With Christmas just two weeks away, a family in Dangriga is struggling to find any festive cheer as they mourn the loss of twenty-two-year-old Leonard Baltazar. Early Wednesday morning, Leonard was found dead near a resort on Tobacco Caye. This heartbreaking news has left his family feeling devastated and bewildered during what should be a joyful season. News Five’s Britney Gordon spoke with one of Baltazar’s family members about the tragic incident.
Leonard Baltazar
Britney Gordon, Reporting
This Christmas will be a somber one for the Baltazar family as they grieve the loss of twenty-two-year-old Leonard Baltazar. Early this morning, around 2:30 AM, Leonard was found dead outside a cabana at the Reef’s End Lodge on Tobacco Caye. His uncle, Leo Baltazar, is still in shock, struggling to come to terms with the tragic news.
Leo Baltazar
Leo Baltazar, Uncle of Deceased
“I woke up, surprised, shocked. Because I just saw him yesterday. Most people saw him yesterday talking, walking, laughing around as usual, just hanging around and talking to everybody as usual. So when I woke up this morning, my sister came by to my house, called me and told me that she has some bad news to tell me about my nephew and that he passed away due to certain situations in the cayes. I was surprised because I just saw him yesterday.”
According to reports, two tourists were asleep when they were startled awake by the sound of someone rummaging through their belongings. They claim that when they woke up, they saw Baltazar in their room. A struggle broke out between him and one of the visitors, which ended with Baltazar falling over the balcony. Police arrived at the scene around three a.m., after resort workers discovered Baltazar’s body. His family is heartbroken, replaying the events that led to his death.
Leonard Baltazar
Leo Baltzar
“ He’s always laughing, talking, joking around with everyone, popping up to everyone’s birthday party. Yeah, he’s, he likes to celebrate. He lived, he used to live his life in joy and celebration. Most of his time he’s celebrating on the weekends, especially Fridays, and Saturdays. He’s always celebrating and having a good time.”
Leonard, affectionately known as “Uzi” to many, loved spending his time at the caye, indulging in his favorite pastime—fishing.
Leo Baltzar
“To make money he started fishing, diving, lobster and conch. And yeah. That’s what he used to do to make a living. He was doing pretty good, too.”
As grief hangs over their Christmas festivities, the family leans on each other for support and prays that justice is served.
Leonard Baltazar
Leo Baltzar
“Still speechless. Still can’t find words. The mother is devastated. The father, he’s in the U.S., also devastated. Yeah, the uncles and aunts, we’re all devastated of the whole situation. We’re just speechless and trying to process the whole thing slowly. “ It’s gonna be quiet without him around it’s gonna be, it’s gonna be rough without him around.”
The search for missing cousins Marvin Cante and Juan Raymundo has ended in tragedy. Earlier tonight, their bodies were discovered in a shallow grave near Dollar Bank Road in the Hattieville area. The men had been missing since late November, when their car was found abandoned near mile 24 on the George Price Highway. Friends and family have been tirelessly searching for them with little progress until now. This heartbreaking discovery has left their loved ones devastated. More details will emerge as police continue their investigation.
Belizeans are still in shock from the series of deadly road accidents over the past few months, including a tragic incident on the George Price Highway that claimed ten lives last weekend. On Tuesday, we spoke with Cayo Northeast Area Representative, Orlando Habet, about the government’s response plan. He shared that the government held an open dialogue with the community to gather feedback on potential improvements. Residents suggested changes like better road lighting and nationwide driver education for young people. We caught up with Habet again today, and he expanded on the changes Belizeans are eager to see.
