Belize Times August 23, 2015 by Belize Times Press

SCAN HERE

The Belize Times THE BELIZE TIMES

23 AUG

2015

Established 1957

23 AUGUST 2015 | ISSUE NO: 4959

The Truth Shall Make You Free

www.belizetimes.bz | $1.00

Barrow Endangers Belizeans

Prime Minister knew Guatemala has asserted control of Sarstoon Island

5,000 STRONG

Pg. 3

Pride and Shame!! PUP Leader hails Territorial Volunteers; chastises PM and Foreign Minister

Pg. 2

at POWER to the PEOPLE TOUR in BIG FALLS, TOLEDO

Pg. Pg.3112

Joel Bishop

Naughty, Joel Bishop Naughty Carla beaten to death by 20 men Pg. 23

NO TO SEDI, NO TO ICJ

Pg. 16

23 AUG

2015

Barrow Endangers Belizeans Belize City, August 20, 2015 In one of his worst press conference, Prime Minister Dean Barrow was seen as deceitful and hypocritical and as the person principally at fault for the unacceptable situation with the Sarstoon River and Sarstoon Island. The nation of Belize has now heard from his own mouth that the Belize Defense Force, when travelling on the Sarstoon River to access their small base at Cadenas, are routinely harassed by Guatemalan naval vessels. This has never been told to our nation before. Neither has there been any information of any formal protests by Belize to the Guatemala government. Nor did the Prime Minister say that each and every such behavior has been documented and rigorously protested. No such thing was said because no such actions have been taken. This constitutes grave lapses and negligence on the part of the Prime Minister of Belize. On whose watch the behavior of the Guatemala has become aggressive and intolerable. These ongoing interferences by Guatemala gunboats against the BDF would no doubt be occurring on what has always been the Belize border side of the Sarstoon River. This means for each such aggression against the BDF, Guatemala has also committed incursions into violations against the territorial integrity of Belize. No protests have been lodged against Guatemala or to the OAS.

03 3

THE BELIZE TIMES

Belizeans are now hearing of these grave threats to our national security for the very first time, from the Prime Minister’s press conference on Wednesday 19 August. The Prime Minister dropped a bomb shell on Belizeans when he mentioned quite casually, “Guatemalan claims the River Sarstoon not in the same way as it claims other portions of our country. Their position is that what we know to be Belize River included the Sarstoon River, and that our border in that area stopped at the bank of the river on the Belize side. So the entire Sarstoon was always, they argue, part of Guatemalan territory and recognized as belonging to them”. The Prime Minister then mentions that he considers the Guatemala view to be wrong. But the real issue is since when Sarstoon River all the way to the edge of the mainland of southern Belize? This includes the whole of the Sarstoon Island and the “north channel” of the river. The Prime Minister, looking frail and frightened at his press conference did not say. Neither has he stated upon learning of this new disturbing behavior of Guatemala claiming the whole river he immediately in the strongest terms registered the required protest to the Guatemala government and the Organization of American States as well as to all individual member nations of that organization.

We categorically call on the Prime Minister to explain in detail exactly the sequence of events leading up to him being told by Guatemala of their new behavior and why he has done nothing. And why have the Belizean people not been told? The situation is grave because Guatemala has obviously been aggressively taking control of the whole of Sarstoon Island and the whole of the Sarstoon River. So frightening is this revelation that the Prime Minister allowed the Territorial Volunteers to enter the Sarstoon River and circled the Sarstoon Island, knowing that Guatemala’s military and naval forces feel duty bound to defend their patrimony, which now includes the island and whole river, as they see it. The Prime Minister had a duty and responsibility to this nation and to the Territorial Volunteers on Friday the 15 August when, hiding behind the skirt of the National Security Council, he was covering vague threats and warning to the volunteers not to go on their expedition. These citizens could have been killed or captured as illegal immigrants entering Guatemala. In a most cynical and hypocritical move, the Prime Minister at his Wednesday press conference was referring to the Volunteers as patriotic and inspirational. This is nothing but a cheap political play given that national anger over how he treated these brave citizens, who in their innocence were

travelling into great danger. The Prime Minister’s criticism against the Volunteers, leading up to their last Sunday’s expedition was intense and disturbing. But thanks to the Volunteers the whole of Belize, the Belizean communities abroad and the rest of the world, saw the bellicose behavior of the Guatemalan armed forces and heard Guatemalan Vice Admiral and the Guatemalan media state that the area is part of their territory. The Prime Minister said that on Wednesday afternoon a strong protest was sent over Guatemala’s incursion into our side of the river to block the boats of the Territorial Volunteers. What we want the Prime Minister to say is if and when and by what means he received the strongest of warnings from Guatemala for Sunday “incursions” into “Guatemalan river”? We now know that when the Coast Guards went to Sarstoon Island on the 28 and 29 May this year and were confronted by reinforced Guatemalan naval vessels it was the Prime Minister who ordered the retreat. He must have been told or reminded from the highest levels in the Guatemala government what their position was. He failed to inform the people of Belize. Not only did he fail in this most important responsibility. He was repeatedly asked and was adamant and arrogant in insulting the media that he would say nothing. Now we know why. Prime Minister Dean Barrow has been lying and deceiving the people of Belize over this grave and existential issue with Guatemala. He cannot be allowed to get away with it.

WATCH LIVE on CCV CH9 CBC CH50/60 Southern Cable CH18 VIBES RADIO 90.5FM | 102.9FM

Call 650-8429

Text 600-1074

4 04

THE BELIZE TIMES

23 AUG

2015

Five Major Agenda Points ADDRESS TO THE NATION

by Hon. Francis Fonseca Leader of the People’s United Party 27 July 2015 My fellow Belizeans, Nobody knows better than you the very serious problems and challenges facing our Belizean families, communities and nation. Too many of you know and live each day the pain and anguish of NOT being able to put food on the table, to make ends meet, to educate your children, to get proper healthcare, to keep a roof over your head.

Your People’s United Party, with your support, will bring us into that dawn of a day that will see social justice for all, economic and governance reform, education and health reform. We provide for your review and approval, the following five major agenda points •

The PUP knows best how to create jobs and put money in your pockets. We will do so for you and your families;

•

NO to the ICJ. Guatemala must first respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity as an equal partner and neighbor;

•

Roll out NHI across Belize and ensure that all Belizeans have access to basic medicines and quality healthcare. No longer must our people die because they can’t afford the healthcare they need;

Our current UDP Government acts like they are our rulers, informing us that we will go to the ICJ, whether we like it or not; while allowing the death of Danny Conorquie to go unanswered; our reef to be wrecked; Guatemalan companies to build our FOBs and ultimately, seeking permission to build a base on our sovereign territory.

•

Appoint the 13th Senator and Repeal the abusive PetroCaribe Act which contravenes the Finance and Audit Act and replace it with a law that conforms to our existing fiscal and audit laws and regulations, so that the PetroCaribe program may be utilized to benefit all Belizeans;

A Governments first and most sacred duty and obligation is the protection of our territorial integrity and national sovereignty. This UDP Government has failed in this solemn duty and for this alone THEY MUST GO AND GO NOW!

•

The time has come for us as a Nation to boldly and proudly declare that we will make education from pre-school to 6th form FREE. There is no better investment that we can make than that we make in Education.

Jobs are scarce and unemployment is high. Wages are stagnant, and so is our economy. The only significant growth that has been recorded is the amount of external debt, which is now an astronomical 2.3 billion dollars and growing every day. The cost of living has gone up and the purchasing power of your dollar has gone down. Crime, and the angel of death stalk our youth, and the rate of murder, rape and sexual assault is fast approaching crisis proportion. Belize – our Belize – is the nation with the fourth highest homicide rate per capita, in the world.

In the hour when it seems darkest, if you are a person of faith, you DO NOT give in to despair. You KNOW that light approaches, and that the dawn of deliverance is near. Your faith sustains you, and gives you new resolve and hope. That hour of darkness may be here, but I appeal to your faith. I appeal to your resolve. I appeal to your hope. Together, we WILL RISE. Our BELIZE WILL SHINE AGAIN.

We CAN achieve these things. WE can create meaningful change; WE CAN make Belize the best place on earth to live, love, work, and play. I ask you today, with humility, with hope, with the knowledge that YOU hold the power to create this new Belize, to join me, join me and my team, join hands with us, hearts with us, HOPE WITH US. WE CAN CREATE A BETTER BELIZE… Power to the People

23 AUG

2015

THE BELIZE TIMES

5 05

EDITORIAL Big Picture – Small Picture

ffshore banks without correspondent banks means no offshore banking sector. The essence of offshore banking is the free flow of foreign currency, primarily US dollars, through the banks without any exchange control. This is akin to conducting banking business in the U.S. but doing it outside the U.S. Without correspondent banks, then you are forced to do banking essentially back in the U.S., which means that Belize’s offshore banks are no longer attractive, and ultimately would lead to a loss of skilled labor jobs in the banking sector. Moreover, apart from facilitating the offshore services sector in Belize, funds that ended up in the Belize offshore banks played a key role in tourism investment in Belize. It has also played a key role in financing citrus and shrimp, major export industries in Belize, among others. This will all now dry up thereby negatively affecting these key industries in our economy. This will mean reduced investment in these industries and most certainly loss of jobs. The loss of correspondent banks by domestic banks can have an even more severe adverse impact on our economy. Ordinary everyday transactions may be impaired if not curtailed. Just the purchase of consumer items from abroad like imported food or imported electricity or imported fuel (not to mention capital items like steel, cement and equipment) will become difficult. Nowhere other than in Belize is the Belize dollar accepted. We can’t pay for imported goods and services with Belize dollars. We need hard currency to buy these things with. We need US dollars. And even if we have the US dollars, in this day and age especially, we can’t pay any supplier with cash even if we could safely transport this cash. They wouldn’t accept it because of all the rules on money laundering. Nobody accepts

cash nowadays. There is almost a presumption of illegality if you try to pay with cash. The only way we can pay for imports then is if the domestic banks have US correspondent accounts with banks in the US. This allows for the electronic transfer of funds or what they call wire transfers from bank to bank. There is no physical movement of cash for every transaction, every purchase, every import. In the same way as well, if we are exporting, we don’t get paid in cash. The buyer makes their payment in US dollar by way of an electronic transfer only to a bank that has a US correspondent bank account with a bank in the US. So if our banks don’t have US correspondent accounts with banks in the US, how will we pay for imports and how will we get paid for exports? Foreigners won’t want to do business with us. They won’t want to trade with us. If we are buying from them, there will be uncertainty as to when or how they will get paid or if they will get paid at all. If we are selling to them, it will be a lot of hassle for them to pay us. Either they won’t bother with all the hassle to pay or to put up with the hassle or we will have to reduce our prices to cover the cost of the hassle they have to put up with. We cannot allow our domestic banks to lose their correspondent banking relationships with the US. And we cannot concede that we have to live with this situation like we live with hurricanes. Belize is not a risky place to do business with. The banks in Belize are not risky to do business with. We have to convince the US and the other developed countries who are blacklisting us of this. If they agree that we are not risky, then there is no de-risking to be done. But we can’t stand idly by and do nothing as we seem to have been doing so far relative to other jurisdictions.

