Fresh off its 104th Annual General Meeting, Belize’s Public Service Union (PSU) held a crucial Council of Management gathering in Belize City on September 11, 2026, where representatives from every region of the country gathered to lay organizational groundwork and outline potential next steps on a slate of urgent national challenges. According to PSU President Dean Flowers, the two-day meeting was organized specifically to address the growing number of high-stakes issues facing both the union’s membership and the broader Belizean public, many of which have been bubbling to the surface over the past several months. After the close of the discussions, Flowers confirmed that union leadership will return to local chapters across the country to consult directly with rank-and-file members, who will ultimately vote on a formal mandate to guide the union’s response. In blunt remarks following the meeting, Flowers criticized the Belizean government’s approach to ongoing negotiations, noting that the PSU has exercised consistent patience, diplomacy, and good faith on key issues in recent months—only to be met with a lack of reciprocal cooperation from national officials. The meeting culminated in the formation of dedicated working committees to handle individual issue areas, setting the stage for the membership vote that will determine the union’s official position and any future collective action. This report is a transcribed excerpt from a televised evening news broadcast.
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NTUCB Demands Change In BTL Representation
A high-stakes contest for a key small shareholder seat on the board of Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL) is intensifying, as Belize’s largest organized labor body is rallying small investors to oust the sitting director in favor of a company veteran with decades of internal experience.
The National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB), alongside a coalition of its affiliated unions, has formally thrown its full backing behind Erven Marin, a former BTL employee who dedicated more than 32 years of his career to the telecommunications firm. According to the NTUCB, Marin’s long tenure inside the company gives him unique on-the-ground insight into BTL’s operations, work culture, and stakeholder needs that would allow him to elevate three critical pillars of board governance: transparent communication, tangible accountability, and consistent consultation with the investors he would represent.
The labor congress has not shied away from direct criticism of the incumbent Small Shareholders Director, Eric Eusey. In its public call to action, the NTUCB argues that Eusey has failed to fulfill his core mandate: he has not held meaningful consultations with small shareholders on major corporate decisions that directly impact their investments and the future of BTL. This lack of engagement, the organization says, has eroded small shareholders’ confidence in his leadership entirely.
With BTL’s 20th general meeting scheduled for September 17 just six days after the NTUCB’s announcement, the congress is moving aggressively to mobilize voter turnout. It is urging every eligible small shareholder to either attend the general meeting in person to cast their vote for Marin, or submit official proxy forms if they cannot attend in person. The NTUCB frames the vote as more than just a leadership change: it is an opportunity for small shareholders to send a clear, unambiguous message that their perspectives and interests must be centered in BTL’s boardroom decision-making going forward.
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Deadly Gunfire Cuts Short Jahiem Sanchez’s New Beginning
BELIZE CITY, Belize – A 21-year-old man who had spent months rebuilding his life after a recent prison release has become the latest casualty of the persistent gun violence plaguing Belize City, killed in a targeted shooting that has left his family reeling from their second violent death in just over a week.
On Wednesday evening, Jahiem Sanchez was socializing with another man on a parked vehicle along T Street when two gunmen approached the pair on a motorcycle and opened fire, according to initial eyewitness accounts from law enforcement and witnesses. Sanchez was struck multiple times and succumbed to his injuries before emergency personnel could transport him to care, while his companion was rushed to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The violent killing comes just eight days after the death of Sanchez’s cousin, 20-something Brianna Myvett, who was also killed by gunfire earlier this month. On the same day Ysaguirre was formally notified of her son’s death, she was preparing to attend Myvett’s funeral in Belize City, compounding a family tragedy that has highlighted the human cost of rising violent crime in the region.
Sanchez’s path toward a new beginning began three months prior, when he was released from prison following a arrest earlier that year. In February, police conducting an investigation into a separate shooting incident recovered a 9-millimeter pistol from Sanchez’s home. While another individual was ultimately charged in connection with that case, Sanchez still served a three-month prison term before gaining his release.
According to his mother, Shanice Ysaguirre, Sanchez made a deliberate choice to turn his life around after leaving incarceration. He cut ties with old acquaintances who had led him into legal trouble, actively sought steady work, and even moved into his own rented accommodation – steps that Ysaguirre said made her deeply proud of her son.