Orlando Habet
Orlando Habet, Area Representative, Cayo NorthEast
“Another suggestion was that there are no, at least in Cayo, no driving schools to teach young people and have their driving they can do it a year or more with a learner’s permit before they can get a license. Concerns that maybe sometimes some politicians, luckily not, I am not one of them, that would call the police and say, listen, a certain person have a traffic violation, can you release them or be easy with them? That has to stop. We cannot continue. And so there were different suggestions, but I think that clearly the road signs, visibility of the signs, the markings on the road, very important, but also on the other side, People want to have space and areas where they can go and enjoy themselves because they’re young. But one of them can’t be over drinking. It has to be controlled. And so the families have to also take some responsibility there. And to speak to our youth because they are so valuable to our communities, valuable to our country, so we can’t continue losing them the way they are. I can recall when I was in a position when the road was being constructed and I was in the front row. From Belmopan to San Ignacio and I told the Prime Minister Barrow at the time I was in a position that if we are making the roads and it is very expensive and the reason why it was expensive was because they had to acquire land from both sides from private property to widen the road, then why didn’t we acquire a little bit more and make it four lanes so that you have two lanes going, two lanes coming because from what I hear from the traffic department, transport department is that A high percentage of the front line accidents occur because of overtaking. And that’s because we only have two lanes on the road. It is something that we’ll have to start to address gradually. At least, certain sections of the road that are very important, where we can do that. And that there is still some space. Maybe from Belmopan to Cayo, to San Ignacio, it’s difficult because you have the villages throughout all the road. But maybe from Belmopan to Belize City is one area where we can possibly do that.”
On Monday, the family of two accident victims, thirty-year-old Jasmin Rodriguez and her four-year-old daughter, Jazelle Rodriguez, reached out to the public for help in laying their loved ones to rest. Both tragically lost their lives in an accident on the San Ignacio/Benque Road on Saturday night. Tonight, Jasmin’s sister-in-law, Maritza Rodriguez, shared with News Five that the funeral service for little Jazelle and her mom will be held on Friday morning at ten AM at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in San Ignacio.
Via Phone: Maritza Rodriguez, Sister of Jasmin Rodriguez
“ We got an immense amount of people reaching out, even the ones that couldn’t help out by giving donations, they reached out with their condolences. We thank each and every person that has helped us, even if it was just with words, you know. Those sympathetic words mean a lot in these hard times, especially since we’re the family of two. We got donations. Munnings Funeral Home reached out to us, gave us a great package for both mom and daughter, so we’re very fortunate to have had him help us and reach out to us, you know. And we had the mayor helping us out. We had everyone from the community reach out – different donations that we have started. We got different donations from all over. So like I said, we just greatly appreciate each and every person that has helped, that is still helping, and that’s just, even if it was just with the kind words that they sent, their messages, their calls, it means a lot to the family.”
The Briceño administration is stepping up for teachers, promising to cover increments and outstanding allowances within the next nine days. This commitment comes after the Belize National Teachers Union (B.N.T.U.) took a strong stance last week over unpaid allowances. You might remember B.N.T.U. President Nadia Caliz stating that the union was gearing up for street protests in January 2025. On Monday, Chief Executive Officer Dian Maheia responded to Caliz, acknowledging the letter sent to Minister of Education Francis Fonseca on December 6th. C.E.O. Maheia highlighted the significant achievements of the union’s partnership, including resolving the Collective Bargaining Agreement Proposal 22. She also admitted that the current system is outdated and bogged down by bureaucracy. Earlier today, we spoke with Caliz.
Nadia Caliz
Nadia Caliz, President, B.N.T.U.
“Yesterday, the ministry responded to our written request. They stated that they will provide teachers with their increments and outstanding allowance by the twentieth of December. The only grey area for the union, though, is that we don’t know if the teachers who have outstanding increments from 2015, you some from 2018, if all of those years will be covered. That’s the only grey area, but we are happy. We are happy that the teachers have gotten what they wanted.”
Isani Cayetano
“I presume that this effectively staves off whatever action would have been planned for January 2025.”