6 06

THE BELIZE TIMES

We have lost Sarstoon Island By Dickie Bradley We lost the battle for Sarstoon Island. evoke It was a bittersweet defeat at the mouth of the Sarstoon River which separates us from our neighbor. This happened early Sunday afternoon August 16th, 2015. The day had started out like any other day. Jehovah’s mighty sun rose in the east as we headed south by road. When the first rays hit the sky, they scattered the clouds in crimson splendor across a land that once was so free alongside the Caribbean Sea. Wil Maheia had organized another of his border expeditions. His territorial volunteers would travel to the Sarstoon Island and if possible try to place the Belizean flag on it. If not possible, the island would be circled by a flotilla of hired boats. Volunteers from every district were arriving in Punta Gorda on Saturday evening. The plan was to take a bus from P.G. head to Barranco and then boat across to the island. I decided to leave Belize City early Sunday morning and drive through to Barranco Village by 9:00 A.M. On the journey along the George Price Highway I saw the waste that always greets me. Land, land everywhere and none of it being developed. At the Guanacaste junction just before Roaring Creek Bridge a massive multi-million dollars project is unfolding to construct a roundabout and widen the road that leads up the Hummingbird Highway. It will no

doubt be an impressive sight. It is a classic example of third world waste. Millions of dollars for an unnecessary project that could have been satisfied by traffic lights. This, in a land with the shameful statistic of 48 percent poverty. Political show-time at the expense of rising poverty. No scene can rival the long and winding road from George Gabb’s sculpture to the 50-mile junction of the Southern Highway just outside the land-mark “drums of my father” art work in culture capital, Dangriga, a few miles from the turn to head to Toledo. On the Southern Highway, over wide bridges and very narrow ones the failure whispers constantly: make use of my rich soil; place me in productive pastures; let me feed you and make you a prosperous people. I try to switch my mind to other thoughts but dreams of crops and cattle stretching

through the lush land dotted with factories and happy villages become a stubborn dream that refuses to fade. Somewhere in one of my tattered King James Version is a tick and a scratch under a verse. Jesus said the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to another people who will produce its fruits. Miles upon miles of undeveloped land roll by. We are cursed with visionless leaders. Where in the world are there a people with so much land wasting in idleness. We eat imported food and swallow manufactured cancer while the Lord’s great blessing sits idly in our sight. When Oh Lord! When will you send us leaders with vision? You have warned us that where there is no vision we will perish. Is agriculture not our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Am on the road to Barranco, soon seventeen miles of rough, jagged

23 AUG

2015

road. Then the sea. Glimpses of a sea so calm it looks like a painting. I see E. Roy Cayetano, my brethren from Dangriga. He and I were in Cuba at Carifesta as writers, a long, long time ago. His is that most awesome poem “Drums of My Fathers” which every child in school should learn. He shows me where the pier is. I park and walk. My son Richard is with me. We had gone with Wil to Jalacte previously. On the pier, there is a colorful panorama. The Volunteers are in all colors. There is a good vibe among everyone. After small speeches the few, the brave, the adventurers started getting in boats for the trip. I meet Patrick Rogers and his wife. I meet Hubert Pipersburgh from Wagner’s Lane. He is home from America. He is very knowledgeable about the Guatemala issue. Am proud of him. Along comes Greg Cho`c,, home from first year law school in Barbados. His unusual long hair makes him look like a Marcus Canul or Geronimo. I have always been fascinated by the first peoples of the hemisphere, be it the so-called red Indians of North America or the Maya, Incas, Aztecs and others. It is clear to me, that they and the Esquinoes are related to Asians and Chinese. Stoicism seems to be in their DNA. I often wonder what our world would be like had they all united and defeated the invading Europeans who came with guns and cross-shaped swords. There are two short Policemen in regular Police uniforms roasting in the sun. Four tallish Coast Guards Continued on page 22

23 AUG

THE BELIZE TIMES

2015

WOMAN IN THE HOUSE By Dolores Balderamos Garcia

BLUE LETTER DAY Sunday, August 16, 2015 was an important and exciting day. My group and I filled up on fuel, and we left the Ladyville area before 10am. We knew it would be a long drive to Big Falls, Toledo for the Power to the People Rally and Consultation. We had arranged earlier to stop for a brief lunch in Silk Grass Village on the Southern Highway, so we factored that time into our plan to arrive in Big Falls by 2 pm, the time for the scheduled start of our PUP event. The previous day, our Chairman of BRC Pepe Garcia left, along with Senator Lisa Shoman and others, for Punta Gorda, intending to spend the night in PG, before going on the excursion to the Sarstoon River and Island as planned and coordinated by the

Belize Territorial Volunteers, on Sunday. My thoughts during the drive south were of course with all the brave Belizeans who decided to proceed as planned to the Sarstoon, despite the cowardly stance of the Belizean government that it was not only ill-advised, but also downright dangerous to go to the Sarstoon. We all know of course that our infamous Foreign Minister sat idly by and left the lies of the Guatemalan Foreign Minister completely unanswered. As a matter of fact the Guatemalan gentleman lied twice, first by saying that there was prior agreement between our respective governments not to build any military bases, and secondly by creating his own patently false version of the event earlier this year when Belizeans were forcibly taken

to Livingston, Guatemala. We arrived on schedule at the Big Falls school grounds, and greeted and socialized with hundreds of Belizeans. The motorcade that accompanied Party Leader Francis Fonseca from the junction to Big Falls was indeed impressive, and by the time the consultation commenced at around 2:30 pm, it was clear that a bumper crowd would gather for the event. Even before the start of the program I estimated those gathered at around three thousand, and I am confident that once it was underway closer to four thousand party faithfuls and residents crowded the grounds. The atmosphere was charged with positive support and enthusiasm, and all four Southern representatives were very energized, as were other leaders and standard bearers and their committees. The message was clear – the PUP is strong and vibrant, ready to take on the challenge of unseating the present corrupt and incompetent administration. After eight years of UDP rule the people of the South, especially Toledo, are ready for much better governance and attention to them and their needs and concerns. Everyone was extremely happy to see Senator Lisa, Deputy Carolyn, Sylvia Gillett, and others who went to the Sarstoon, in Big Falls on their

07 7 return. The picture that all did not go smoothly at the Sarstoon was already emerging, and I was waiting for the opportunity to get full chapter and verse from Pepe later that evening. All Belizeans have by now heard and seen the full story. Kudos to the organizers and to all who participated. The main concerns of those who spoke and asked questions at the Consultation concerned the good of their communities – needed water systems, electricity, better health centers and a full-fledged hospital for the district, a revived rice industry, desperately needed road units for the upkeep of farmers roads – these are the burning issues for the people of the Toledo District. I am very sorry to disappoint my colleague Dr. Francis Smith, but the folks in Toledo did not ask one question about whether Ralph Fonseca is influencing the PUP. Their concerns are for a dramatic improvement in their lives and the lives of their families after the terrible neglect they have suffered at the hands of this UDP government for all these years. The message which reverberated was that it is time for the UDP to go. It is time for the PUP to bring real progress and development to the South. Power to the People!!

0 8 8 08

Of this and that… REGGAE vs. SOCA There is a show down. Chronixx is coming. “Looser than Lucy” is coming. They will be in Belize. They have shows. The shows are the same night. September 9. Flesh vs. consciousness. Trinidad vs Jamaica. Drunkingness vs. Parrowness. Little Belize is growing up. Too fast. Maybe Belize is too small. Too small for both. Wonder who will win. I say nakedness and wine up. Rastaman don’t stand a chance. Don’t expect righteousness from Cruffy. We like wine up. We like to party. Soca people will have more woman. To be fair. Man follow woman. Soca will win. Sad. CONGRATS Pokonoboy win. The song competition was lucky. Lucky that this youth is real. He is a senior performer. He had a Phillip Goldson. He had a George Price. He had a Mr. Peters. He deserved to win. What a fluke. He did win. The other participants big up. But the judges still suck.

BARROW DI PLAY LOSS Why Barrow no talk big now? What about his slang? Thing like he makes “no apologies”? “Let the consequences be damned”? Cruffy seh that he talk big. When Guatemala di hands him up for Belizean land, he ka-ka chunchu. Reminds me of a man who beat lady. Beat uh-man but can’t fight a man in the streets. This man is bogus. Glen Tillett is right. Barrow is bogus. He defend Gapi from murder accusation. He defend Castro from sexual charge. He defend Patrick Faber from domestic violence charges. He defend Penner from international terrorism charges. He defend Sedi from eggs. From treason charges. But… but…but…he cannot defend Belizeans against Guatemala. There is a song. It is by a Jamaica. His name is Popcaan. It talks about the UDP: “The bwoy dem sell we out, Wah dem dweet fa, A coulda chicken or pizza…” RAKE I saw a rat and a crab di fight. What number dat play?

LISA SHOMAN Lisa. You big. Large. Tall up. You are having the best week ever. First a woman press conference. Then you string up BTL. Blast dem. Then you brakes the Guatemalan. They mi di lie. You get four senior PUP Ministers to put them in check. Four Foreign Minister. Then bam. You put on your shades. A pair of BDF boots. Then you gone to brace the Guatemalans. You di win. Belize like the way you di move. You di move right. NUTING BUT A G-THANG What is going on? I am trying to follow this thing. It will soon die. Before it dies answer this. What is it? G-13? G-12? G-10 or G-11? G-One? People are asking. Asking different questions. What G is it? String? Spot? But all PUP are sure. We want the G to have this meaning. We want it to mean UDP “G-ON-E”. The UDP like give PUP name. They love “G”. It used to be “Guard”. Right guard. Left guard. Security guard. The “G” names are not good for us, the PUP nor Belize. The PUP no come inna box. Nobody could set we up in 2015. We done get di sense. The UDP di crumble. Belize di crumble. Ain’t no time for this. Just an opinion. My own opinion. If I could have one. The giants will sort that out. The “no names” in the Party have an opinion too. We want the boat steady. We want to see the promised land. We want to win. We want to fix Belize. We want to…. Anyway, nuff of that. Keep calm. Francis will fix this. SHAME Guatemala facey. Facey bad. So facey that De la Fuente had to cuss pan Dickie Show. Make it fly, boss. They are pissing us off. This is bully business. Bare face. They no fraid fi we. We used to play a game. This was when we were young. It is called “Tag you’re it”. There is another one. “Knock the bomb”. Guatemala bax we! Knock the bomb out of our hand. They are mad dogging us. The UDP have their tail between their legs. The UDP tail has lots of space. Lots of space because nothing is there.

