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  • Swaso Says Belizeans Deserve Answers on Haitian Children Investigation

    Swaso Says Belizeans Deserve Answers on Haitian Children Investigation

    Nearly three years after nine Haitian minors were brought into Belize, a former top government oversight official is escalating demands for public clarity around the stalled probe into the children’s circumstances, launching a formal legal push to unearth details about the case’s current status.

    Retired Major Gilbert Swaso, who stepped down as Belize’s Ombudsman in December 2025, has submitted an official Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to uncover how much progress has been made on the investigation following his departure from the independent oversight post, which remains vacant. Swaso’s new push for answers comes as the country’s Ministry of Immigration has formally joined the probe, which centers on multiple serious allegations: irregularities in the children’s immigration status, unregulated guardianship arrangements, gaps in refugee and social welfare protections, and suspected ties to human trafficking linked to the local nonprofit Beauty Out of Ashes.

    In comments included in the original broadcast transcript, Swaso explained that the case reached his office only after a full two years of inaction from other branches of the Belizean government following the initial complaint. International stakeholders, frustrated by the lack of movement, turned the case over to the Ombudsman’s Office in June 2025 for independent review. When his team launched the probe, however, Swaso said key government agencies offered almost no meaningful cooperation. Staff at these agencies refused to share critical information, citing fears of professional retaliation and job loss for speaking up about the case.

    Despite the roadblocks, Swaso noted that his independent team made limited progress during his tenure, working within the authority granted to the Ombudsman’s Office under the Ombudsman Act. The investigation had identified critical procedural gaps in how the case was being handled, and the next planned step before Swaso left office was to issue legally binding summonses to compel testimony from uncooperative stakeholders, with contempt charges on the table for those who refused to comply.

    Swaso emphasized that with the Ombudsman’s seat empty for more than six months, the public has a right to know whether the probe has advanced at all since he left office, and what measures the government has put in place to guarantee the safety and well-being of the nine vulnerable Haitian children. The FOIA request was first submitted via email Tuesday, with a formal hard copy hand-delivered to government offices Wednesday to ensure it received official processing.

    This report is adapted from a transcribed evening television news broadcast, with all quoted statements preserved for accuracy per original transcription standards that include standardized spelling for Kriol language speakers when they appear in the original segment.

  • Appoint Ombudsman Now, Train for Human Rights Later

    Appoint Ombudsman Now, Train for Human Rights Later

    Seven months have passed since the position of national Ombudsman was left unoccupied, and the last person to hold the role is breaking his silence to push for urgent action from the government. Retired Major Gilbert Swaso, who stepped down from the post months ago, has made clear he has no interest in reclaiming the position — his concern lies solely with the unnecessary delays that have kept the critical office vacant far longer than necessary.

    In a recent public statement, Swaso pushed back against the government’s current approach to filling the role, which prioritizes candidates with pre-existing specialized human rights expertise. He argued that this unneeded requirement is unnecessarily complicating the appointment process, pointing to the ongoing institutional transition that is already reshaping the Ombudsman’s Office.

    Under current plans, a new National Human Rights Institution will be merged into the Ombudsman’s Office over the coming two and a half to three years. However, Swaso noted that the legislative amendments required to complete this integration have not yet been passed, meaning the existing legal framework for appointing an Ombudsman remains unchanged. He emphasized that the core mandate of the Ombudsman will remain intact during the transition period, and that any required human rights training for the appointed candidate can be delivered after the person takes office.

    “To say then that you need someone who has a certificate or knowledge of human rights is making it difficult to appoint an ombudsman under the circumstances, because in my view, they are two separate things,” Swaso explained in his remarks. “The office of the ombudsman should remain as is because this is a consultation process to establish and integrate for the next two and a half to three years. We will be building the institution of the Human Rights Institute within the Office of the Ombudsman. So I believe that however the ombudsman was appointed, as per the law in the past, the act, the act has not changed.”

    Swaso warned that clinging to the new human rights qualification requirement risks dragging out the vacancy even further, leaving the country without a key accountability official for months more. The statement comes as stakeholders continue to wait for the government to outline a clear timeline for naming a new Ombudsman, amid growing concerns about the impact of the extended vacancy on governance and public accountability.

  • Proposed Broadcasting Law Draws Fire from Online Creators

    Proposed Broadcasting Law Draws Fire from Online Creators

    As of July 24, 2026, a controversial draft Broadcasting Bill in Belize that seeks to extend the country’s existing broadcasting regulatory framework to select online media services is facing mounting pushback from digital creators, business owners, and legal stakeholders, who warn that vague language in the legislation could erode freedom of expression and create crippling barriers for small online enterprises.

    The Belize Broadcasting Authority (BBA) has framed the bill as a much-needed update to outdated, decades-old broadcasting regulations, emphasizing that the new rules will only apply to entities that operate as formal broadcasters, not average users posting content on major social platforms including Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. But critics argue the draft’s overly broad wording opens the door to arbitrary enforcement and abuse of power, even targeting regular internet users who never intended to operate as full broadcasters.