“When he got out of jail, nobody from his old crowd checked on him – only me, my friends and my partner,” Ysaguirre said in an interview with News Five. “He told me he wanted new friends who wanted to see him do better. The new people he started hanging out with got him a job, made sure he went to work every day, helped him get his own place. I was so proud of how far he’d come.”
Recalling the moment she learned of her son’s shooting, Ysaguirre described the chaotic rush to the hospital and the agonizing wait for news that ultimately ended in heartbreak. “When someone told me Jahiem had been shot, I just started crying and got in the car right away,” she said. “I was praying the whole way that he’d just been shot in the hand or foot, that he wasn’t dead. When we got to the hospital, the doctors told me they’d operated and asked me to wait outside. Then a CIB officer came out and said they’d cleaned him up. I asked her if that meant my son was dead, and she said yes. He was dead before he even got to the hospital.”
For Ysaguirre and her family, the loss of Sanchez comes with an extra layer of pain, just over a week after the family gathered to mourn the shooting death of Myvett. Sanchez had been deeply shaken by his cousin’s death, Ysaguirre said, and the pair had been close from childhood, often spending time together on family outings.
“It’s been so rough. When Brianna got shot, Jahiem left work immediately and came to get me to go to his aunt’s house,” Ysaguirre recalled. “He just got so weak and started crying, hugging me. Yesterday I went to the morgue to see Brianna, and I told her to take care of my boy – he’s gone too soon.”
Outside of his efforts to rebuild his life, Sanchez was remembered as a young man who loved dancing, playing sports, and spending time with his family. His mother told reporters he had recently been making improvements to his new rental home, excited to build the stable future he had worked so hard to achieve.
Now, Ysaguirre says she and her family are demanding answers from investigators, urging police to track down and hold accountable the two gunmen who took her son’s life. No suspects have been named or arrested in connection with the shooting as of press time.
Britney Gordon reported this story for News Five.
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Ellis Meighan to Stand Trial for Murder, Attempted Murder
Nearly two and a half years after a fatal shooting in the coastal Belizean community of Placencia left one man dead and an American citizen critically wounded, 34-year-old Ellis Meighan, also known by the nickname “Juice,” has been formally committed to stand trial on charges of murder and attempted murder at the country’s High Court. The decision to forward the case to the higher court for a full trial was handed down last Friday, September 11, 2026, by Belize’s Chief Magistrate following the completion of a preliminary inquiry at the Belize City Magistrate’s Court.
The criminal proceedings against Meighan trace back to a shooting incident in April 2024 that shocked the quiet tourist town. During the attack, 45-year-old Roy Lee Burgess was killed, while Maia James, a United States national visiting the area, suffered a life-threatening gunshot wound to the head. James survived her injuries only after receiving emergency specialized medical treatment outside of Belize, a detail that has underscored the severity of the attack.
Prosecutors building the case against Meighan presented a substantial body of evidence during the preliminary inquiry to justify moving the case to trial. The evidence package submitted to the court includes more than 35 sworn witness statements from individuals connected to the case, alongside multiple key documentary exhibits. These exhibits cover critical pieces of the investigation: official medical records detailing the victims’ injuries, forensic analysis reports, high-resolution photographs taken at the crime scene, ballistic testing results matching evidence from the shooting, and three recorded testimonial statements from James herself, the surviving victim.
Meighan’s path to Belizean justice has not been straightforward. He was only taken into Belizean police custody in September 2025, when United States law enforcement authorities deported him from the U.S. and formally transferred him to Belizean security officials. Following his transfer, he was immediately arraigned on the two serious charges stemming from the 2024 shooting.
During the recent preliminary inquiry, Meighan informed the court that he plans to present alibi witnesses to support his defense, disputing the prosecution’s version of events. However, he was unable to provide the full names and contact details of these witnesses to the court during the hearing. In response, the Chief Magistrate granted Meighan a seven-day window to submit all information about his planned alibi witnesses in formal writing to the court.