23 AUG

THE BELIZE TIMES

SEDI NO READY Sedi again. Gosh. Hubert is crazy glue. Sedi is paper glue. What a cartoon! Sedi calls Belizeans idiots. You Sedi are an insult to village idiots. Look this man is responsible for all this mess. The UDP is responsible for all this Guatemalan mess. Dean Barrow is responsible for all this mess. Sedi says Belize is small. Guatemala is big. He says Guatemala should be left alone. Hey, simpleton, Guatemala is taking over Belize. Sedi and Barrow are letting them. If Belize small why are you a minister? Who you work for? Sedi is a duppy. He is fraida. There is a name for him. A name in the streets. He is a “fassy”. Sedi is the easiest politician to lose. Well maybe not. King got him out. But still. The question is clear. Baffling. How in the world he did not lose in Pickstock? PRESS RELEASE There is a government press release. It is serious. We have to respect it. It reads like this. Excuse the mild paraphrase. “Press Release For immediate circulation The UDP Government hereby advises all Belizeans. Effective August 16, 2015 the Belize National Anthem has been amended. The National Anthem has been changed. It has been changed. Changed by a bone headed decision. A decision of the UDP Executive. That UDP Executive decision was adopted by UDP Cabinet. The decision has been submitted to the Governor General. It awaits his assent. The new lyrics are now Gazzetted. Shyne Levy (whatever he is) wrote the new lyrics. He has consulted. Consulted with Professor Jose Maria Bonilla Ruano. The Belize National Anthem is now only to be sung while facing west. The old melody is to be thrown away. Discarded. The new melody is that of “Himno Nacional”. The lyrics old played out lyrics “from proud Rio Hondo to Old Sarstoon” is now changed. It shall now be replaced by the lyrics. “from maybe the Rio Hondo to lee bit after Hattieville.” All persons who disobey will be punished. Punished using the GSU or GST. Do not follow those pesky PUP. We will lock up resisters. We will cut off their foot bottom.

We will put salt on it. The UDP hereforthwith declare. The UDP surrender. The UDP agrees with Guatemala. Sarstoon es suyos. Sarstoon Island no es “fi we”. Belice no es nuestro. Belice es para Guatemala. Si lo quieren. This is by Executive order. The UDP would like to apologize to Guatemala. The UDP apologizes for any discomfort. Any at all. Belizeans are ignorant. They are idiots. They are small. They are liars. Even their video tapes are liars. The UDP thanks Guatemala. Please take more of our country. Passports will be sent by BPMS. Or they can be hand delivered by your choice of UDP Minister. Again thanks for taking our manhood. We now have none to pledge to Belize’s liberty.” --- THE END --VIOLENT Belize is violent. Yes it is. We are number 4. Fourth in the world with murders. Terrible. The violence gets worse every day. The news this week was bad. Ten boys gang rushed another. They kick his head like a football. Kicked out his teeth. They killed him. They are from Supal Street. Then the violence spread. It was also in the village. It was in Hattieville. Two old people get ruff up. The violence did not spare a defenseless woman. Her husband ran leaving her. The robbers beat her bad. The image was bad. It angers us. They buss the lady head. They violate. For a few pennies. If that lady have sons sorry fi dem man. Police might no know da who. But Belize small. Every fowl have their Sunday. DARREL… SHE ONLY FACEY Darrel Bradley is a character. He chased the wholesalers. Chase them from Queen Square Market. He says they are not following rules. They are double dipping. They are only to sell wholesale. Not wholesale and retail. Not have their custard apple and eat it too. Well… Kettle di cuss pat! This is the same Darrel who is breaking court rules. Not keeping his promise to pay the people he owe. And…and… no forget. He is the king of double dip. He is to be a full time mayor. Yet he di double dip and di collect money as lawyer. Only he fi eat tho. Rest of us should starve. Facey!!!! JULES: THE MINION Jules di tiyad me. But he is a good Minion. Despicable him. High horse. He does not give news. He gives editorials. Give him props. He is good at what he does. But what does he do? He is a spin doctor. A UDP spin doctor. A UDP in sheep clothing. I agree with Sedi. Did I say that? Yes, but I mean don’t trust UDP media. Political media. Jules is good. He found a way to put bad light on PUP. Bout if the PUP is stealing BTV thunder? Huh? Guatemala strong an entire island from we. The UDP sit down pan dey hand. No do nothing. But Jules story is about the PUP. We don’t need Donovan or Phillip Goldson to see this. Belize got smaller. This story is about Belize. It is about how we get violate. Why no UDP neva deh pan di boat? No NABR? No NIP? No HIP? It is clear. It is the UDP and Guatemala vs. PUP. The UDP and Guatemala vs. Belizeans. Watch yah. If Guatemala take the whole a PG, Jules will blame the PUP. If Barrow and Sedi give Guatemala the reef, blue hole and whole a Stann Creek, Jules will report that PUP made him do it. Boy, you good.

2015

FRANCIS This bank thing is big. All we understand is that Belize is in trouble. We are at number four. Four on the list of countries who are going bankrupt. How is this possible? What happen to PetroCaribe? Belize supposed to thick up. Rich. But they say we will crash. Bankrupt. Bankrupt like 50 cents. There was a press conference. Francis Fonseca was there. He explained. Explained good. This bank thing he understand. He know how fi fix it. I hear he is an economist. He has to get respect. With all the distractions. He is still moving positive. Still moving forward. Still thinking. Still trying to figure out how to save Belize. Francis is Belize. Belize is underestimated. Belize is David. Belize is constantly attacked by Guatemala. Passive aggressive. Lies against us, Belizeans. But Belize still gets up in our boats. We stand up to bullies. God is on Belize’s side. Francis is Belize. He is just like Belize. I di watch how he move. The brother is fearless. Composed. Steady. Respect, big man. No watch no face. Large up yourself. FACEBOOK Everyone and their granny have Facebook. Literally. This facebook thing is mashing up we life. Some people spend more time on Facebook than with their pickney. Balance. DROUGHT = HURRICANE Who ever hear bout drought in Belize. We have dry “wedda”. It gets hot. But no drought. Nuff river deh bout. But it is hot. Too hot. This heat mean one thing. We should not goat mouth it. But it means hurricanes. They may not hit. But they love this hot water. Time to be a scout. Cruffy, be prepared. Just in case. STR8 OUTTA COMPTON A new movie is out. It is about a rap group. The group was powerful. It was political. All its members are now legends. Dr. Dre. Easy E. Ice Cube. The movie is nice. Rugged and gritty. Belizeans will watch it. We remember LA in the 1980’s. Nothing nice. Colors and Boys in the Hood were the last movies. Movies that moved the poor people of color like this. At least the modern poor blacks. The ghetto ones. The Southside ones. This movie will appeal to the youth. Let us hope they get the right message from the movie. It is not about gangbang. It is about overcoming. It is about life. Staying healthy. Decision making. Changing the world. Hip hop music changed the world. So has reggae music. Groups like NWA or Public Enemy are proof. Proof of good coming out of bad. Rose from the concrete. Proof of the power of the music. But more proof of the power of self. Power of the artist. Instruments of love. Determined to Hustle. Positive Vibes. Tanya Carter. Ras Indio. Heights of Vibes. Young C. Blackberry. The General Supa G. You guys change Belize. I wish a film maker would rise up. A Belizean one. One that will tell these stories. The stories of these artists. Big up. Straight outta Belize! TIGHTEN UP “The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.” - Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

23 23 AUG AUG

2015 2015

THE BELIZE THE BELIZE TIMESTIMES

Belizean Beauty

Liany

• • • • • •

9 TOPMODEL 09

Future Plan: Work in the renewable energy field Sign: Pisces Favourite Food: Relleno Likes: Cooking Lives in: Belize City Fav. Quote: “Disappointments are God’s way of saying “I have something better.””

visit us at www.belizetimes.bz or Facebook/ Belize Times

TOP MODEL Clothing and Accessories provided by CATWALK FASHIONS

Cor. North Front Steet & Queen Street Belize City

10 SPORTS

23 AUG

THE BELIZE TIMES TIMES THE BELIZE

Verdes and Queretero tie 0-0 City of Belmopan, August 17, 2015 There were no goals in Hankook Verdes FC’s debut in the 2015 CONCACAF Champions League against Mexico’s Gallos Blancos de Querétaro at the FFB Stadium on Tuesday, August 18, 2015. The Gallos dominated the opening moments, with Edgar Benitez, Mario ‘Mono’ Osuna and Luis Madrigal, pressuring on the field, but as the minutes passed no goal was scored. Verdes’ goalkeeper Benito Morreira was steadfast in his defense of the goal. He stopped all attempts and was constantly called the man of the match by

2015

the game analysts. The home team pressured with shots by Yoras Silva and Jarett Davis, who were active in the penalty box and keenly watched by visiting goal keeper Edgar Hernandez. In the 62’ Moreira had to be wide awake, when Benitez blasted a shot but it was too wide. Then, ‘Danilinho’ and Luis Madrigal pushed a play, but the defense blocked them. Verdes’ Nahjib Guerra took a shot but it went over the bar. Then Deon McCauley took a powerful shot that caught Hernandez a bit offguard, but it didn’t do the damage it needed. Game 2 in the home and away series will be played on September 17 in Mexico. Queretero leads Group C with 4 points after two games, while Belize has 1 point after its first game.

Heritage Bank & Belize Bulldogs lead basketball semifinals Belize spanks Panama & Nicaragua, after loss to El Salvador

Belize City, August 14, 2015 Heritage Bank and Belize Bank Bulldogs clinched their berths in the Belize City Firms basketball semifinals by big wins in the playoffs at the Birds Isle over the weekend.

The winners of the upcoming games on Friday advance to Saturday’s final, with Game 2 of the finals set for Friday, August 28. Game results Heritage Bank vs. Belikin - 78-68 Bulldogs vs. BWS Pressure - 75-62 Central Health Region vs. DigiCell - 59-56 Central Bank vs. Atlantic Bank - 51-49 Upcoming games on Friday Heritage Bank vs. Central Bank Belize Bank Bulldogs vs. Central Health

2015 Central American U-18 Volleyball Championships San Jose, Costa Rica, August 15, 2015 Belize has a two-game winning streak, defeating Panama 25-8, 2514, 25-10 on Tuesday night and hammering Nicaragua: 25:20, 25-21, 2517 on Monday night at the Central American Under-18 volleyball championships in San Jose, Costa Rica. In the match against Nicaragua, Belize’s Mya Musa and Kori Diego scored 12pts apiece, each hammering 10 kills at the net; while Mya also served 2 aces and Kori had 2 blocks.

