Prime Minister John Briceño is back from Cancun, following a whirlwind visit over the weekend where he met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the head of the Federal Electricity Commission, C.F.E. PM Briceño was accompanied by senior officials from Belize Electricity Limited to discuss a solution to Belize’s energy crisis. As we’ve reported over the past few weeks, the country has been experiencing a series of scheduled power outages. Those blackouts were the result of load shedding that became necessary when C.F.E. was unable to provide energy to Belize’s national grid. The meeting with President AMLO was fruitful and PM Briceño has returned to Belize with good news that the Mexican energy provider will now supply a total of seventy-five megawatts to the national grid. This morning, the prime minister spoke with reporters regarding this latest development.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“When I met with the president in Mexico City, he invited me to join him in Cancun where every two weeks he goes to look at the [progress of the] Tren Maya project. And so he invited different ministries and the head of C.F.E. to be able to meet with us. We had a chance to meet with the president and the head of C.F.E. and they have agreed that they will work with us to continue to provide energy. As you know, well probably most people don’t know, we have a maximum of fifty-five megawatts of energy that we can buy. Now what the president offered us to be able to increase it by twenty more, so we’ll be able to buy approximately seventy-five megawatts and we’ll be working with C.F.E. now to run a second line into Belize.”
Also accompanying PM Briceño to Mexico was Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, Jose Abelardo Mai. Together, they held discussions with other Mexican government officials on issues that include cattle exportation, as well as the contrabanding of Belizean sugar.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
”As you all know, a lot of our sugar is being contraband into the Chetumal region and it creates shortages for us. The president agreed that he’ll talk with the Minister of Economy for us to look at the tariff regime to be able to expect to reduce it and also then to give us a certain quota to be able to export sugar into [Mexico]. We spoke about cattle. The presidential decree has come to an end and we’re looking at expanding it so that we can continue to export cattle into Mexico. We also looked at coconuts, a new industry in Belize and we’ll be working with… and the Minister of Agriculture was there with me. They will start the discussions as to how we’d be able to get our coconuts, following the requirements from Mexico and so we spoke also about that and shrimp.’
Earlier today in Belmopan, the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation, AMEXCID, together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, launched a project called Reproductive Technology in Cattle Production in Belize. The project includes a diagnosis of the cattle industry.
The Briceño administration has taken a decision to remove the existing border tax for Mexican visitors entering Belize. Among several other initiatives, Cabinet has also agreed on allowing Mexican visitors to use their insurance in Belize. It’s all in an effort to facilitate easier access and movement into the country. PM Briceño explains.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Our cabinet has agreed to lift or to provide the cards for the Mexicans free of charge so they could come into Belize easily, remove the border tax and also be able to use their insurance into Belize. We’re doing this so that we can be able to make it easier for Mexicans to visit Belize. And lastly, we spoke about Tren Maya. We spoke with General Aguila, who is in charge of the project, along with ICA, a private sector company that’s building, they have different sections. They are building different companies, along with the army. They are building it and about the possibility of moving it from Chetumal, Tren Maya, to our border, to start there and to eventually go into the rest of the country. So all of these discussions, this is what we’ve agreed to roughly and we’re now starting to put that on pen and paper and hopefully sometime next month we’ll be able to sign this agreement. So it was very successful, I’m very grateful to President AMLO, as everybody knows him, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. I also met with the governor from Quintana Roo, who was also there. We had several discussions. There’s an interest in the port because now that Chetumal is going to be a duty free area, all the goods will have to come in through the Belize port. So they want to also take a look at the port and see that we can improve the port so that they can handle the amount of goods that they expect will be coming through shortly. I extended an invitation to the governor and we expect that probably in maybe a month or two, so that he’d be able to come on a working visit.”
The past several weeks has seen a surge in cartel activity in neighboring Mexico, particularly in the state of Quintana Roo. This spurred Belizean authorities to tighten border security and increase operations along the Rio Hondo River. Today, Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa was asked if these violent crimes are showing any signs of slowing down soon. He said that, according to Mexican officials, they are.
Kareem Musa
Kareem Musa, Minster of Home Affairs
“Our counterparts in Mexico are saying that in fact things are dying down. The tension is easing a bit, but at the same time we must be relentless in terms of protecting our border. And so we are at no point letting our guards down right now. The presence is still there the increase in presence and personnel from our department and the military is at our border points and we are taking it very seriously. We have not put our guards down despite the fact that it seems to have quelled a bit in Mexico.”
Reporter
“Have you investigated or are you investigating any of the narco operatives? Because I believe the COMPOL conceded that we know that there are some operating in the north.”
Kareem Musa
“Absolutely. You might have seen last week I believe it was a wanted posters for certain individuals from the north. Those are active investigations into those individuals that, that is being carried out by the department.”