Nadia Caliz
“I am not supposed to say yes or no to that question at all. There are other parts to it. First, the increment and then we need to sit down and dialogue concerning the change of the system. Since the black and white did not state a date for us to meet, as a responsible union, we wrote them a letter requesting a meeting next week to discuss how we can address this antiquated system that has our teachers that has our teachers suffering, the compensation for those who were unfairly removed from the system due to CPD issues which had a lot to do more with the ministry than the teacher because the teacher met the criteria. When the ministry did not furnish a license, the managements, based on the rules and procedures in place, the managements removed them from the payroll.”
Caliz mentioned that she needs to meet with the union’s executive team to give them an update. When asked if the government’s quick response was influenced by the upcoming general elections, she clarified that the B.N.T.U.’s stance is purely about the issues at hand and not political.
Nadia Caliz
Nadia Caliz, President, B.N.T.U.
“After meeting with the government, I’ll then meet with my council to update my council and then we will know how we proceed from there. But let me reiterate this point, we are very happy that government is making progress, they have addressed the issue of the outstanding increment, especially for those for 2023, 2024 and 2022-2023. I’m quite certain of those two years. We are only concerned about the others who have been coming to us about, you know, waiting. 2015, I haven’t gotten it, 2017 and all those years. There are outstanding years beyond the frozen years.”
Isani Cayetano
“Cynics would easily argue that this has to be rectified ahead of general elections coming in 2025. How do you respond to that?”
Nadia Caliz
“Well when we met with Minister Hyde on Saturday, I have to say this, he made reference to this is the season that everybody comes after the government because elections are around the corner. For the BNTU, this has nothing to do with elections being around the corner and it would be very nice for government to solve it before then. But if you look at the current state of affairs, I would say only somebody who cannot reason will not be able to predict in which direction elections will go. Everybody wants stability. If you look at the parties and the persons offering themselves, if you look at who is more stable, who is more organized. I don’t think what we’re doing will have any impact on any election. What we’re doing is ensuring that teachers get what is right.”
Fresh stats from the Statistical Institute of Belize reveal some positive trends: the economy grew, the labor force expanded in September, unemployment dropped, and poverty levels decreased in the third quarter of this year. This overall growth spans all sectors, including agriculture, which had been struggling in previous quarters. The S.I.B. shared detailed figures today, explaining how they calculated the impressive two-point-one percent unemployment rate. News Five’s Marion Ali attended the presentation and filed this report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Belize’s economy saw a solid six-point-six percent growth in the third quarter of 2024, with all sectors, including agriculture, bouncing back after previous struggles. This upbeat news comes from the latest stats by the Statistical Institute of Belize (S.I.B.). Today, the institute broke down the performance of various categories from July to October, comparing them to the same period in 2023. The total value of goods and services produced in the third quarter hit $1.23 billion, which is $75.6 million more than the same period last year. Interestingly, the data also shows zero percent inflation compared to 2023. S.I.B. Director General Diana Castillo explained to reporters how they arrived at these figures.
Diana Castillo-Trejo
Diana Castillo-Trejo, Director-General, S.I.B.
“Sometimes we have a situation where in a particular municipality or even at the national level you have prices go up, some go down, so without looking in great detail at what might be happening in that particular municipality I can’t really say but it happens from time to time. It doesn’t mean that prices were completely stable. It just means that what went up and what went down offset each other. Ten years ago I would say that inflation was much more stable, but this has to do with a lot of the external shocks and factors that we have been experiencing not just in Belize but globally.”
The unemployment rate is now down to two-point-one percent. We asked Castillo to shed some light on this, especially since it seems to contradict what the average person on the street is experiencing.
Diana Castillo-Trejo
“ We have a specific definition for who falls within the labor force and who is classified as unemployed. So to be classified as unemployed, a person obviously has to be without work, but they also have to be available to work and looking for work. Now you have persons who are outside of the labor force, so about forty-five percent of the working age population is not at all in the labor force. And so this is where I think people are seeing that there are persons who are not working, they are not engaged in productive activity, and that is where the disconnect between the unemployment rate, which is those persons who are not working but they are looking for work, versus persons who are not engaged in productive activity, but they’re not looking, they’re not available, etc.”