Team captain Juel Lewis also scored 7 hits, and Anyka Flowers had 2 blocks to score 4pts. Alexis Burns served 2 aces for 3 pts, and libero Alia Alvarez dug up 3 saves in 10 good receptions by Team Belize. Nicaragua also committed 38 errors, to Belize’s advantage; while Belize had 31 errors. El Salvador had clobbered Team Belize: 25-21, 25-13 and 25-16 on Sunday. Upcoming Schedule: Belize vs. Honduras - 4pm Thursday Belize vs. Costa Rica - 8pm Friday Belize vs. Guatemala - 6pm Saturday

Heritage’s Winston Pratt scored 44pts

23 23 AUG AUG

11 SPORTS 11

THE BELIZE THE BELIZE TIMESTIMES

2015 2015

Chetumal’s Eduardo José Mayo Poot wins Spartan Fitness Club Bodybuilding Classic II Corozal Town, August 17, 2015 Eduardo José Mayo Poot, from Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico won the 2015 Spartan Fitness Club (SFC) Bodybuilding Classic held in Corozal Town on Sunday, August 16, 2015. The competition, hosted by Corozal Town’s Spartan Fitness Gym which is owned and managed by three-time Mr. Belize titleholder Rigo Vellos, saw the participation of fifteen fitness and bodybuilding athletes in the categories: Men’s Physique, Up to 70 Kilograms, Over 70 kilograms, and Overall.

Spartan Fitness Club expresses sincere gratitude to those who provided sponsorship to the event and to the fans who came out to support. The competition was officiated and observed by officials of the Belize Body Building and Fitness Federation and the results are as follows: Men’s Physique 1st Place – Aurel Lew-

Unitedville Rebels wins in Cayo softball playoffs Esperanza Village, August 16, 2015 The Unitedville Rebels are looking to clinch the 2015 Cayo softball championship title after a 3-0 win over Roaring Creek Grace Kennedy in the playoffs at the Joan Garbutt Stadium in Esperanza Village on Sunday. In Game 1, No.4 seed Esperanza Wolverines upset the No. 3 seed Camalote Spokane 9-3, eliminating Camalote and moving on to take on Roaring Creek in Game 3 of the playoffs on Sunday, August 23. In Game 2, Uniteville’s Shern Robateau, pitcher Francine Salazar and Patricia Thimbrel-Budna scored a run apiece on 3 errors by the Roaring Creek diamond. The Roaring Creek diamond tightened up their defense after that, but the Rebels’ defense allowed Roaring Creek no runs to secure the 3-0 win. The winner of Game 3 will challenge Unitedville Rebels in the championship final on Sunday, August 23.

Eduardo Jose Mayo Poot (3rd in row) poses is (Ladyville) 2nd Place – Clinton Tucker (Belize City) 3rd Place – Rigoberto Menjivar (Corozal) Up to 70k 1st Place – Edgar Carballo (Placencia) 2nd Place – David Requena (Belize City) 3rd Place – Dion Ortiz (Belize City) Over 70k

REACH 2015 Mission completes winning basketball tour Belize City, August 14, 2015 The REACH Mission 2015 basketball tour, comprised of university basketball players from Ohio, Iowa, Kentucky and Missouri religious in the USA won all 5 of their friendly games against local teams in Belize City, Belmopan, San Ignacio and Independence, finishing with a 77-69 win against Coach Brads Neal’s Hoop Dreams under-18 team at Birds’ Isle on Friday night. The REACH Mission coaches and players thanked Belize for its warm hospitality and outstanding friendliness; as they said their goodbyes on Friday night.

1st Place - Eduardo José Mayo Poot (Chetumal MX) 2nd Place - Oyinkro Akpobador (Belize City) 3rd Place - M’Wafrica Haynes (Ladyville Belize) Overall 1st Place - Eduardo José Mayo Poot 2nd Place – Edgar Carballo

Universal Hardware & Revolution FC win in Cayo football San Ignacio, August 16, 2015 Universal Hardware and Revolution F.C. posted big wins in the 2015 Cayo District 1st Division football tournament held at the Norman Broaster Stadium on Sunday. Universal Hardware bombed Lower Dover 5-2 with Jarred Rudon scoring the 1st goal in the 21st minute to lead 1-0 at the half. In the 2nd half, Alejandro Aguirre headed in Universal’s 2nd goal in the 50th minute. Lower Dover’s captain Marvin Calderon reduced the deficit when he put the Santa Elena squad on the scoreboard in the 60th minute, completing an assist from Rollin Burgess and Noel Hyde. Emerson Orellana restored Universal’s lead with a 3rd goal in the 66th minute, and Gregorio Lima added a 4th goal in the 75th minute. Noel Hyde scored Lower Dover’s 2nd goal in the 84th minute, but the Lower Dover defense could not stop Salvador De la Rosa from scoring Universal’s 5th goal in injury time: 5-2 final. In Game 2 Sunday, Revolution FC upset Adventures F.C. 3-2 when Lyndel Valdez scored a hat trick in the 18th, 54th and 75th minutes, while Nigel Carbajal scored for Adventures FC in the 19th and 51st minutes. Upcoming Matches: Westrac FC vs. Bullet Tree FC (Friday) Quintas vs. Penarol FC (Saturday) Astros FC vs. Olympus FC William Aguirre vs Carlos Vasquez

Francine Salazar hits

REACH’s Justin Johnson scored 31pt

34 12

THE BELIZE TIMES

23 AUG

18 JAN

23 AUG

2015

THE BELIZE TIMES 2015

2015

MASSIVE POWER TO THE PEOPLE TOUR Big Falls Village, Toledo - Sunday Aug. 16th, 2015 Toledo West Hon. Oscar Requena

PUP Leader Hon. Francis Fonseca & Standard Bearers lead the massive motorcade along the Southern Highway

Toledo East Hon. Mike Espat

Hon. Francis presents a strong Party position in defense of Belize’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and against the UDP Government’s weak diplomacy

PUP Leader receives gift from young Toledo resident

PUP Corozal South West Area Representative Hon. Ramiro Ramirez and supporters bring power to the people’s tour

Deputy Leader & Cayo South Area Representative Hon. Julius Espat, Former BDF Lt. Col. Javier Castellanos, and PUP Toledo West Area Representative Hon. Oscar Requena

Over 5,000 supporters gathered Big Falls R.C. School compound to listen to the PUP Leaders

PUP Leader greeting and awarding special supporters

PUP Leader and Standard Bearers pose for a POWER photo!

Stann Creek West Hon. Rodwell Ferguson Sr.

23 AUG

THE BELIZE TIMES

POSITIVE VIBES RADIO 90.5FM | 102.9FM Sundays:

6 am Opening Transmission 6am to 7am Inspirational Music 7am to 9am Country Music 9am to 10am De Domingo a Domingo 10 am to 1 pm Repeat of Morning Whip 1pm to 3 pm Rural Talk 3pm DOCUMENTORY (ONLY ON VIBES TV ) .... CBC CHANNEL 50 OR 60 & CCV CHANNEL 09 3pm to 4pm Music 4pm to 5pm Princess Shirley Talk show Tell Me 5pm to 7pm Reggae Sunday 7pm to10pm Love Bug Show DJ Alex

Mondays :

6:00 am Open transmission 6:10 am Devotion at dawn 6:20 am Children Program rise and shine 7:00 am – 10:00 am Morning Whip 10:00 am – 12 pm Eclectic Storm GMike Reid 12pm to 1 pm Easy listening music 12pm DOCUMENTORY (ONLY ON VIBES TV ) .... CBC CHANNEL 50 OR 60 & CCV CHANNEL 09

1 pm to 5pm Music with Gerard Coleman 5pm to 7pm Recovery Monday DjPebblz 7pm to 9pm DJ/ALEX

9pm to 6am Repeat of Morning Whip and Overnight Music Playlist

Tuesdays:

6am opening of Transmission 6:20 am Children’s Programme Rise and Shine Boys and Girls 7am to 10 am The Morning Whip 10am to 1pm Music Gerard Coleman 12pm DOCUMENTORY (ONLY ON VIBES TV ) .... CBC CHANNEL 50 OR 60 & CCV CHANNEL 09

1pm to 4pm Throwback Tuesday Keegan Lord 4pm to 6pm Dj Alex 6pm to 8pm Nice and Easy Tuesday Dj Jesse J 8pm to 9pm Music 9pm to 6am Repeat of the Morning Whip and Overnight Music Playlist

Wednesdays:

Saturdays : Jesse J

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT The Elections and Boundaries Department hereby notifies the General Public that all Registration Offices countrywide will be open on Saturday 22nd and 29thAugust 2015 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. This is to facilitate: a) Persons who qualify to be transferred from one electoral division to another b) Registration of persons who have attained the age of eighteen (18) years and over and have not yet registered c) Delivery of Voters’ Identification Card Electors seeking to be transferred are encouraged to bring along their Voters’ Identification Card or any other picture identification such as: Passport, Social Security Card or Drivers License. Persons seeking registration shall bring along one of the following: - Belizean Birth Certificate along with a picture identification or - Belizean Passport or - Belize Naturalization Certificate Persons who present a Belize Naturalization Certificate which does not have a photograph shall bring along a picture identification. The Elections and Boundaries Department advises the General Public to take advantage of this opportunity. -END-

NOTICE

12pm DOCUMENTORY (ONLY ON VIBES TV ) .... CBC CHANNEL 50 OR 60 & CCV CHANNEL 09

6am Opening of Transmission 6:20 Children’s Programme Rise and Shine 7am to 10am The Morning Whip 10 am to 3pm Music Gerard Coleman 12pm DOCUMENTORY (ONLY ON VIBES TV ) .... CBC CHANNEL 50 OR 60 & CCV CHANNEL 09

6am Opening of Transmission 6:20 am Children’s Programme 7am to 10am The Morning Whip 10am to 12pm Eclectic Storm GMike Reid 12pm DOCUMENTORY (ONLY ON VIBES TV ) .... CBC CHANNEL 50 OR 60 & CCV CHANNEL 09

30th July 2015

6am Opening of Transmission 6:20am Children’s Programme Rise and Shine 7am to 10 am The Morning Whip 10am to 12pm Eclectic Storm GMike Reid

3pm to 7pm Belizean Full a Talent Show Keegan Lord 7pm to 9pm Love Bug Show Dj Alex 9pm to 6am Repeat of Morning Whip and Overnight Music Playlist Fridays :

EBD/PUB/1/06/2015(31)

1pm to 4pm Music Gerard Coleman 4pm to 8pm Explosive Musical Showcase DjPebblz 8pm to 9pm Outspoken with Katie Numi Usher and Micah Goodin 9pm to 6am Repeat of the Morning Whip and Overnight Music Playlist Thursdays:

2015

12pm to 1pm Easy Listening Music 1pm to 3:30 Music Gerard Coleman 3:30pm to 5pmDj Alex 5pm to 10pm Hyperactive Fridays Dj Pebblz and Jesse J 10pm to 6am Repeat of The Morning Whip and Overnight Music Playlist 6am Opening of Transmission 6am to 10am Music Gerard Coleman 10am to 1pm Combination Session Vibes Explosions, Dj Fire, Dj Pebblz and 1pm to 4pm Barbecue Saturdays Keegan Lord 4pm to 6pm Dj Mike and crew 6pm to 10pm Dj Reesh 10pm to 6am Overnight Music Play List

Text 600-1074

Call 650-8429

Notice is hereby given that the Companies listed below have been dissolved and duly struck off the IBC Register as follows: NAME OF COMPANY

HOOTERS BUSINESS INC. NADAL PAINTING COLLECTION S.A. LIMESS LTD. STEALTH INVEST & TRADE GROUP LTD. KESTER DEVELOPMENT INC. BLYTHE OVERSEAS LIMITED JEREM CONTINENTAL S.A. QUANTIC INVESTMENTS LTD. GRANDIFLORA UNITED S.A. KATARZYMA UNITED S.A. SINGULAR TRADING INVESTMENTS LTD. BETHEL COMMERCIAL INC. WARMELING CONTINENTAL S.A. IRITON DEVELOPMENTS LTD. CASA HOSPITAL DONATION LTD. BUNGANA TRADING CORP. LEUSDEN PORTFOLIO INC. RAION ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD. HONEY SUCKLE PORTFOLIO INC. MIRANDA INVESTMENT LTD. TRINWAY SERVICES LTD. JAJA INTERNATIONAL ESTABLISHMENT LTD. CHARCOAL ENTERPRISES CORP. TETA CONSULTING INC. ABRFILMS LTD. COLYTON UNIVERSAL S.A. WESTERDOM FINANCE CORP. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND DESIGNS LTD. OPEDLI OFFSHORE INC.