Twenty-five-year-old Jemine Thurton is making headlines tonight for scamming a popular Belize City restaurant and bar out of thousands of dollars in food and drinks. Between March twenty-fourth and May first, she ordered generously from Celebrity’s menu, requesting shots of tequila, nachos, Heineken beer, shrimp alfredo and an extensive list of other food and drinks amounting to three thousand, two hundred and twenty-eight dollars. Thurton never paid for any of it and has been charged with two counts of obtaining property by deception. It is alleged that Thurton, a regular customer of Celebrity’s, scammed the establishment by making fraudulent online payments. Taylor Fuller, an administrator at the restaurant, grew suspicious when he observed two payments dated May fifteenth and seventeenth, respectively. According to Fuller, the online banking system does not make mistakes with time and dates as it is an automated process. When he visited Belize Bank to make a query, Fuller was informed that the transactions were illegitimate. He then did a review of all the previous payment transactions made by Thurton and discovered that none of the payments were legitimate. On Sunday, a police report was filed by Fuller and Thurton was arrested and charged. She appeared in court earlier today where she was charged with two counts of obtaining property by deception. She pleaded not guilty to both charges and was offered bail in the sum of five thousand dollars, plus one surety of the same amount.
Due to its accessibility and the option of anonymity, the internet has become the primary place to conduct a get-rich-quick scheme. Over the past few years, many Belizeans have fallen victim to online scams and authorities have grappled with how to counteract them. Today, Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa was asked what efforts are being made to limit the number of online scammers in Belize. Here’s his response.
Kareem Musa, Minster of Home Affairs
“Yes, cyber security, as over the last five years to a decade, has been on the front burner for our ministry and across the region. As you know, Jamaica was facing an incredible issue with scammers in Jamaica. And now we have seen it come to our shores on a much smaller scale, but at the same time, extremely important. And so we have been monitoring this along with the chamber of commerce. They have brought it to our attention from last year. A number of call centers have raised the issue. And so moving forward it is our intention to meet with them to see what types of legislation we can put in place for them. I’m happy that in some situations, we are able to charge individuals for the fraud that they have committed, but moving forward, tightening the legislation around that is extremely important.”
Reporter
“Sir, would the presence of the regional police commissioners be able to bolster your efforts along those lines?”
Kareem Musa
“Absolutely. Like I said, that is a cross region issue. That’s one of the top issues, cyber security and so it is expected that will be addressed.”
The mitigation pleas for convicted attorney, Oscar Selgado started today, but his medical condition was so fragile that the proceeding was adjourned until Friday. Today, two persons spoke on Selgado’s behalf: former Chief Magistrate, Sharon Fraser, who is a diabetic like Selgado and who can attest to some of the challenges that diabetics endure. The second person, Frank Selgado, is the attorney’s brother, who shared information about their humble upbringing that his brother had to work hard to become an attorney, and that he made a mistake in life. But the matter could not proceed further because Selgado experienced a fainting spell and Justice Nigel Pilgrim, adjourned it until Friday. Before the adjournment, Selgado asked for permission to speak and told the court that the prison penalized him by putting him in solitary confinement without proper ventilation for making a phone call to the courthouse last Thursday to inquire if the documents for his temporary release for his appearance in court today were made out. He said he made the call because he heard from an employee at the prison that there were no documents for his appearance in court. Selgado, fighting back tears, apologized to the court and said his purpose for making the call was not to undermine any system, but simply to ensure that the papers were prepared in order that he could be brought down to the court today. He said that his experience in the poorly ventilated cell played havoc on his already fragile health condition and that the person who was sent to examine him was a fellow prisoner who could only check his glucose level, which at the time was acutely low. The judge said he’d have the matter investigated as it pertains to how Selgado’s health condition is being treated at the facility. Following the adjournment, one of Selgado’s attorney, Arthur Saldivar told reporters that he thinks the prison was too harsh on Selgado for calling and inquiring about his release papers.
Arthur Saldivar
Arthur Saldivar, Attorney for Oscar Selgado
“There is always this belief that there’s special treatment and he’s not going to be treated the same way ordinary people or other persons would be treated. He is an ordinary person. There is nothing superhuman about an attorney. And he is an ordinary person with serious medical frailties and conditions. And certainly there’s no special treatment being given to him. He’s been convicted of a serious offence, we know this, and like any person would, he has to go through this process. I do believe that the prison for what he is said to have done, acted extreme, to say the least. A phone call does not warrant a trip to solitary confinement. He was not threatening anybody. He was not making himself a menace. He was simply querying as to whether or not his removal order was properly processed for him to be here today. So I am urging the prison and the prison authorities who I understand have a job to do, to at least be a little bit more reasonable and rational with all their inmates but in particular with those who have conditions like Mr. Selgado. We had the situation of Jahan Abadi not too long ago – a person, Mr. Selgado, with Mrs. Salgado’s particular medical condition, diabetes. He himself was put in solitary confinement on a number of occasions for very minor things, wound up dying in less than a year. We do not want that to repeat itself. I believe that the management at Kolby were given that privilege to manage and earn monies off inmates with a view to having conditions made better for all inmates, not to make remand time and short-term sentences a death penalty. The court may not be apprised fully and understand fully, so we are in the process of bringing a doctor to give the court the benefit of expert testimony as to what could be expected, and why it is that the facility at Kolby is not adequate for a person in Mr. Selgado’s condition.”
