. And that’s why I told you earlier that thirty-three officers were trained over a period of time. And these officers will now go into the classrooms come September in other parts of the country.”
Heath Bailey, Chief of the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Unit of the U.S. Embassy, explained that although the GREAT program was phased out, the U.S. Embassy is an avid supporter of the PEACE initiative.
Heath Bailey, Chief, International Narcotics & Law Enforcement Unit, U.S. Embassy
“So this this initiative, the PEACE Program is a partnership between the U.S. Embassy through the Central America Regional Security Initiative, an initiative we call CARSI. Belize Police Department, as well as the Ministry of Education to develop a Belize specific program to help these kids understand alternative dispute mechanisms and to reduce conflict, reduce gang involvement and bullying. And we’re really proud and happy to be able to support them.”
Heath Bailey
“I think the reason why this program is effective and why the kids enjoy it so much is because it is built for Belize. There have been other programs that Belize has implemented before, anti gang programs that have been more general but the genius of this program really is that the Belize curriculum developers were able to tailor it to the needs of the country. So yeah, I do, I think it’s quite effective.”
He attributed the success to the police officers who were able to engage and form meaningful relationships with the participants as their instructors.
“We been able to meet some of the instructors, some of the police officers who have implemented the program. And part of the effectiveness is that they’re really great. They’re really engaging, and they’ve developed relationships with these kids and I think that’s really key.”
The program ran over a six-month period, targeting one school for an hour each week. Participants included children in the middle and upper divisions from standards two to six. We spoke with Standard six student, Brooklyn Jerrylee Casanova, of Saint Luke’s Methodist, to hear her takeaway from the experience.
Brooklyn Jerrylee Casanova, STD 6 student, St. Luke’s Methodist Primary School
“I participated in many activities such as like scenarios, role playing, answering questions, and just overall communicating with everyone and having a fun time.”
Britney Gordon
“What do you feel like you’ve learned from this program?”
Brooklyn Jerrylee Cassanova
“I’ve learned on many dangers and ways to avoid them, ways to help someone, be it helping another to be in a better place and to understand everything that is going on with their situation.”
Britney Gordon for News Five.
Belize Recognized for Low Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission
As recently as ten years ago, the transmission of HIV through unprotected sex, and blood transfusion through the sharing of drug needles was alarming. In fact, to prevent further spread of the virus, health discussions back then were focused on condom-use. The idea eventually latched on and now, the transmission is around two hundred per year. But Belize is doing an even greater job at reducing the transmission of HIV from mother to child and for that, the World Health Organization recognized our efforts in that area. At a ceremony in Jamaica today, Belize was one of three Caribbean countries to receive certification for that achievement. According to Public Health Nurse Esther Deville, Belize has been recognized for reducing not only mother-to-child transmission of HIV below five percent, but also syphilis. News Five’s Marion Ali reports
Marion Ali, Reporting
Belize’s efforts in reducing the incidence of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis have paid off with a recognition today by the World Health Organization. The global health authority today certified Belize, Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines for keeping their annual transmission rate below five percent. The effort to reach this goal, according to the Director of Public Health and Wellness, Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa, began over two decades ago.
Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa, Dir., Public Health & Wellness
“We had started with the program of elimination from about the year 2000, between 2000 and 2004 when it really strengthened. We have been able to strengthen the capacity in our laboratory services. That has also helped us for early detection, more awareness, and early treatment, of course.”
Gynaecologist, Dr. Marcelo Coyi, says that under an agreement with the Ministry of Health & Wellness, private hospitals must also provide affordable access to pregnant mothers under the National Health Insurance.
Dr. Marcelo Coyi, Gynaecologist, Belize Medical Associates
“As soon as a woman goes to the general clinic, a pregnancy test is done, and she’s automatically booked into the prenatal clinic so that we get them as early as possible in the first trimester. And that has been another change that we have seen, where the the amount of pregnant ladies joining the clinic in the first trimester has increased to about 90 percent in the first trimester. The medication used requires no out of pocket payment by patients. That is also a very critical part of ensuring that we continue to provide these medications free of cost.”