Date of Dissolution

01-Jul-15 02-Jul-15 02-Jul-15 03-Jul-15 04-Jul-15 04-Jul-15 04-Jul-15 07-Jul-15 07-Jul-15 08-Jul-15 11-Jul-15 14-Jul-15 14-Jul-15 14-Jul-15 14-Jul-15 14-Jul-15 14-Jul-15 15-Jul-15 15-Jul-15 15-Jul-15 15-Jul-15 21-Jul-15 22-Jul-15 25-Jul-15 25-Jul-15 28-Jul-15 29-Jul-15 30-Jul-15 30-Jul-15

Morgan & Morgan Trust Corporation Belize Ltd.

23 AUG

2015

THE BELIZE TIMES

Eulogy for Ms. Addie Ottley

By Vanessa Young Adelaide Ottley, also known as Ms. Addie, was my grandmother. The daughter of Herman Ottley and Agnes Ketto Ottley. She was the eldest of eight children. In the 1920s Ms. Addie’s parents left Belize, known as British Honduras at that time for Spanish Honduras looking for work. While in Honduras, my grandmother was conceived and born. My grandmother came back to Belize with her parents at a very young age. My grandmother attended Miss Annette Mehare School, Saint Catherine elementary and St. Hilda’s College. My grandmother went up for Queen of the Bay in the early 1950s and she won as the 1st runner up. She later met and fell in love with

Charles Williams, a retired police officer from Barbados. She gave birth to three girls: Yvonne who sadly passed away two years ago, Shirley (aka Dona) and Gilda (aka Dana) Williams. As the years went by she later met and married Sylven Flowers and had three more children: Joy, Yvette and Harold Flowers. Over the years my grandmother was very active in the Belize Red Cross, Marshalls Community Services and most of all a proud members of the People’s United Party. My grandmother tirelessly canvassed the Pickstock and Fort George Divisions, and also assisted with the rural areas and the district of Toledo. My grandmother was not perfect by any means but she did have a big heart and she indeed lived a long and healthy life until recently when she became ill. Granny, may you go in peace and with all of God’s blessings. The People’s United Party and in particular the Fort George Area Representative Rt. Hon. Said Musa and the PUP Fort George Executive Committee extends their condolences to the family of Ms. Addie. She was a beloved supporter, dedicated worker and fighter for a great cause. We will never forget her.

15 In Memory of Wilbert Leon Gordon The PUP Marshalls Service Corps join Mrs. Olga Gordon, our National Secretary, in mourning the loss and passing of her son Wilbert Leon Gordon who will be laid to rest on Saturday, August 22nd 2015 at 2:00pm at the St. Martin RC Church. May his soul Rest In Peace.

PUP mourns passing of stalwart, Milo Paz Sr. People’s United Party Marshalls of San Pedro announces the passing of Mr Milio Paz of San Pedro who was an outstanding stalwart supporter and member of our Party. Funeral services were held at the San Pedro Catholic Church on Thursday August 20th 2015 at 9:00am. The People’s United Party expresses condolences and gratitude to the Paz family for his service to the Party and Belize. We lift them up in our prayers. May his soul rest in peace.

23 AUG

THE BELIZE TIMES

2015

Naughty, Naughty Carla Belize City, August 17, 2015 Last weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Amandala carried a Letter to the Editor on Belizeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s External Debt ostensibly signed by now UDP political aspirant Carla Barnett. The letter was obviously written by an apologist for the UDP. It repeatedly attempted to confuse the reader about the debt incurred by the PUP Government between 1998 and 2005. While most political insiders know that this comes from the pen of the Hallmark Advisory Ltd. elf of Super Bond $1.7M commission fame, it was naughty of Carla to be used in such an obvious display of revisionism. Naughty Carla did not once mention hurricane Mitch in 1998, Keith in 1999 and Iris and Chantal in 2001. The blue ribbon commission of the Economic Commission for Latin America, ECLA, after considerable study deemed Keith alone to be a $560M loss for Belize of which GOB had to reconstruct $211M in projects. Other studies show overall losses on Keith, Chantal and Iris alone to be well over $1Bn. The IDB responded immediately with $25M, but even they knew that this was a drop in the bucket. Naughty Carla knows that the IMF did not give us a penny. She along with the World Bank attended a conference hosted by the IDB in Washington and came back with not a penny. So, how could the PUP have reconstructed Belize and kept the economy going if they did not go to the World commercial markets with Bonds to fill this over $1Bn fiscal hole? Belize would have been an economic basket case! The hurricanes disabled Tourism and Agriculture nationwide and left thousands of Belizeans from Ambergris Caye to Toledo without a roof over their heads! The PUP immediately acted to repair infrastructure, roads, bridges, houses, schools, electricity, water and in many cases food. Naughty Carla did not say how relieved the Ministry of Finance was when the PUP having gained the confidence of the Bond buyers returned each time with millions to rebuild a Belize damaged by nature between 1998 and 2001. Naughty Carla also showed her political desperation and duplicity when hiding the facts about the some $180 million in debt servicing saved by the PUP with the first Super Bond rescheduling and carelessly spent by the UDP after February 2008. Naughty Carla also made no mention of the fact that the UDP since February 2008 has received the bounty of oil exports in the hundreds of millions of dollars. A mas-

sive fiscal relief that the PUP never had! Naughty Carla also did not mention that it was the PUP that provided the environment for oil to be found and produced for the first, and so far, only time in Belize. But maybe the meanest and rudest lines by Naughty Carla were those that only showed the disbursed part of the hundreds of Millions drawn down by the UDP, and not the gross liability already in-

curred every time they sign those Promissory Notes for each fuel shipment received from 2012 to today. A historical gross liability that has created deposits at the Central Bank for the UDP GOB. Deposits that they intend to spend in their desperate run up to national elections. Naughty, naughty Carla!! You are in a deep fall from the air conditioned offices of the CDB and the MOF down deep into the mud pen of the rude and naughty UDP political thugs. Take a bath Carla and tell the truth! You have always been a player! This time you just played your cards wrong and sucking up, has you messing up!!

23 AUG

2015

THE BELIZE TIMES

sion being given. The man who emerges as a true hero is head of Northern Volunteers Orlando de la Fuente. Apparently, upon being approached by the Guatemalans, many in the group were ready to give up and turn back. Undeterred, de la Fuente commandeered the vessel that he was in and managed to outmaneuver the bigger Guatemalan boats. Despite desperate (BTV) hired five boats and headed out pleas from his passengers and inon an expedition to the Sarstoon Istimidating advances by the Guats, land. That island and surrounding area, de la Fuente forged ahead with his while indubitably within the confines mission. On the video released by and borders of Belize, has been the Channel Seven, one can hear disscene of various incidents between tinct calls and pleas from some deBelizeans and the Guatemalan armed manding that de la Fuente turn back forces. As recent as February of this and abandon the mission. It evoked year, a team on a similar mission was images of a determined George taken into custody by Guatemalan Price, leading a reluctant and resisauthorities and transported to Livingtant group to self government and ston, an eastern port town inside of later to Independence. Encouraged Guatemala. The group, consisting of by de la Fuente’s courage and deter36 Orange Walkeneons and one from mination, three other boats followed Corozal Town, was detained overand together they circled the island night but were released the followbefore sailing victoriously back to the ing day after Captain Guillermo Avila welcoming shores of Barranco. signed a statement agreeing that he Much anger and criticism has had indeed strayed for a few minbeen leveled at the team of observers utes into Guatemalan waters. The from the Organization of American response from our government was States (OAS) for not doing enough to say the least, very weak! On May to deter the Guatemalans from their 28th of this year, there was another aggression. The fact is that the OAS tense moment when members of was there strictly to observe and later to report to the respective governments. Our anger needs to be directed at Our anger needs to be directed at this government this government who has who has done very little to forward our case to the done very little to forward international community. Instead of just beg- our case to the international community. Instead ging money, racking up loans and prostitutof just begging money, ing our principles, our government should be racking up loans and prostituting our principles, our lobbying support for our right to a peaceful government should be lobexistence. bying support for our right to a peaceful existence. our Coast Guard were aggressed by We the people of Belize need to put to them, some claiming that they members of the Guatemalan Navy. our petty differences aside and realhad been warned against doing so. That incident occurred in basically ize that our future is at stake. What Interestingly enough, one guy who the same area, and again well within we saw on Sunday August 16th, was did rent his boat was the very captain Belizean territory. Initial reports were encouraging. Kriol, Maya, Garifuna, who was detained in Livingston. He that our boys were more than willing Mestizo, black, white and Indian all was in charge of the only boat that to stand their ground but got direct orboarding boats and sending a clear did not actually make it to the island. ders from the Prime Minister to stand and distinct message to GuatemaWatching the very detailed and down and leave the area. According la; “dis dah fuh we Belize”! What comprehensive coverage of the to the Foreign Ministry, they were exwe did not see was encouragement whole mission on Channel Seven, tracted (on the streets, it’s known as and representation from our governthere seemed to emerge a little difbeing punked). The area has a history ment. They need to get the Memo! ferent story from the sanitized verof confrontational incidents and back in June of 2007, a Belize Coast Guard vessel was even blocked from entering our side of the Sarstoon River by a Guatemalan Naval vessel. A while after that, Greg Choc and his Sarstoon Temash Rangers were harassed while carrying out routine checks in the reserve. Needless to say, we were nervous and concerned for our volunteers. The Guatemalan claim has long been a thorn in our side and opinions vary on how to best deal with this potentially volatile issue. Some believe that we should just ignore it and let it die a natural death while others believe that we should confront it and deal with it once and for all. Our government and a small minority believe that we should take the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) but confidence in that course gets weaker with each additional incident.