The full trial of Meighan is currently scheduled to open during the next session of the Belize High Court, which is set to convene on October 7, 2026. Legal observers note that the case carries significant public interest due to the involvement of a foreign national victim and the length of time it has taken to reach the trial stage following the 2024 shooting.
This report is adapted from a transcribed evening television news broadcast from Belize, with all original content verified for factual accuracy.
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Good Samaritan Killed Along Hummingbird Highway
On a routine Wednesday afternoon in September 2026, a 25-year-old man named Jaheed Lopez made a split-second decision that would end his life: he pulled over to help clear a fallen tree that had blocked a stretch of Belize’s Hummingbird Highway, an act of kindness that family members say was entirely in character for the ambitious, kind-hearted young man. What began as an effort to unclog traffic for passing drivers ended in an unthinkable freak accident, when an out-of-control semi-truck plowed into the work zone just moments after the team finished clearing the road, killing Lopez and a second unnamed volunteer who had also stopped to help.\n\nEyewitness Eraine Escalante, Lopez’s employer, who was on scene assisting with the cleanup, shared the harrowing details of the collision in a phone interview. Escalante explained that the group had gathered tools including saws to remove the large tree branches that were blocking the route for drivers heading toward the town of Armenia. Just after the work was completed, Escalante climbed back into his own truck to leave, and checked his rearview mirror to make sure the other volunteers were following. That was when he saw the semi-truck barreling toward the group, failing to slow down or stop before crashing into the parked vehicles stacked along the shoulder.\n\nThe force of the impact knocked Escalante unconscious, and when he regained consciousness moments later, he was faced with devastating aftermath: Lopez’s lifeless body was trapped directly beneath the semi-truck, while the second volunteer was completely buried under the truck’s cargo of sand. With no digging tools on hand, Escalante called colleagues from his nearby property to bring shovels, and by the time more local bystanders arrived to assist, the group had cleared enough sand to access the second victim.\n\nStill reeling from the shock, Escalante placed the impossible call to Lopez’s mother, Marilyn Trapp, to inform her of her son’s death. Trapp recalled receiving the call calmly, saying she had already pieced together the chain of events before Escalante finished explaining. “I watch a lot of movies, especially those final destinations, and that is what was playing in my head,” Trapp shared, describing the overwhelming horror of learning her son’s act of generosity had cost him his life.\n\nFriends and family are now mourning the loss of Lopez, who they describe as a daring, hardworking, and naturally compassionate person who carried immense promise for the future. A lifelong football fan, tributes to Lopez have flooded social media platforms from community members who knew him. This report was delivered by Paul Lopez for News Five, as a transcript of the outlet’s evening television broadcast.
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Fourteen Guatemalan Vessels Confront Belizean Sarstoon Expedition
Long-simmering territorial tensions along the Sarstoon River, which forms a disputed border between Belize and Guatemala, have erupted into a new public confrontation, with Belize’s top diplomat warning that further friction is likely until the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issues a final ruling on the decades-old sovereignty dispute.
The latest incident unfolded during a planned expedition to the contested area organized by the Belize Territorial Volunteers (BTV), a civilian group that advocates for Belizean sovereignty over the Sarstoon River and Sarstoon Island. When participants arrived, they encountered 14 Guatemalan-flagged vessels positioned in the water, a show of force that volunteers interpreted as a deliberate attempt by Guatemala to assert illegal control over the waterway and the disputed island.
In an interview following the confrontation, Belizean Foreign Affairs Minister Francis Fonseca laid out the government’s official position, confirming that the country remains committed to a peaceful negotiated resolution through international judicial channels. “We continue to pursue a peaceful resolution of Guatemala’s unfounded territorial claim, which is why we have always insisted on a diplomatic path to peace,” Fonseca explained. He noted that the confrontation is just the latest in a series of ongoing challenges along the border, issues that bilateral talks have failed to resolve ahead of the ICJ’s upcoming judgment. Just one week prior to the incident, Fonseca confirmed, Belizean officials had already raised the persistent border frictions with their Guatemalan counterparts.
