分类： politics

On Sunday, August 10, 2026, the People’s United Party (PUP) held its highly anticipated Corozal Municipal Convention to select a mayoral candidate for upcoming local elections, delivering a decisive victory for three-time incumbent Rigoberto Vellos while laying bare deep, long-simmering divisions within the district’s party ranks.

Vellos, the party’s established favorite, defeated first-time candidate Shajarie Rogers by a staggering 624-vote margin, racking up 1,799 votes to Rogers’ 1,175, among the 3,425 registered PUP voters who turned out to cast ballots. The win not only cemented Vellos’ place as the party’s official mayoral nominee but also dealt a significant blow to Rogers’ campaign, which had received high-profile backing from Corozal Bay Area Representative Thea Garcia-Ramirez.

What was intended as a routine candidate selection process quickly devolved into a public display of internal friction, with heated exchanges, raised tempers, and open confrontation between supporters of the two rival camps. For Vellos, the contested convention was an unnecessary disruption from the start. The three-term incumbent argued that his proven track record of delivering for Corozal should have spared the party from a public intra-party battle, and he framed the lopsided voter turnout as a validation of his years of work.

“A hard one. A hard battle. Sometimes you get tested to the extreme and this was one time we were taken to the extreme,” Vellos told reporters following his win. “They know I have worked extremely hard for them, hence the reason why they did not agree to a convention. We went into a convention that was not necessary and I hope that after this they can join me, my team and I to work together. It is time for us to rebuild our own party and as young leaders people expect that from us. I am happy, a bit emotional. But it all comes with victory.”

Rogers, who entered voting day confident in her organized campaign and the political support of Garcia-Ramirez, struck a conciliatory tone after the results were finalized. She noted that Garcia-Ramirez had publicly committed to working with whichever candidate emerged victorious, a position Garcia-Ramirez reaffirmed to reporters as she left the voting venue, despite loud taunting chants from Vellos supporters surrounding her.

“Honorable Thea has a right. She is a voter in Corozal Bay and at the end of the day, she had also given you guys an interview where she rightly stated that she will work with any team. So, I believe that at the end of the day she will work with any team that wins,” Rogers said prior to the result.

When asked about the hostile crowd energy surrounding her after the result, Garcia-Ramirez deflected tension, emphasizing her unwavering loyalty to the PUP. “All I hear is PUP Paul,” she told reporter Paul Lopez of News Five.

PUP national chairman Henry Charles Usher framed the open contest as a healthy exercise in intra-party democracy, arguing that the convention would strengthen the party ahead of the general municipal elections. He acknowledged that the divide would need intentional repair, but emphasized that unification would be the party’s immediate priority.

“Well I think it is always good for the people to decide who they want to represent them. I think conventions are good, they are healthy. You know you will have this what you would call coming together after the convention. You have to come together and that is what we will do,” Usher stated.

In a secondary development that underscored the depth of the split, sitting Councilor Leslie Rodriguez abandoned Vellos’ slate to run alongside Rogers, a gamble that failed to pay off. Vellos’ replacement candidate Hugo Gonzalez went on to win the council seat by a clear margin.

While Team Rogers has formally conceded and pledged to collaborate with Vellos’ team ahead of the upcoming elections, political observers note that repairing fractured relationships and rebuilding trust between the rival PUP factions will be a months-long process. With municipal elections fast approaching, the PUP’s ability to unify its Corozal base could ultimately determine whether the party holds the mayoral seat in the upcoming general vote. This report was compiled from a broadcast transcript by News Five’s Paul Lopez.

On August 10, 2026, allegations of illicit vote-buying overshadowed the People’s United Party (PUP) convention held in Corozal over the preceding Sunday, opening a debate over democratic integrity in internal party processes that operate outside the strict regulatory frameworks of general or municipal elections. Local outlet News Five received multiple anonymous claims that backers of Shajarie Rogers’ Team Rogers had been compensating voters at a private property near the convention site. When reporters visited the location to verify the accusations, they observed moderate foot traffic but observed no suspicious activity and did not witness any direct exchange of cash for votes. The accusations were quickly met with counter-claims from Team Rogers, who levied identical vote-buying allegations against the opposing slate led by Rigoberto Vellos, the incumbent Mayor of Corozal Town. While internal party contests are not bound by the same electoral oversight rules that govern official government elections, political observers note that any verified vote-buying in these contests still erodes the foundation of intra-party democracy and undermines public trust in party processes. In direct interviews with both faction leaders, reporters pressed each side to respond to the allegations against their teams. Incumbent Corozal Town Mayor Rigoberto Vellos, who ultimately claimed the convention win, confirmed that he had heard widespread rumors of opposing leaders distributing cash to sway voters, but denied any wrongdoing on his own part. “I do believe that certain leaders are giving out money. I have heard it. Some of us have seen it,” Vellos told reporters. When pressed directly on whether he had personally funded vote-buying operations, Vellos pushed back firmly: “I don’t have money sir. I don’t have money. My money will be spent on me and who I can help and of course I will dedicate myself to my community. I don’t need to pay people to win a convention or an election.” Shajarie Rogers, Vellos’ opponent and PUP mayoral aspirant for Corozal Town, similarly denied all claims of vote-buying linked to his campaign. When asked about the allegations, Rogers stated that his campaign had only worked with voters who chose to support them of their own free will, adding “We are working with who comes to vote for us honestly. So I wouldn’t know.” When reporters clarified to confirm that Team Rogers had not compensated any voters, Rogers replied definitively: “Absolutely not. As far as Team Rogers is concerned, we are not paying anyone.” Reporters also reached out to Thea Garcia-Ramirez, the Corozal Bay Area Representative, to ask about her activity on convention day and her perspective on the allegations. Garcia-Ramirez shared that she had spent the day resting at home to prepare for the coming week’s work at her government ministry, noting that she was already focused on two ongoing public advocacy campaigns unrelated to the intra-party contest. “There is a lot of work that we do at the ministry. I am sure you know we have two campaigns moving forward. We have the Blue Teddy Bear Campaign and recently a campaign to end sexual violence against children and teenagers and young people,” she explained. Early the following morning, Belize Prime Minister John Briceño publicly congratulated Vellos and his campaign slate on their convention victory via the social platform X. This report is a transcribed excerpt from News Five’s evening television broadcast, with Kriol language content translated and transcribed using a standardized spelling system for public accessibility.