Reid The Courageous and Few By G. Michael Reid In the 1850s, the British showed their good will to settle the territorial differences with the Central American countries: they withdrew from the Mosquito Coast in Nicaragua and began talks that would end up in the restoration of the territory to Nicaragua in 1894 and the return of the Bay Islands to Honduras. They also signed a treaty with Guatemala about Belize’s borders, which has been called by Guatemalans “the worst mistake made by the conservative regime of Rafael Carrera”. On 30 April 1859, the Wyke-Aycinena treaty was signed, between the English and Guatemalan representatives. The controversial Wyke-Aycinena from 1859 had two parts: • The first six articles clearly defined the Guatemala-Belize border: Guatemala acknowledged England sovereignty over the Belize territory. • The seventh article was about the construction of a road between Belize City and Guatemala City, which would be of mutual benefit, as Belize needed a way to communicate with the Pacific coast of Guatemala, having lost its commercial relevance after the construction of the transoceanic railroad in Panama in 1855; on the other hand, Guatemala needed a road to improve communication with its Atlantic coast. However, the road was never built; first because Guatemalan and Belizeans could not reach an agreement of the exact location for the road, and later because the conservatives lost power in Guatemala in 1871, and the liberal government declared the treaty void. ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ History_of_Guatemala On Sunday September 16th, Belizeans at home and abroad held their collective breaths and awaited word from the southernmost region of our nation. Against the stern advice and strict warning from the government of the day, a hundred plus persons, led by the Belize Territorial Volunteers

I have long maintained that our best hope for this situation is to consistently lobby the support of the international community; the same community that unanimously sanctioned our Independence and right to self rule and sovereignty. We need to show up Guatemala for the big bully that she is and appeal to the solicitude and solidarity of the developed nations of the world. We need to bring back England into the equation; not so much as protector but as guarantor of whatever compensation is sought for the breach of the 1859 treaty; it cannot be land because our borders are clearly defined. I must say that I am extremely proud of everyone who elected to attempt that expedition. Just the decision to go was bravery on its own. To Wil Maheia, the de la Fuente brothers and all others who have been tireless in their effort to educate Belizeans on this issue and have been vigilant in their attempts to get our borders clearly defined and demarcated, big respect and gratitude is due. How much easier it would be if they could have the blessings of our government instead of constant discouragement. There are actual reports that in fact, the volunteers even had trouble finding people who would rent boats

23 AUG

THE BELIZE TIMES

2015

23 AUG

2015

THE BELIZE TIMES

HAT Financial Group Ltd. #135,150 (“the Company”) Pursuant to Section 102 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, Chapter 270 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2000, notice is hereby given that HAT Financial Group Ltd. has been dissolved as at 19th August, 2015 and has been struck off the Register of International Business Companies. CITITRUST INTERNATIONAL LIMITED Registered Agent

Fast Financial Consulting Ltd. #135,151 (“the Company”) Pursuant to Section 102 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, Chapter 270 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2000, notice is hereby given that Fast Financial Consulting Ltd. has been dissolved as at 19th August, 2015 and has been struck off the Register of International Business Companies. CITITRUST INTERNATIONAL LIMITED Registered Agent

NOTICE OF COMMENCED DISSOLUTION Notice is hereby given GREYLATE FINANCE LTD. and ROCHDALE INVESTMENTS LTD. both commenced dissolution on 16th July, 2015; and Belizean Liquidators Services Inc. whose registered office is at 50 Shirley Street, P.O. Box CB-13917 Nassau, Bahamas, is the Liquidator of the company. Notice is hereby given TELEFORD COMPANY LIMITED commenced dissolution on 17th July, 2015; and Belizean Liquidators Services Inc. whose registered office is at 50 Shirley Street, P.O. Box CB-13917 Nassau, Bahamas, is the Liquidator of the companies. Notice is hereby given AMPHORA INC. and ETERNAL DRAGON GROUP LTD. both commenced dissolution on 20th July, 2015; and Belizean Liquidators Services Inc. whose registered office is at 50 Shirley Street, P.O. Box CB-13917 Nassau, Bahamas, is the Liquidator of the companies. Morgan & Morgan Trust Corporation Belize Limited

Gurman Group Limited #73,294 (“the Company”) Pursuant to Section 102 (4) of the International Business Companies Act, Chapter 270 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2000, notice is hereby given that Gurman Group Limited has been dissolved as at 19th August, 2015 and has been struck off the Register of International Business Companies. CITITRUST INTERNATIONAL LIMITED Registered Agent

NOTICE OF COMMENCED DISSOLUTION Notice is hereby given CABRAMATTO ASSOCIATED S.A., BALA HOLDING LTD., PELIKAN HOLDINGS LTD., TURNAM DEVELOPMENT LTD. and ALHAMBRA MANAGEMENT CORP. all commenced dissolution on 23rd July, 2015; and Belizean Liquidators Services Inc. whose registered office is at 50 Shirley Street, P.O. Box CB-13917 Nassau, Bahamas, is the Liquidator of the companies. Notice is hereby given CAPRI VILLAGE HOLDING S.A. commenced dissolution on 24th July, 2015; and Belizean Liquidators Services Inc. whose registered office is at 50 Shirley Street, P.O. Box CB-13917 Nassau, Bahamas, is the Liquidator of the companies. Notice is hereby given RUZAFA COMPANY LTD. commenced dissolution on 8th July, 2015; and Belizean Liquidators Services Inc. whose registered office is at 50 Shirley Street, P.O. Box CB-13917 Nassau, Bahamas, is the Liquidator of the companies. Morgan & Morgan Trust Corporation Belize Limited

NOTICE OF COMMENCED DISSOLUTION

Notice is hereby given ROSEFIELD MANAGEMENT INC. commenced dissolution on 29th July, 2015; and Belizean Liquidators Services Inc. whose registered office is at 50 Shirley Street, P.O. Box CB-13917 Nassau, Bahamas, is the Liquidator of the companies. Notice is hereby given PEACHES INVESTMENT LTD. commenced dissolution on 30th July, 2015; and Belizean Liquidators Services Inc. whose registered office is at 50 Shirley Street, P.O. Box CB-13917 Nassau, Bahamas, is the Liquidator of the companies. Morgan & Morgan Trust Corporation Belize Limited

23 AUG

THE BELIZE TIMES

2015

BELIZE TIMES WEEKLY

SCIENCE & TECH R

Gene therapy cures blindness by replacing vision cells in eyes When the owl swooped, the “blind” mice ran away. This was thanks to a new type of gene therapy to reprogramme cells deep in the eye to sense light. After treatment, the mice ran for cover when played a video of an approaching owl, just like mice with normal vision. “You could say they were trying to escape, but we don’t know for sure,” says Rob Lucas of the University of Manchester, UK, co-leader of the team that developed and tested the treatment. “What we can say is that they react to the owl in the same way as sighted mice, whereas the untreated mice didn’t do anything.” This is the team’s best evidence yet that injecting the gene for a pigment that detects light into the eyes of blind mice can help them see real objects again. This approach aims to treat all types of blindness caused by damaged or missing rods and cones, the eye’s light receptor cells. Most gene therapies for blindness so far have concentrated on replacing faulty genes in rarer, specific forms of inherited blindness, such as Leber congenital amaurosis. Deep down The new treatment works by enabling other cells that lie deeper within the retina to capture light. While rod and cone cells normally detect light and convert this into an electrical signal, the ganglion and bipolar cells behind them are responsible for processing these signals and sending them to the brain. By giving these cells the ability to produce their own light-detecting pigment, they can to some extent compensate

Danny intensifies into first hurricane of the 2015 season The rods (yellow) and cones (green) in the retina of a human eye (Image: Steve Gschmeissner/SPL)

for the lost receptors, or so it seems. The team used the human gene for rhodopsin, the pigment used by rod cells to detect brightness. They hooked this up to a genetic “switch” that would only turn on the gene inside ganglion and bipolar cells, and then inserted this DNA, via a virus, into the eyes of mice whose rods and cones had been destroyed. After treatment, Lucas and his colleagues found that the mice could tell objects apart by their size quite well, although not as well as sighted mice. “The treated mice could discriminate black and white bars, but only ones that were 10 times thicker than what sighted mice could see,” says Lucas. Just ordinary light In earlier attempts, mice could only tell objects apart under extremely bright light, so the new finding is crucial. “Our mice could respond in ordinary light,

Warming will hurt the poor but boost the rich in the short term Climate change could initially benefit rich countries while damaging the economies of poor nations. That’s the conclusion of a new way of modelling its impact, which challenges earlier forecasts. Previous methods of estimating the economic effects of climate change usually looked at how individual sectors like agriculture or tourism would be affected, then added them all up to give the net effect on each country’s economy. Such “bottom up” approaches found that climate change would immediately harm all economies, although the impact on rich countries was less marked. Economist Derek Lemoine from the University of Arizona in Tucson and climate scientist Sarah Kapnick from the US National Oceanic and Atmo-

spheric Administration took a different approach. They analysed past correlations between countries’ economic output and changes in temperature and rainfall, and then used the latest climate models to extrapolate those effects into the future, creating a kind of “top down” picture. Zero-sum game They found that with 1 °C of warming, the effect on economic growth in the following decade is roughly zero globally. That’s because lower growth in poor nations is balanced by higher growth in rich nations. Beyond that amount of warming, they estimate that economic growth will increase by 1-3 per cent in Europe,

the equivalent of looking at a computer monitor under ordinary office lighting,” says Lucas. This is also the first time a human gene has been tested this way. The virus they used to deliver the gene therapy is already approved for use in humans, and Lucas says he hopes to begin trials of a human treatment in about five years. “This is the most effective example yet of the use of genetic therapy to treat advanced retinal degeneration,” says Robin Ali, whose team at University College London has given gene therapy to people with Leber congenital amaurosis. But Robert Lanza, chief medical officer at Ocata Therapeutics in Marlborough, Massachusetts, warns that we don’t yet know how long the beneficial effects of the new treatment might last. There is some evidence that sight has begun to wane in people with Leber congenital amaurosis who were treated with gene therapy between one and three years ago.