Thankfully, Fonseca emphasized, the incident did not escalate into violence: no injuries were reported, and no open clashes broke out between the two sides. Despite the large Guatemalan presence, Belize’s national military (the Belize Defence Force) and coast guard were able to successfully facilitate a scheduled flag-raising ceremony at the country’s forward operating base in the area, with BTV volunteers in attendance. According to Fonseca, the plan to hold the ceremony at the base rather than proceed to Sarstoon Island was agreed upon in advance by both the BTV and Belizean military leadership.
In response to the incursion, Fonseca confirmed that the Belizean government is doubling down on its official protests. Beyond raising concerns directly with Guatemalan officials, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has once again issued a formal diplomatic note objecting to the actions of Guatemalan armed forces and civilians. “Every time we have one of these incidents we record it and send a diplomatic note recording our absolute objection to the behavior of the Guatemalan Armed Forces and our condemnation of their exercise of illegal authority over the Sarstoon,” Fonseca stated. These formal records, he explained, are critical to maintaining an official international record of Guatemala’s repeated actions in the disputed territory.
The incident underscores the persistent instability along the shared border ahead of the ICJ’s final ruling, which remains the only path to a permanent, binding resolution to the dispute that has defined bilateral relations for generations.
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Ministerial Stamp Appears on Jose Mai’s Grocery Vouchers
A grocery assistance initiative in Orange Walk South has become entangled in a growing accountability controversy, sparked by the unauthorized use of a former minister’s official stamp. Multiple food assistance vouchers distributed through the constituency office of Area Representative Jose Mai were found to bear the official stamp of Belize’s Ministry of Agriculture. Already, some of these stamped vouchers have been processed and redeemed at Dickerson Family Mart, a local grocery retailer in the Orange Walk region.
What makes this discovery particularly noteworthy is that Mai was removed from his position as Minister of Agriculture 10 months prior to the incident. This has prompted urgent questions from political observers and community members alike: why was a sitting government ministry’s official stamp being used on vouchers distributed through a constituency-level assistance program nearly a year after Mai left the ministerial post?
When reached for comment by local outlet News Five, Mai stated that he only became aware of the stamped vouchers on the same day the report was filed, and characterized the incident as nothing more than an accidental administrative misstep. According to Mai, a member of his constituency staff mistakenly grabbed the Ministry of Agriculture stamp instead of the designated constituency office stamp when preparing the vouchers. Mai added that his team will correct all existing errors and will strictly use the proper constituency stamp for all future assistance documents.
However, this explanation has done little to quell growing concerns over the incident. Key lingering questions remain unanswered: if Mai has not held the agriculture minister post for 10 months, how did his constituency staff still have access to an official government ministry stamp? There is also no public clarity on how many vouchers were incorrectly stamped, whether all of the mislabeled vouchers were redeemed at the same retail location, and what existing government safeguards are in place to prevent the unauthorized use of official government property and seals. For his part, Mai continues to stand by his claim that the incident was an innocent oversight with no malicious intent.
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Wanted man dies after being shot by police
A 24-year-old suspect linked to severe criminal activity has lost his life following an officer-involved shooting in the Morris Gap area of Westbury Road, St Michael, Barbados. Law enforcement authorities have formally identified the deceased as Absalom Abejah Francis-Hunte, a resident of Upper Collymore Rock in the same parish.
According to official statements from the Barbados Police Service, the incident unfolded just before 11 a.m. on Friday, when plainclothes and uniformed officers were executing a targeted operation at a private residence connected to Francis-Hunte. During the course of the operation, the suspect was located by the responding team, and an altercation ensued that ended with officers opening fire on the 24-year-old.
Immediately after the shooting, first responders activated emergency medical protocols. Paramedics from the Barbados Ambulance Service and a local medical doctor arrived rapidly at the scene to administer urgent on-site care. Francis-Hunte was then rushed by ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the island nation’s primary public acute care facility, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
In line with standard protocol for police-involved fatal shootings, the Barbados Police Service has announced that a senior ranking officer from an outside district will lead an independent probe into all circumstances surrounding the incident. The investigation will review the actions of all responding officers, the sequence of events that led to the use of lethal force, and any relevant evidence gathered from the scene.