On the poverty level index for September, Statistician Christian Orellana said that twenty-two-point one percent of the population was poor.
Christian Orellana
Christian Orellana, Statistician, S.I.B.
“In September 2024, eighty-nine thousand, eight hundred and seventy-four persons among twenty- thousand, five hundred and sixty-two households were considered to be multi-dimensionally poor. We now compare the 2023 N.P.I. results to the 2024 N.P.I. results. A decrease of four-point-three percentage point was observed for the incidents. This is a result of fourteen thousand and seventeen individuals among three thousand, five hundred and thirty-four households coming out of being multidimensional poor. Notably due to a decrease in the share of the poor population that experienced deprivations in areas such as improved sanitation, access to internet, and dependency. When comparing the intensity between both years, it can be observed that the severity of poverty showed very little change.”
Statistician, Ronald Orellana shared that for the period from January to October 2024, imports stood at nine-point-two percent higher than in 2023.
Ronald Orellana
Ronald Orellana, Statistician, S.I.B.
“ The total domestic imports for the first 10 months of the year amounted two-point-four billion dollars, up nine-point-two percent or two hundred and six million dollars when compared to imports for the first 10 months of 2023. Currently, imports stood at two-point-four billion dollars, which is considerably greater than that of imports before 2020. Let’s look at the top categories that contributed to this overall increase in merchandise imports. It can be observed that machinery and transport equipment recorded a significant rise for the period, from four hundred and ninety-four point four million dollars to six hundred and fourteen point five million dollars at twenty-four point three percent or one hundred and twenty point one million dollars increase when compared to 2023.”
Orellana said exports were up a notch.
Ronald Orellana
“ The total for the first 10 months of 2024 amounted to three hundred and sixty-three point five million, representing a modest growth of 0. 6 percent or 2 million compared to the same period in 2023. Bananas experienced the largest increase climbing from fifty point nine million to seventy-one point three million. Other exports, including cattle and alcoholic beverages, went up by nine point two million for the first 10 months of the year. Similarly, due to favorable prices for orange concentrate, the citrus products increased from 18. 6 million to twenty-six point nine million. These gains were tempered by declines in two major categories. Sugar fell by eighteen point five million, from one hundred and forty-seven million to one hundred twenty-eight point four million on account to the timing of shipments, exports of animal feed drop sharply decreasing from thirty-one point three million to eleven point five million.”
While the S.I.B. reports that the poverty rate is just over twenty-two percent, they also run a monthly survey called the Consumer Confidence Index. This survey gauges people’s feelings about their economic situation. According to the Acting Manager of the Economic Statistics Department, it’s a quick Q&A session with closed-ended questions, so participants don’t get a chance to elaborate on their answers.
Jacqueline Sabal, Acting Manager, Economic Statistics Department
“ It’s just ten questions, and we’re asking them how they feel about their household financial situation, general economic conditions, and then also about savings, whether they think prices will increase, if they think unemployment will increase, etc. So, it’s fairly short. Um, what we use to compile the index is just seven out of those 10 questions. And of the 7 questions, we separate them into the present index, expectations, and then durable goods. The present deals with Your present financial situation, present economic situation, et cetera, expectations is what you think will happen in the future, 12 months from now. With regards to the same thing, your financial situation and general economic conditions. And then the durable goods question is about whether consumers think now is the right time to make major purchases of durable goods. So we’re asking about if now is the right time to By builder, renovate a home, purchase a car, furniture, those type of items that require a lot of intent and thought before making purchase, making that big purchase. When it comes to expectations, it’s very specific. It’s about your expectation regarding your financial situation. If you think it will get better, if you think it will get worse, if you think it will stay the same. So that’s what we focus on when it comes to expectations. Similarly, for general economic conditions, that’s what we focus on.”