Former Chief Magistrate Sharon Fraser, in her testimony as a diabetic, spoke to the challenges that diabetics such as Selgado endure, and how prison life adds to those challenges. Saldivar said that in a case like this, where the convicted is a trained expert in a field of study, the state should use their training to the benefit of others as a part of their punishment, rather than to tolerate jeopardizing their lives.
Arthur Saldivar
Arthur Saldivar, Attorney for Oscar Selgado
“She spoke as only she can, about the challenges of diabetes and why it is from her expert and knowledgeable point of view, the prison would not be the best place for Oscar Selgado. We must remember, apart from being the former chief magistrate of this country, Ms. Fraser sat on the Parole Board at Kolby for quite a number of years, so she is intimately in tune and knowledgeable about the conditions of the prison and its capabilities. A part of sentencing has to do with rehabilitation and reformation. Mr. Selgado has the real prospect of losing his livelihood, which is a very grave punishment in itself. What he also has, by virtue of the expertise that he has and the training that he has, is the ability to help a lot of poor people out here, not by coming to court for them, but by providing advice for them. So there should be other ways that we look at to punish him appropriately for this offense that has been committed, but without compromising his life and losing a resource that could otherwise be put to good use for the public at large.”
The proceeding was adjourned until nine-thirty Friday morning.
Former Port Loyola Area Representative Anthony “Boots” Martinez has officially filed a High Court claim against the Elections and Boundaries Department. Earlier in May, Martinez told the media that the department refused his request to have the one hundred and eighty-eight rejected names on his Gilroy Usher recall petition further verified, based on advice from the attorney general. As a result, Martinez indicated that he would be filing a claim against the department over the refusal. Well, today we met Martinez outside the courthouse. He was there to finalize his application submission. Here is what he told us.
Anthony “Boots” Martinez
Anthony “Boots” Martinez, Former Area Rep., Port Loyola
“I am here to deal with the registry of the supreme court to see the processes of the application for judicial review for the recall petition. The hundred and eighty-eight mismatched signatures of which I personally witnessed a hundred and seventy-two of the people signed and got back one hundred and fifty-eight declarations of the people saying they did sign the petition. So that is the only bone of contention in my view. They say, in my view, I believe that justice not only needs to be done but seems to be done. How you wah verify petition, in my view the law talks about duly verifying a petition and it falls in the chief elections officer hands and their team because they have the capability. They are the people who go, and check people’s addresses and they know there is nothing in the law that says there is one stop way of verifying. The people have phone numbers, an address you cannot even call and whatever the case may be. I have a fundamental problem with it. That cannot be the be it and end it all for the elections and boundaries because the court must have remedy to them kind of thing deh.”
Marion Ali
“Is there a timeline you are looking at?”
Anthony “Boots” Martinez
“We are looking to it as quick as we could, and we hope to get through it by November of this year because the law speaks to eighteen months after you can’t launch a petition eighteen months after the person is elected and one months before the next election is due.”
And if you happened to have forgotten why Martinez is so adamant about having current Area Representative Gilroy Usher recalled, he reminded us today. He also told us that he will seek another term in the constituency if that is what the Port Loyola constituents desire.
Anthony “Boots” Martinez, Former Area Rep., Port Loyola
“Two things happen, I only bear one signature, this is about the residents of Port Loyola who in my humble opinion believe that Mr. Usher is not doing the proper service that is why they sign the petition. This is not about one person. This is about the people of Port Loyola. This is about the fourteen, eighty five, fifteen hundred people that sign the petition. This is about the people, not “Boots” Martinez.”
Marion Ali
“So you don’t plan on reentering?”
Anthony “Boots” Martinez
“Listen, I am a creature of instruction like my attorney. The people asked me to launch the petition, they asked me to append their signature of which I did. The next step they will decide.”
Marion Ali
“But what your stance, do you want to reenter?”
Anthony “Boots” Martinez
“It is not what I want. I am a creature of instruction, the longest serving member of Port Loyola, four terms, consecutive. From since Port Loyola was created I am the longest serving member in the National Assembly there. So for me it has to be the wishes of the people. Like what I said last week, into retirement now, economically it is better for me. A representative makes only three thousand a month. My pension alone from government is more than that plus I get pension from Social Security. But like I said, all of that is not possible without the people.”