North America and Australia, compared with what will happen in a no-warming scenario. But most of Africa, India and parts of South Asia will see a drop in growth by as much as 2 per cent. Lemoine says the old approach can miss small sectors and assumes there are no interactions between sectors. The top-down method captures all of that, although it doesn’t provide an insight into exactly how climate affects economic performance, because it doesn’t break things down by sector. Lemoine also notes that the model assumes that warming has a linear impact, which is only going to be true for a limited – and unknown – amount of time. So, he says, rich countries should not treat the model’s findings as giving them licence to be complacent over greenhouse emissions. Bob Ward from the London

After its skeletal appearance on Wednesday, Danny has exploded to life overnight and is now a hurricane with sustained winds of 75 mph. Hurricane Danny is the first hurricane so far this season, and right on time — the median date of the first hurricane formation is Aug. 16. Hurricane Danny’s forward speed is just 12 mph, meaning it’s still about four days away from reaching the eastern Caribbean if it maintains this speed. The official forecast from the National Hurricane Center calls for Danny to maintain its hurricane strength through Sunday as it approaches the Lesser Antilles islands. The Hurricane Center suggests Danny will continue west toward the Caribbean over the weekend, reaching the Lesser Antilles on Monday and then weakening to a tropical storm. By Tuesday, Danny could be close to Puerto Rico, though there’s still a lot of uncertainty about whether Danny will be able to maintain any intensity through early next week.

The center’s forecast cone is designed such that there is a 67 percent probability that the storm’s center will remain within the cone — the wind and rain impacts often extend beyond the cone. The cone grows larger at longer forecast times because of increased uncertainty. Recent satellite images, including microwave imagery, show that Hurricane Danny developed an eye on Thursday morning. While visible and infrared satellite images allow us to see only the cloud tops, microwave images allow us to peer down into the storm’s underlying structure due to microwaves’ longer wavelength. In the image below, a visible satellite image is shown in the background, and microwave data are overlaid in color to highlight areas of strong thunderstorm activity. The ring in the middle is a nascent eye wall. School of Economics reckons this new approach suffers from the same problems that earlier attempts do: assuming that future warming will affect economies in the same ways as past warming, which ignores the possibility of catastrophic impacts. “Policy-makers should not use this paper as a guide to the economic risks associated with future climate change,” he says. But Lemoine says the

results should help focus our attention on the most relevant costs of near-term warming. These will be borne by poor countries and the environment rather than the rich nations, he says. And he says that as we get better at defining and modelling economic costs and the likely catastrophic impacts of climate change, they can be added to the tool. “That’s exactly our goal,” he says.

23 AUG

2015

THE BELIZE TIMES

Human Bats

The Echolocation Project

For Sale By Order of the Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., a company duly registered under the Companies Act, Chapter 250 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition, 2000, and having its registered office at Cor. Albert and Bishop Streets, Belize City, Belize, hereby gives notice of its intention to exercise its power of sale as Mortgagee under a Deed of Mortgage dated the 21st June, 2010, and recorded in Deeds Book Vol. 19 of 2010 at Folios 267 to 294, and by a Supplemental Deed of Mortgage dated the 18th day of September, 2012, made between CYNTHIA SANTOS (also known as CYNTHIA YORKE) of Hill View Area, Santa Elena, Cayo District, Belize of the one part, and Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., of the other part, and recorded at the Land Titles Unit in Deeds Book Vol. 22 of 2012 at Folios 213 – 222, the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. will at the expiration of two months from the date of the first publication of this notice sell the properties described in the schedules hereto. All offers to purchase the said properties must be made in writing and full particulars and conditions of sale may be obtained from the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. THE FIRST SCHEDULE ALL THOSE pieces or parcels of land being Lot No. 6 comprising of 1003.042 S.M.; Lot No. 7 comprising of 1006.585 S.M.; and Lot No. 8 comprising of 1003.042 S.M.; all situate South of the Stann Creek Valley Road near Mile 10, Hoffman Estate Area, Stann Creek District, bounded and described as shown by Plan No. 821 of 2003 dated 14th July, 2003 attached to Minister’s Fiat Grant No. 821 of 2003 TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon. THE SECOND SCHEDULE ALL THOSE pieces or parcels of land being Lot No. 9 comprising of 1002.568 S.M.; and Lot No. 10 comprising of 998.387 S.M., all situate South of the Stann Creek Valley Road near Mile 10, Hoffman Estate Area, Stann Creek District, bounded and described as shown by Plan No. 821 of 2003 attached to Minister’s Fiat Grant No. 821 of 2003 TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon. DATED this 20th day of August, 2015. MUSA & BALDERAMOS LLP 91 North Front Street Belize City Attorneys-at-Law for Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd.

Rowan Garel

August 20, 2015 Did you know that it is possible for people to “see” like bats do? Using echolocation techniques, the brain can be trained to see using sonar waves, the way bats can see in the night. This means immense possibilities for people who are blind! For the past 10 days BCVI clients Rowan Garel, Juan Reina and Donovan Reneau have been working in-country with echolocation instructor Brian Bushway of the USbased organization World Access for the Blind. Brian has been blind since his teens and has been studied by scientists across the globe after displaying the ability to echolocate. When Brian uses his tongue to make clicks, the sound bounces off the objects around him and tests results show that both the audio and visual cortices of the brain are activated. Just like a bat, Brian is able to see! This Echolocation Project came about late last year when scientist and photographer Carol Foster approached long-time friends Milagro and Joe Garel about Rowan learning the technique. Carol quickly contacted the organization in the US and along with BCVI spent months raising funds to make the dream a reality. To keep the pilot project within budget a core number of people were chosen to take part in the training. Donovan, Juan and Rowan have been with BCVI for most of their lives. BCVI has equipped them with the necessary skills and tools to live as independently as possible, including orientation and mobility, daily living skills, and in Donovan’s case Job Orientation. Armed with these skills, high

For Sale By Order of the

levels of independence and adventurous spirits, the team started by learning the art of the click then moved on to navigating through the streets of Belize City and even walking through Brodies and Benny’s. After a couple days of training in the city, they took off to explore the rivers, caves and trails at Caves Branch and Cahal Pech in Cayo. “I never thought that this day would come. When I would watch my grown son walking out of a cave with only his cane and not holding on to anyone,” Milagro said. At the end of the project, the participants have a renewed sense of life. “It was really awesome! We really have to thank Carol, BCVI and Brian for giving us the freedom to live and be active in our society,” Juan said. If you would like to support this initiative and other projects provided through the BCVI Rehabilitation and Education Programme, visit www. bcvi.org or contribute to BCVI’s Belize Bank Account # 71096 or BCVI at PO Box 525, Belize City.

Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., a company duly registered under the Companies Act, Chapter 250 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition, 2000, and having its registered office at Cor. Albert and Bishop Streets, Belize City, Belize, hereby gives notice of its intention to exercise its power of sale as Mortgagee under a Deed of Mortgage made the 22nd day of July, 2009 between WILFRED MUTRIE and ANNA M. RAMIREZ both of Hopeville Area, Punta Gorda Town, Toledo District, Belize of the one part, and Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd., of the other part, and recorded in Deeds Book Vol. 18 of 2009 at Folios 1199 – 1230, the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. will at the expiration of two months from the date of the first publication of this notice sell the property described in the schedule hereto. All offers to purchase the said property must be made in writing and full particulars and conditions of sale may be obtained from the said Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd. SCHEDULE ALL THAT LEASEHOLD INTEREST IN ALL THAT lot piece or parcel of land being Lot. No. 117 situate in the Hopeville Area, Punta Gorda Town, Toledo District, Belize and bounded as follows:- On the North for 30.482 metres by Lot. No. 114; On the South for 30.482 metres by a portion of Lot No. 118; On the East for 19.408 metres by a street and on the West for 19.408 metres by Lot No. 116 containing 591.595 square metres of land as shown on Plan No. 2064 at the Office of the Commissioner of Lands and Surveys TOGETHER with all buildings and erections standing and being thereon. DATED this 20th day of August, 2015. MUSA & BALDERAMOS LLP 91 North Front Street Belize City Attorneys-at-Law for

Scotiabank (Belize) Ltd.

THE BELIZE TIMES

We have lost Sarstoon Island

Continued from page 6 are on the pier. Their training and discipline is obvious. Three shake our hands. Their boat is far out to sea. No doubt on instructions from Belmopan. We board a boat. Glen Tillett and Alberto Vellos are there. So is Carolyn Trench Sandiford. She too had journeyed with Wil and volunteers to Jalacte and across the creek up to container hill. A brave and intelligent woman. Behind me is Alfredo Ortega of the Cane Farmers’ resistance fame. In front is a slim dignified lady, Vicente Palacio. She wishes to set foot on Sarstoon Island. We are taken about four or five miles in still waters up to the mouth of the Sarstoon River. There are dozens of volunteers in the river. Brackish river water above their waists. When all are gathered, they sing the national anthem which include the words “From proud Rio Hondo to old Sarstoon…” but here as in the 1859 Treaty between Guatemala and Britain there is no mention of Sarstoon Island. Article 1 of the 1859 Treaty states, “Beginning at the mouth of River Sarstoon in the Bay of Honduras, and proceeding up the mid-channel thereof to Gracias a Dios Falls….” Wil Maheia comes over to the small mouth I am in. He says we will all go around the island. I tell him I came to go on the island. He says follow him to his boat. I walk in water over my waist to his boat two hundred feet away. I climb in. Rebels are aboard. Nigel Petillo, Paco Smith, Hubert Pipersburgh, Greg Cho`c, Carolyn Trench-Sandiford, Alberto Vellos, Audrey Matura-Shepherd, Ya Ya Marin, Philip de la Fuente, David Garnett and others are in Dora, the largest boat. A count revealed 45 passengers. As we sail off with the four much smaller boats to our right, two Guatemalan gun boats at the far left are seen coming in our direction. They come in front of the flotilla, setting up a blockade in the form of an “L”. Wil calls me up to the bow of Dora. He is shouting to Orlando de la Fuente, passenger in one of the small boat boxed into the L. Wil is shouting, “don’t throw no rope” to them (the Guats) and to evade the bloackade. As Dora comes much closer, the biggest of the Guatemalan gun boats reverse to block us. In doing so an opening is created and Orlando takes over the steering wheel and drives through. The Jefe (who we later learnt to be Vice Admiral Carlos Thomas) gives instruction to one of his boats to go after the small flotilla. Dora then moves forward. Vice Admiral blocks us with his boat. He is tall and in full kahki. Two of his companions are in regular green military uniforms with side arms. Two more are seamen in blue, one at the bow, the other at the wheel. Theirs is a thirty footer boat. Ours about 34 feet. We move to port (left forward)-we are blocked. We move to starboard (right forward) we are blocked. We are blocked again and again and again. This time there are more than six persons on the bow shouting and