Today, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (B.C.C.I.) held a session with its members to address any concerns about the government’s General Sales Tax (GST) waiver on Christmas shopping for the next two weekends. The waiver doesn’t cover the service industry, consignment goods, wholesale items, hire purchases, new motor vehicles, cigarettes, liquor, fuel, liquid petroleum gas, guns, mobile phones, and similar items. However, the Chamber members were more focused on the technical aspects of how the current system will handle the waiver. This evening, B.C.C.I. Vice President Jody Williams told News Five that while the business community generally welcomes the government’s incentive, there are still some reservations. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Jody Williams, Vice President of the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, shared that the business community has had mixed reactions to the government’s recent GST waiver announcement.
Via Phone: Jody Williams, Vice President, B.C.C.I.
“There’s been a fifty-fifty reaction. You know, there’s a lot of questions. I know this is the first G.S.T. waiver for weekend sales for the first time in Belize. So as we know, like for every new thing happening, you know, there’s a lot of questions that need to be answered, a lot of clarifications and so on. But all in all the Belize Chamber of Commerce does support this initiative by the government. It will definitely bring financial relief for a persons doing their Christmas shopping, especially when it comes to goods that come with GST. for GST goods, especially when it comes to electronics, certain food items, hams and anything integral that persons need and definitely, we think this is a good thing and I think the main objective as well, as we have definitely pointed out that we want to boost economic activity in the Christmas for businesses in Belize for sure, and at the same time, keep believe in dollars here locally in Belize.”
For half of the business community that has reservations, Williams thinks it might be because this GST waiver is a new concept for merchants. Some have even mentioned that they won’t be open for business during this period.
Via Phone: Jody Williams
“I think it’s because it’s a new thing. They may have more questions than anything else, but we at the Chamber, we are bringing our team together to work along as well with the Belize Tax Service Department to provide answers, to give more information and to educate the businesses and consumers of Belize that may have these questions. And there has been talk and rumors actually that some business will be closing on those specific days, but we are saying why? Because definitely they will miss out on sales on these days. And it’s a good initiative. It boosts consumer spending as well. We had a black Friday just a couple of weeks ago and now this is like a black Friday, but it’s actually the entire weekend, so if they made those Black Friday sales possible, so why are they being reserved for this first time GST waiver weekends for Christmas shopping?”
Williams mentioned that for the many businesses that have welcomed the waiver, the B.C.C.I. has encouraged them to ensure the busy shopping season goes as smoothly as possible for everyone.
Via Phone: Jody Williams
“There will be more activity, there will be more shoppers, so I would suggest to all businesses, we’re doing our part at the Chamber to provide as much info to be ready to have those extra persons ready to serve, not to have much backline, and especially when it comes to your system, your P.O.S. system and your cash registry and everything to be fit and ready for those days because it will be very crowded and persons want to take advantage of this. So, as businesses, you know, we must be ready for those weekends.”
Just the other day, we mentioned that Belize is almost back to its pre-COVID tourist numbers. But, according to the Belize Tourism Board, there’s a snag – Belize City still doesn’t have a docking station, which is holding things back. The Ministry of Tourism has promised that these crucial ports are on their way to the old capital. The big question is, when? Today, we caught up with the Minister of Tourism, Anthony Mahler. Here’s what he had to say.
Britney Gordon
“Is there any updates on possibly implementing the cruise port in Belize City? Because speaking to BTB cruise director, that’s the main part that’s holding us back from surpassing pre-COVID numbers in terms of tourism.”
Anthony Mahler
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism
“The ships are getting bigger, so tendering is more difficult. And we’ve said this over and over but we have a plan and we’re working on that right now. We’ll have more information in January. We’re working on a master plan. And we’ll have more information in January.”
Britney Gordon
“Any insight that you can give us into those plans? Like something that we can expect?”
Anthony Mahler
“I can tell you that it has the support and the commitment from all the major cruise lines right now.”