As Belize prepares for its 2027 municipal elections, the United Democratic Party (UDP) has locked in its mayoral candidates for two key municipalities: Dangriga and Benque Viejo del Carmen, following internal party nomination contests held over the weekend.

In Dangriga’s mayoral nomination race, Dwayne Sampson secured a decisive victory over challenger Christalyn Castillo, with final vote counts putting Sampson at 687 votes against Castillo’s 195. Over in Benque Viejo del Carmen, Yusuf Guerra claimed the UDP mayoral nomination by defeating contender Danette Mendez; Mendez will remain on the party’s ticket as one of six candidates vying for municipal council seats in the upcoming 2027 vote.

Shortly after his nomination win, Sampson sat down for an interview with local outlet News Five to outline his policy platform and background as he prepares for the general municipal election. A community organizer with nearly 20 years of on-the-ground service in Dangriga, Sampson noted that his longstanding ties to the area have translated to strong grassroots support for his campaign.

The candidate, who previously sought office as an independent before joining the UDP, praised the party’s commitment to open democratic processes during the nomination contest. “One thing I can say about the United Democratic Party is that they deliver on democracy. They use the democratic process, and that is what is good — they give everybody a fair chance,” Sampson said, adding that the transition from independent politics to running under the UDP banner has been overwhelmingly positive, with full support from party leadership and members.

When outlining his policy priorities for Dangriga, Sampson highlighted two core goals that his full campaign slate, dubbed Team Sampson, will push forward if elected. First, the team plans to expand and revitalize the municipality’s tourism sector by centering its unique Garifuna cultural heritage. Sampson pointed to Marsha Mejia, one of his council candidates, who already has years of experience working to preserve and promote Garifuna culture in the region, as a key leader for this initiative. Second, the team aims to improve accessibility and accountability for local constituents: Sampson noted that many Dangriga residents report confusion over which councilor represents their district, and struggle to connect with elected officials to raise concerns. To fix this gap, Team Sampson plans to introduce regular scheduled “clinic days” where each councilor will be available to meet one-on-one with residents to address their needs.

Looking ahead to the 2027 general municipal election, Sampson expressed full confidence in his chances of victory, saying that Dangriga voters know him well, and understand the leadership style and values he brings to local government.

An explosive investigative report released by Trinidad’s *Sunday Express* has thrown the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) into unprecedented turmoil, after unearthing serious internal accusations from five of the court’s six sitting judges against its president, Justice Winston Anderson.

The leak of internal judicial correspondence has pulled back the curtain on growing friction within the regional judicial body, which first began as a disagreement over a proposed new judicial dress code. What started as a narrow policy dispute quickly ballooned into a sweeping rebuke of Anderson’s leadership, with the sitting judges leveling three major claims against the CCJ president: that he employs an authoritarian management style, manipulates judicial panel assignments, and has attempted to interfere with the outcome of pending judicial decisions.

According to details from the published investigation, the judges’ complaints extend even to high-profile cases currently moving through the court. Multiple high-stakes matters originating from Belize were specifically cited in the internal communications between judges as examples of problematic oversight. Beyond the specific cases, judges warned of deepening institutional dysfunction: one judge described the court’s working atmosphere as increasingly “toxic”, while another labeled the top leadership’s decision-making processes as fundamentally anti-democratic.

In an official statement responding to the public revelations, the CCJ moved quickly to defend its institutional integrity and long-standing commitment to judicial independence. The court argued that the leaked allegations, released stripped of their full contextual background, are open to misinterpretation, and reaffirmed that the body continues to adhere to all core principles of ethical judicial conduct.

As news of the internal rift spreads across the Caribbean region, legal observers and regional governance analysts are now grappling with one pressing question: Is the CCJ, one of the Caribbean’s most important regional judicial institutions, facing its most severe internal crisis in its institutional history? The unfolding dispute has also raised broader questions about judicial governance and independence across the Caribbean’s regional legal framework, with stakeholders waiting for further transparency from the court to address the growing list of concerns.