conversing with the Vice Admiral. No amount of ‘this is our side of the river’; ‘we are in our own territory’; ‘you are illegally in Belize territory’; ‘you have no right to block us’ moves El Jefe. He motions over and over for us to go back or to mover over to the river edge at Belize’s mainland. Wil is arguing that we cannot go that way as it is too shallow. El Jefe is cool and just keeps blocking us. Our captain shouts that he cannot see because of the number of passengers on the bow. Our two boats hit each other, buff. As the blocking continues our two boats make contact several times. El Jefe warns this could bring trouble for us. The Spanish word for infantry is heard. He also holds forward his cell phone, so does one other officer, as if videoing. Our captain offers to go speak to El Jefe. I go to the steering wheel. The engine is in neutral. The only one or thing not taking sides. Some of the passengers look a little worried. The have food reason to be. The Belize Coast Guard boat which was miles behind us, is out of sight. The flotilla, the OAS tiny skiff, Guatemala media boat and gun boat are all disappearing into the northern channel of the river to circle the large island. We are alone on the river with our Guatemala nemesis. El Jefe is determined to prevent us from moving forward The captain returns to his wheel, unsuccessful. Wil calls me back to the bow. He shares that it is the same captain and same boat the Guatemalan military had towed from the river to Livingston in March with 30 odd Belizean Northern Volunteers. They spent a fretful overnight in Guatemala and were only released after the captain was convinced by Belize’s Ambassa-

dor to Guatemala to sign a confession that he had made a wrong turn in the Sarstoon River and went into Guatemala waters. Wil was of the view the captain was feeling intimidated. If we were to be towed away in his boat he would face bigger trouble than the rest of us. He was already technically convicted for trespassing and illegal entry into a hostile country. Wil says he is unable to reach Giovanni Brackett or Orlando or other leaders by cell phone. As leader of the expedition he wanted to be with the volunteers. His responsibilities were heavy on his sun-drenched shoulders. He had spoken passionately and angrily to El Jefe but he remained composed. He agreed that when the smaller boats from the flotilla returned we would swap passengers so we could go around the island. I would still get a chance to get out the boat and me and Wil and no doubt several others would go on Sarstoon Island. I sat on the bow thinking. A wind was starting to gather. Calm seas had turned to light- choppy. In my mind I tried to remember words from Shakespeare I used to know- it’s about when we are in peace time, it’s fine to be modest and humble. But when the blast of war blows, then we are to turn tiger-stiffen our sinews, summon up the blood. But I couldn’t concentrate. It did flash through my mind that Jesus had said a time will come when we will have to sell our clothes and buy swords. But I couldn’t concentrate. I thought it so ironic that the Belize government and the Guatemala government were now saying the same things- keep away from Sarstoon Island. Keep away from Sarstoon River. Then there they were. The flotilla

23 AUG

2015

came around the Southside of Sarstoon Island. White water spewing from their engines. The grey Guatemala gun boat plainly paralleling the front boat. We counted to make sure. As they came closer Wil was flagging the first boat to stop. It slowed but did not stop. It revved up for Barranco. So did the second boat. Then they all passed, full speed for the mainland safety. Wil reminded me many of the volunteers were from Orange Walk and Cayo and had been out from Saturday. El Jefe was still in position, talking on his cell phone. He would never let us through. We turned and headed for Barranco. I mentioned to Audrey that the volunteers had done better than the bogus battle of St. George’s Caye. Back then the two sides did not come as close as we did and as unarmed civilians we had come face to face with the military and did not back down or turn back. We had defied the Belize government and the Guatemala government and circled the Sarstoon Island. And so what? Well, Sunday’s confrontation has galvanized Belizeans at home and abroad. No one thought Guatemala was so aggressive towards Belize. Never mind what Guatemala’s Foreign Minister says, it is the Guatemala military that is in charge. Their sworn duty is to protect and defend their country and Sarstoon Island is part of their country, so they believe. Sunday’s expedition has convinced me more than anything else, and it confirms why our poor, hapless government has been acting so strangely since February. What I write, I write with much sadness this Wednesday morning 5:00 A.M on the 19th of August 2015. We have lost the Sarstoon Island and we will never get it back.

Where was GOB in the Battle of Sarstoon Island? Belize City, August 19, 2015 “It’s a frickin’ disgrace that the Government got NO backbone to support us out here,” blurted out Orlando de la Fuente in an interview on the Territorial Volunteers’ visit to the Sarstoon last Sunday August 16th. To make matters worse, Sedi Elrington, in his “artificial” style stated in an interview with senior journalist Rowland Parks that he does not know if the Guatemalan military was in Belize’s waters and that he would have to see the OAS report. Firstly, we are proud of the men, women and children who formed part of the Territorial Volunteers expedition who went by bus and boat to Barranco determined to enforce Belizean rights over Belize’s Sarstoon Island amidst Guatemalan intimidation and abandonment from the Belize Government at the orders

of Prime Minister Dean Barrow. It was a victory for Belizeans against a spineless and weak foreign policy of this UDP administration. This problem with this UDP Government is that they have come full circle, once spinning the propaganda of that the PUP was selling out to Guatemala, to doing exactly that. These proponents and worshippers of the baymen and the so-called 1798 Battle of St. George’s Caye when put to the test on the 2015 Battle of Sarstoon Island, lapped their tails between their legs and ran. Imagine Sedi and Dean begging Belizeans not to go to the Sarstoon Island because of fear – even going as far as blaming us for inciting a confrontation – before we even got there. What is even scary is that Belizeans from all walks of life were there. Even various representatives of political parties were there together. All except the UDP! Not

one UDP showed up to be counted in the Battle for Sarstoon Island… not a Minister, not a Senator, not even a party member. That’s a scary thing. In the words of Audrey Matura Shepherd: unless Dean or Sedi comes down to the Sarstoon Island and says it belongs to us, we are fearful they have given it away. Dean and Sedi have embarrassed us on the Battle of Sarstoon Island. They let us know where they and the UDP stand. That we Belizeans are on our own. They made a mockery of our National Anthem, changing it “From proud Rio Hondo to old Sarstoon” to “From the proud Rio Hondo…to Barranco”. This matter is not about politics – red or blue – but about country. Barrow and Sedi have spat on our faces. They have reversed their own accounts of the Battle of St. George Caye. They have failed us. They must be booted out of office.

23 AUG

2015

Pride and Shame!!

Continued from page 2 ment by way of a diplomatic note for their military’s actions on Sunday. - We demand a full explanation of why they acted in the manner in which they did. - We need a formal commitment that such actions and behavior will not be repeated. And that once and for all this most recent practise of the Guatemalan military, of stopping and questioning Belizean vessels in Belizean territorial waters must be put to an end. - We demand of our Government that they re-assert control over the Sarstoon River. - We demand that they build the Forward Operating Base immediately. - We appreciate and understand the urgency of establishing a more formal presence in Barranco, meaning we need to have not only a Police presence, but we also need to have in place Customs and Immigration in Barranco. - We need to once again re-internationalise this entire unfounded claim. The Government of Belize has not been doing a satisfactory job of keeping our international friends and partners properly engaged in this matter. “We want peace with Guatemala and we must always work together to achieve that peace, but it must be based on respect. Not on fear. Not on intimidation and certainly not on appeasement,” asserted Hon. Fonseca. The PUP had participated in the expedition officially through Senator Lisa Shoman, a former Ambassador and Foreign Affairs Minister. Senator Shoman also chastised the Government for its attempts to attack the patriotic efforts of Belizeans. “I am so glad that there are Belizeans who fell that it is important to make their own mark in terms of the history of this country,” she said. She also expressed that Belizeans have a “right” to go to Sarstoon and to travel around Sarstoon Island. Senator Shoman also said that she will be preparing a report for the Senate and House of Representatives which will place on record the events of Sunday, August 16th, 2015.

THE BELIZE TIMES

Joel Bishop beaten to death by 20 men Belize City, August 17, 2015 The vicious brutality and cruelty involved in the murder of 28 year old Joel Bishop over the weekend has evoked shock and outrage among city residents. Bishop was found on the cold cement ground of Newtown Barracks, between MCC Grounds and Princess Ramada around 3am on Saturday August 15th morning. Moments earlier, he had been ambushed by a crowd of young men, reportedly some 20 of them, who launched a cruel beating and assault using bottles, sticks and rocks. Reports are that while Bishop lay on the ground, even a car ran over him crushing his frail body.

Joel Bishop

Exactly what caused this public display of rogue and brutal aggres-

sion is not yet known, but it is being investigated by the Police. It is reported that the attack originated from a dispute which a group of men, which included Bishop, and another group of male persons had at Pier 1 Bar located at the BTL family park. Bishop and his friends left Pier 1, but trouble followed him. Three other persons were also attacked. 22 year old Mark Benguche, 21 year old Eugene Arana and 28 year old Austin Rowland were also beaten up. Rowland was hospitalized for serious injuries, while the others were treated for stab wounds and abrasions. Bishop and his crowd are known residents of the St. Martin’s area, while the other group is reportedly associated with Supaul Street, two opposing known gang areas in the city.

“An assault on Belize’s sovereignty” Belize City, August 20, 2015 “Belize has given up rights over Sarstoon Island to Guatemala’s military”, stated former Belize Defence Force Maritime wing Commanding Officer Major Lloyd Jones who offered his expert view on the events that occurred at the Sartsoon River on Sunday, August 16, 2015. “What we witnessed on Sunday was an assault on Belize’s sovereignty. What we had was an armed incursion into Belize and these matters must not be taken lightly,” Major Jones said at a PUP Press Conference this week. The Major explained that while the Guatemalan military or naval forces normally exercise a right of visit near the Sarstoon waters to check on the visitors, having determined that the group of people were Belizean civilians who were not a threat that

right had extinguished. Major Jones said that the Guatemalans were apparently emboldened by the knowledge that the Government had denied to fulfil their duty to protect its citizens. This failure had invited the Guatemalans to behave the way they did. The Major asserted that Guatemala has been showing “an ever increasing posture” while the Belize Government has “shirked and cowered” at the aggression. He recalled the recent incidents when a Guatemalan naval boat ran aground deep into Belize territory on Glover’s Reef, the Government response was lame and weak. Major Jones warned that diplomacy alone cannot fulfil national security alone. “Diplomacy does not guarantee territorial integrity. Our national secu-

rity policy must be built on diplomacy along with a sufficiently competent defense mechanism,” he declared. But there will not be an adequate defense mechanic if the political directorate does not see it necessary, explained Retired Belize Defense Force officer, Major (Retired) Gilbert Swazo. Major Swazo was the Force Operations Officer at the time of retiring, with the responsibility of deploying troops to special operations. He explained that on Sunday, the Barrow Administration prevented Belize’s security officials from carrying out their duty to protect the citizens of Belize. The Barrow Administration has gone even a shameful step further to announce that if the Territorial Volunteers return to the Sarstoon area, they will continue to deny them the presence of military security.

FOR RENT: One bedroom apartment in West Landivar. Semi furnished. Very affordable. Contact 610-4304 and 670-2333.

VACANCY: An Assistant Butcher is needed at Axel’s Meat Shop located at 6th Street, King’s Park Area in Belize City. Must be male. Walk-in interviews only.

VACANCY: A Cashier & two (2) sales clerks are needed at B.D. Laundromat & Grocery Store in Belize City. Call 669-4212. Serious inquiries only.

VACANCY: Western Paradise Village is seeking the services of a General Maintenance person. Contact 668-4276.

CARTOON

THE BELIZE TIMES

23 AUG

2015