Stephanie Lisama took both the syphilis and HIV tests a couple months ago under the ministry’s program because she says she wants to know her status for her baby’s sake.
Stephanie Lisama, Pregnant Mother
“It’s important for me to have this syphilis and HIV test because I don’t know if I have it. So if I know, if I would know that I have it, then I would make sure that the baby is okay because then it can be transmitted to the baby and any complications can cause complications to the baby and that’s what I want to avoid.”
Public Health Nurse Esther Deville accompanied Minister of Health Kevin Bernard to Jamaica to receive the certificate. She shared with the media that there is a stringent protocol for administering the antiretrovirals to pregnant mothers who are infected. The medication, she says, significantly reduces the transmission of HIV to the unborn child, but the earlier the mother registers at a health clinic and tests for these diseases, the better it is for her baby.
Esther Deville, Public Health Nurse
“At this point where we are in Belize, there is no need for a child to be born with HIV, have a vertical transmission of HIV or syphilis because we have the medication and the resources available for them to prevent that. The medication now suppresses your viral load. By you suppressing your viral load, the chances of you transmitting the virus to your child is almost nil. And it is measured. We do have viral load testing in Belize, where we would test to see how it is. And the truth is, from my experience, from what I have experienced in caring for those women, is that one month the viral load decreases significantly. So the medications are very effective. You might have, for instance, a mother who, would reach probably late to the clinic, right. And there are medications that are given for these special matters. So everything is done from our part in the health system to ensure that this matter, this baby is negative. However, there might be some factors that are out of our control, and so it is not, it is less than 5%.”
Minister of Health and Wellness, Kevin Bernard joined in encouraging all pregnant mothers to make use of the chance to protect their baby’s future.
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness
“Every child has the right to born and remain free from HIV and syphilis.”
Marion Ali for News Five.
Massive Crocodile in Belama Phase 3 Raises Community Concerns
A massive crocodile lurking in a canal in Belama Phase Three has residents worried. One resident shared a video on social media of the enormous reptile, while calling on the relevant authorities to visit the area and relocate the animal. We visited the area this afternoon and numerous residents told us that this is the largest crocodile they have ever seen in the area and that many dogs have been killed since it showed up a couple weeks ago. The community now fears for the safety of its children. We spoke with Kyra Young, a resident of Belama Phase Three. Here is what she told us.
Kyra Young, Belama Phase 3 Resident
“I posted a video because my neighbor was alarmed. They actually woke up to that crocodile in their yard. It was in the yard. So, they sent me the video to show me and at first, I was taking it lightly because people always try to make things bigger. When I went to see it for myself, did you guys see how big that crocodile is? That is why I call it “crocodilious eatorous”, because I have never seen one in that regard. That took the dogs, ate all the four five pot licker them and the puppies. One of them actually took the puppy out of the child’s hand, because they were playing in the yard and the dog went to drink water from the canal and the crocodile took the puppy out of the baby’s hands. What if the crocodile took the baby and I have kids and my kids always play in the yard. So, I saw that very alarming. There are small ones, we always see the small ones, they always come up to the bridge, that is why they are not afraid of us. They come all the way up here, they wait for us and the animals. This one I saw is the biggest crocodile I have ever seen in my life and I have seen crocodiles in San Pedro, I have seen them at the crocodile sanctuary and this is the biggest one I have ever seen in my life and I believe we need to sought this out together as a community and we don’t want one day they say it took a child or a man or woman, because you see how big that is? That is bigger than you and I combined. That will take me easily. I dah bones. I am pleading that the community could get together to see how we could remove this animal. I know you trap them with hooks and bait, so see how we could trap this animal and take them out of this area and put them in another area where they won’t be around humans. I understand this is their habitat, but this is my habitat as well and how will I be afraid to traverse my area because of a crocodile? I don’t think that makes sense. This feels like dinosaur ages, we need fih tighten up.”