Ahead of Belize Telemedia Limited’s (BTL) upcoming Annual General Meeting scheduled for September 17, the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB) and a coalition of its affiliate unions have launched a contested push to replace long-serving board member Eric Eusey, throwing the small-shareholder representative seat open to a competitive vote.
The union coalition has nominated Erven Marin, a former BTL staff member who spent more than three decades with the telecommunications firm, as their candidate to take over the small-shareholder seat currently held by Eusey. According to official BTL records, Eusey stands as the longest-tenured member of the company’s board of directors.
In an official statement announcing the nomination, NTUCB highlighted Marin’s decades-long track record of commitment to core governance principles: open communication, transparent accountability, and unwavering institutional integrity. The nomination and coordinated union support marks a direct challenge to Eusey’s tenure on the board, with background context pointing to a past key vote that shaped the coalition’s opposition: Eusey previously supported BTL’s acquisition of telecommunications rival Speednet, which operates under the brand name Smart.
Notably, the unions backing Marin are not outside stakeholders — each of the supporting organizations, which includes the Belize Communication Workers Union, Belize National Teachers’ Union, Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Authority Workers Union, and Public Service Union, holds a small stake in BTL as institutional shareholders. This status gives them the standing to put forward a competing candidate for the dedicated small-shareholder board position.
The contest will now let all BTL shareholders cast their vote to decide the future of the seat: whether to return incumbent Eric Eusey to continue representing small shareholder interests, or to usher in new leadership with Erven Marin at the September 17 general meeting.