On August 4, 2026, a high-stakes telecommunications acquisition in Belize moved forward after a board vote at national telecom giant BTL, but the approval has sparked immediate public pushback from multiple national labor unions, which are demanding greater transparency and questioning whether the deal serves the broader public interest.
Shortly after BTL’s board of directors finalized its vote on the proposed purchase of Speednet Communication Limited, trade union representatives gathered outside the company’s Belize City headquarters to amplify long-simmering concerns about the lack of broad public consultation around the transaction. Ella Waight, president of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB), emphasized that the gathering was not a formal protest, but a formal registration of dissent over the closed-door negotiations that have defined the deal process.
Waight explained that the NTUCB has pushed from the earliest stages of the proposal for full, inclusive public consultation that includes not just select industry insiders or political stakeholders, but everyday consumers, local media outlets, and all parties with a stake in the future of BTL, Belize’s leading telecom provider. That call for open engagement has never been addressed, she said. She was joined at the gathering by Lydia Blake, an executive member of the KHMHA Workers Union, who echoed the demand for an independent financial audit to confirm the acquisition represents a sound public investment.
The demonstration gained unexpected new momentum when Jermaine Williams, president of the Belize Communications Workers Union (BCWU), left internal BTL meetings to join the protesters, marking the first explicit public rejection of the deal from a major BTL staff union. Williams told reporters that newly uncovered financial discrepancies have eroded staff support for the acquisition: documentation shows the declared capital value of Speednet (which operates under the brand Smart) is far lower than originally presented to staff and stakeholders, with reported values dropping from an initial $40 million to just $15 million. While Williams acknowledged minor potential uncertainty around the exact figures, the mismatch is enough to justify halting the deal until a full independent review is completed, he said.
The final board vote split 8-2 in favor of approving the acquisition, with only two directors opposing the transaction. Public Service Union president Dean Flowers told reporters that one of the opposing votes came from director Annisa Perdomo, who holds her board seat via her appointment to the Social Security Board (SSB), which owns a 34% controlling stake in BTL. Flowers noted that Perdomo’s no vote would put her at odds with the SSB’s recent official position on the deal, a break from ranks that carries major political and institutional significance.
Months earlier, the SSB had been the most prominent holdout on the acquisition, refusing to sign off until outstanding questions about the deal’s value and public benefit were addressed. The SSB shifted its stance after the resignation of former chair Chandra Cansino, issuing a formal “no objection” that cleared the path for the board vote. Flowers criticized the SSB’s decision, arguing that the body’s refusal to issue a formal rejection was a failure of political will, driven by reluctance to challenge powerful institutional interests in the country. “Instead of issuing an affirmative no, they said we will show our spinelessness and issue a no objection, because we do not dare challenge the cabal leader,” Flowers told reporters.
In a formal statement to News Five, current SSB Chair Dr. Sheree Smiling-Craig defended the body’s revised position. Dr. Smiling-Craig explained that the SSB conducted a comprehensive two-month analysis of the acquisition’s potential benefits, concluding that the purchase would strengthen BTL’s competitive position in the Belizean market and protect the long-term value of SSB’s existing investment for the benefit of all social security contributors and beneficiaries. She also clarified that the SSB will not make any additional capital investment in BTL as part of the transaction.
The acquisition has emerged as one of the most debated corporate transactions in Belize’s recent telecom history, with critics warning that the lack of transparency has put consumer interests and public investment at risk, while backers argue the deal will create long-term value for the country’s leading communications provider.