Widow Slain Cane Farmer Calls on Belize P.M. Dean Barrow for help

March 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Renewal of petition for the establishment of a Commission of inquiry to hold public hearings in Orange Walk Town, Orange Walk District, Belize on what transpired on February 2, 2009 during the Cane Farmers Protest against the Core Sampler at the Belize Sugar Industries’ Sugar Factory.

San Victor Village
Corozal District
Belize

Renewal of petition for the establishment of a Commission of inquiry
to hold public hearings in Orange Walk Town, Orange Walk District on
what transpired on February 2, 2009 during the Cane Farmers Protest
against the Core Sampler at the Belize Sugar Industries’ Sugar
Factory.

March 10, 2010

The Prime Minister’s Office
Hon. Dean O. Barrow
Belmopan, Belize, C. A.

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I hereby apply to your office once again to conduct an impartial and
fair investigation into the circumstances of how my husband Atanacio
Gutierrez of San Victor Village lost his life on February 2, 2009, at
the hands of the police security forces on the road leading to the
Belize Sugar Industries’ Sugar Factory.

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U.S. Company Harvesting Xate Palm Leaves in Belize

February 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Local media reports say a U.S. company based in Miami is harvesting Xate leaves from Belize’s rain forests. Xate (pronounce: shatay) are the leaves from 3 Chamaedorea  species of palm tree (Chamaedorea elegans, Chamaedorea belize-xate.jpgoblongata and Chamaedorea ernesti-augustii). The leaves are used in the floral industry because of their popularity for flower arrangements. The harvesting of Xate has been a controversial issue in Belize. Belize’s Channel 7 reported on 24 February that:

“Whenever it comes up the issue of Xate is always a troubling one. That’s because most times, the stories are about illegal harvesting of the ornamental leaf in Belize’s jungles by Guatemalans. Recently, the Government of Belize had agreed to issue a number of licenses but those also proved problematic because they provided Guatemalan harvesters to extract Xate with a license, and in so doing muddied the waters for authorities who could no longer make an easy differentiation between legitimate and illegitimate operators.

“According to Belize’s Ambassador to Guatemala Fred Martinez, it was frowned upon by the OAS and he told us that the Government of Belize had put a stop on all Xate concessions. And that’s why today we were taken off guard when the Government Press Office sent video of a fully outfitted Xate operation in western Belize. It’s called Eco-Green a subsidiary of a Miami based company that specializes in this. The processing factory is just outside Cayo and they had an official opening today – except that we weren’t invited to ask the tough questions – like who’s going to be harvesting the Xate? Specifically, are Guatemalans going to be harvesting it in Belize’s jungles?

That’s a worrying prospect – but a question for which we have no answers – as the Minister and the investor soft shoed through their interview with the Government Press Office.”

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Belize Guest Editorial: Shaft of Brilliance?

February 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

g-michael-reid-belize.jpgBy G. Michael Reid - The Prime Minister took the podium this past week to
apprise Belizeans of the current state or our nation and as could have
been expected, the prognosis was grim.  Not even the
normally glib and gifted orator could find the words to make the landing
of his message soft.  Things are dread and gonna get
dreader!

Anyone living in this country at this time will tell you
that things are…well in a word, terrible.  Cost of living
is astronomical and climbing higher each day, unemployment is bad and
getting worse, crime is ridiculously out of control, our security forces
make us more ashamed than secure and corruption seems the normal and
acceptable modus operandi among public officials.  Hustling
is the order of the day.

Mr. Barrow let
loose sighs and phrases like: “huge deficit”"the worst is yet to come”
and “The upcoming fiscal year will be the hardest.”   In a
rare and unusual display of humility, Mr. Barrow
asked Belizeans for their “support and understanding”.   Well
for sure, that request could be more readily considered if Belizeans
would see the same inclination to austerity from Mr. Barrow
and his band of bungling bandits. For Mr. Barrow
to shake his Rolex in our faces and asking us to keep our Timex
ticking, is unreasonable. We are basically being asked to patch our
bikes and keep peddling while we watch his clueless ministers and hand
pick hustlers high roll past us in their Infiniti’s and custom fitted
SUV’s.

Belize folk are not known to be unreasonable and have
in fact, been often criticized for being too complacent and lenient
with politicians.  This current administration in
particular, has been given a long rope when we consider the number of
misappropriations and blatant misuse of public trust; from the halls of
Capital Hill to the corridors of local government.  Yet,
shielded by a shamelessly partisan media (probably embarrassed by their
obvious misdirecting of the people), this government has been allowed to
function, or malfunction as the case may be, free and san souci.

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Belize Facing Union Problems

February 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Belmopan, Belize (13 February) The United Democratic Party of Prime Minister Dean Barrow continues to be haunted by economic woes and now problems from the very same trade unions that helped bring him  to power. Former strategic ally – the Belize Teachers Union – has now turned on the government accusing it of “pussy footing” around agreed upon salary increases.

In a a radio interview monitored today in Belize, Mr. Jaime Panti – President of the Belize Tachers union stated that:

“We are demanding from government first, to respect the principles of good industrial relations. We started negotiations, lets continue the process. So what we’re demanding from them is to come to the table so we can continue the process. We’re not in for having any public debate as to our proposal. So that’s basically what we are demanding. Respect and lets come to the table”

President of the Public Service Union and key ally in bringing Mr. Barrow to power – Jaquelin Willoughby – told the media that:

“Government is government. They are always going to sensationalize and highlight the politics. They highlighted the issue of the salary increase so as to hide the disrespectful way in which they have been treating the unions. So I’m not going to buy into that. If the government desires for us to negotiate this agreement in the public, then they need to put that in writing and let us know. But we have agreed on the 12 September 2008 that we would not talk about the proposals unless we have come to an agreement.

So I can only conclude that them raising the issue is definitely politicizing it and trying to bring the Belizean people to that place of confusion. But there is no confusion where the unions are concerned. We say they are disrespectful. Come to the table. So I can’t even take what they are saying as anything official, because we have not started discussions.”

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Belize Cabinet Reshuffle May Be In The Works

February 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A reshuffle of the Belize Cabinet may be in the works, according to local media reports monitored in Belize. Increasing poverty, political corruption and out of control crime may force Prime Minister Barrow to fire ministers as his government completes two years in office. More Information Here.

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U.S. National Allegedly Coerced to Guilty Plea in Belize

January 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Belmopan, Belize 21 January – U.S. national and alleged fugitive, William Russell Jewett Jr., has been in the news since Monday because he was found in Belize with a large bundle of cash.
Jewett was busted with over a hundred and twenty thousand dollars on his boat and slapped with charges from the F.I.U., Customs and Immigration.

But now, thirty-three year old Jewett is making serious allegations against the FIU.
Today he indicated to the court that he wanted to change his plea for Money Laundering from not guilty to guilty. But before the plea was taken, his attorneys, Dickie Bradley and Ellis Arnold, addressed the court both indicating that they were withdrawing from the case because Jewett rejected their legal advice.

According to Bradley, while remanded, Jewett had a visit from personnel of the U.S. Embassy and the F.I.U. and was allegedly threatened with eleven years in prison if he did not plead guilty. Bradley says that Jewett was also told that his wife will be charged and their two year old child would be placed in the custody of Social Services. This was confirmed by Jewett to freelance reporter, Anita Nembhard, via a telephone call from prison. The alleged threats apparently contributed to Jewett’s change of heart.  Although Jewett is no longer his client, Bradley gave us details of what happened.

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