Law enforcement is now actively asking for public assistance to build a full, accurate record of what occurred. Any individual who witnessed the shooting directly, or who holds information that could advance the investigation, is urged to contact one of several dedicated hotlines: the anonymous Crime Stoppers tip line at 1-800-8477, the national police emergency line at 211, or the main desk of the Barbados Criminal Investigations Department at 430-7189 or 430-7190.
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Eleven Demands, But Still No Government Response
On September 11, 2026, a standoff between organized labor and the Briceño administration in Belize has emerged after the official deadline set by the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB) for a government response to 11 sweeping demands across governance, education and key national policy areas passed without an official answer.
While union leadership has confirmed they are willing to extend the waiting period slightly, they have made clear that they will not back down from their call for a formal, written response that can open the door to substantive, productive negotiations between the labor movement and the current government. The demands cover multiple sectors, with the Belize National Teachers’ Union (BNTU) contributing several proposals related to educator support and education system reform.
In a press statement, Education Minister Francis Fonseca clarified that his ministry is currently drafting a thorough, comprehensive response to the demands put forward by the BNTU. He noted that his ministry had already been holding direct, one-on-one talks with the teachers’ union regarding these specific issues before they were folded into the broader NTUCB national demand package. Fonseca shared that while he saw no immediate need to integrate the education-focused proposals into a wider national discussion, he understood the union’s reasoning and remains committed to continuing collaborative work.
When pressed by reporters about one high-priority proposal, which would allocate additional public funds to cover classroom preparation costs for working teachers, Fonseca acknowledged the tight fiscal constraints facing his ministry. He explained that the education sector has already finalized its annual budget, and the ministry cannot request supplementary funding from the Ministry of Finance to cover new expenses. If the government ultimately approves the new resource allowance for teachers, the funding will have to be reallocated from existing line items in the current education budget, he confirmed. Fonseca added that while the ministry will give full consideration to all of the BNTU’s proposals, the limited available budget leaves very little flexibility to approve new financial benefits for educators.
This report is a transcribed excerpt from an evening television newscast covering domestic political developments in Belize.
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More Tomorrow Primary Gets Lifeline, Future Uncertain
Nestled in a rural community, More Tomorrow Primary School has pulled back from the brink of permanent closure, securing a last-minute reprieve that has eased tensions among local families — though its long-term future hangs in the balance, education officials have confirmed.
Weeks of growing anxiety among parents and community members over the potential shutdown prompted education authorities to step in, hammering out an emergency agreement to keep the small campus open through the immediate term. The most pressing change to the school’s operations is the addition of a third full-time teaching position, which will lift a heavy workload from the two existing educators who began the 2026 academic year juggling more than 30 students spread across multiple grade levels.
Education Minister Francis Fonseca confirmed the interim arrangement in a press briefing, noting that while the immediate crisis has been averted, ministry teams will continue evaluating whether the school’s current low enrollment can support ongoing operations in the years ahead. “The school will remain open. We have employed another teacher, so there’s another teacher on site now,” Fonseca said. “The ministry continues to engage with the school community. There are challenges that remain, as I noted previously, but progress is being made to work through them. A productive meeting between school leadership, the chief education officer and her team, and local residents has produced a forward-looking plan to address the most pressing issues, and I believe we have a workable solution for the short term.”
Even with the interim plan in place, Fonseca stressed that long-term questions remain unanswered. “There are only 30 students enrolled at the school total, so we have to continue assessing long-term viability. Whether it is sustainable to keep this school operating at its current site is still an open question, and we will continue reviewing that moving forward,” he added.
Beyond enrollment and staffing, the ministry is also working through delays to rural student transportation services, a top complaint from local families. Fonseca explained that the delays stem from a new contract approval process rolled out this academic year, which requires all school bus service contracts — even small, local agreements — to undergo review by the office of the contractor general. The new protocol has caused unexpected hold-ups, but the minister expects all transportation issues to be resolved within the coming days.
Complicating the school’s long-term outlook is the fact that one of its two current teachers, who also serves as principal, is scheduled to retire next year. That upcoming vacancy adds another layer of uncertainty to efforts to maintain the school’s operations, even as the community celebrates the temporary reprieve from closure.
This report is adapted from a televised evening news transcript.