    Prominent Belizean attorney Orson “OJ” Elrington, who is currently representing social media user Sharon Mae Peters in a high-profile defamation case stemming from comments Peters made during a livestream, is one of the most vocal opponents of the current draft. Elrington pointed out that while BBA officials claim ordinary users will not be subject to the law, the text of the legislation is far-reaching enough to include almost any online content creator. The bill grants the BBA broad discretionary power to determine which accounts and services fall under its scope, a structure that Elrington says creates obvious opportunities for targeted enforcement against voices the government or regulators dislike. “Once you have a piece of legislation that has this type of wide discretion over who falls under it and who does not, it opens itself up to abuse and wrongdoing,” Elrington explained. “If they don’t like what you’re saying, nothing stops them from turning around and saying the law applies to you after all.”

    Under the current draft, Elrington notes, even small businesses that use standard livestreaming tools to connect with customers would be subject to the law’s licensing requirements. Cristian Silva, founder of Belizean tech firm Silvatech, has joined the growing chorus of critics, stressing that opponents do not oppose all online regulation – they just object to the bill’s poorly structured approach. “Silvatech is not against regulation. Belize should protect copyright, children, public safety, and professional journalism off the bat,” Silva said. “The concern with the draft is that it applies a traditional broadcast permissioning model to ordinary online activity before it defines clear thresholds for who needs a license.”

    Silva explained that the bill’s current timeline for licensing approval could derail time-sensitive digital marketing and community content for small businesses across key sectors of Belize’s economy, particularly tourism. For example, if a coastal hotel in San Pedro wants to host a last-minute sponsored livestream to promote an upcoming weekend festival, the draft requires the organizer to wait up to four weeks to receive regulatory approval. That delay would mean losing the marketing opportunity, cutting off potential visitor bookings, wasting pre-produced content, and losing out on tax revenue and local advertising spending that would have supported the local economy. “Essentially, what’s lost there is that content, potential visitors, the production work, GST, and the local ad spend that would’ve been infused into that local economy,” Silva noted.

    Elrington added that existing Belizean legislation already addresses harm caused by harmful online content, including the Defamation Act and the Cyber Bullying Act. The new bill’s provisions, which include fines as high as $50,000 BZD, seizure of digital and broadcast equipment, and even authority to block internet access, are unnecessary and disproportionately restrictive, he argued, calling the overly broad regulatory regime inconsistent with democratic principles.

    Not all stakeholders oppose the bill, however. Attorney Tiffany Cadle, who is currently suing Peters and two other social media users for defamation over livestream comments, has voiced support for the legislation, arguing it would help hold users with large online platforms accountable for the content they publish. Still, critics are unified in calling for far broader public and stakeholder consultations before the bill moves forward to finalization.

    The BBA is currently accepting public feedback on the draft Broadcasting Bill and associated regulations, with written comments open through August 24, 2026. The BBA has not yet issued a formal response to the specific concerns raised by Elrington, Silva and other opponents. This report was compiled from original on-the-ground reporting by Britney Gordon for News Five.

  • Central America Braces For El Nino’s Effects on Agriculture

    Central America Braces For El Nino’s Effects on Agriculture

    As the 2026–2027 El Niño phenomenon looms over Central America, bringing projected drought, erratic extreme weather events, and growing threats to regional crop yields and food stability, agricultural leaders from across the region gathered in San José, Costa Rica on July 24, 2026 to hammer out a unified, collaborative strategy to mitigate the coming impacts.

    The meeting was chaired by Belize’s Agriculture Minister Rodwell Ferguson, who currently serves as Pro Tempore President of the Central American Agricultural Council (CAC), the regional body coordinating the effort. Ferguson opened discussions by emphasizing that no single nation in the region has the capacity to address El Niño’s far-reaching agricultural disruptions alone, arguing that cross-border coordination and shared resources are the only viable path to protecting vulnerable farming communities and maintaining food access across Central America.

    In an interview following the gathering, Ferguson outlined the core priorities the bloc has agreed to advance over the next six months. The top immediate goal is securing targeted grant funding to support smallholder and commercial farmers across the region, who are already beginning to feel El Niño’s effects. “Technically yes, it’s upon us, I believe until July of 2027, and every country is already feeling the effects of it,” Ferguson explained.

    El Niño is already manifesting unevenly across the isthmus: some nations are grappling with record-breaking heatwaves that have drained critical water reserves for irrigation, while others have already faced unseasonable extreme rainfall and intense tropical storm activity that has damaged standing crops. Even as El Niño is a natural climate pattern that cannot be stopped, Ferguson stressed that regional leaders cannot afford inaction.

    Following the meeting, the CAC has mandated each member state to draft a national needs assessment and action plan within the coming weeks, to be aligned with a regional coordinated framework. The bloc’s shared approach will center on pooling limited national resources and leveraging combined advocacy to unlock international grant funding, since existing domestic resources across the region are insufficient to address the scale of the challenge. Ferguson noted that regional integration is not just an economic principle — it is a critical tool for collective resilience in the face of climate-driven shocks, ensuring that all member states can access the support they need to protect their agricultural sectors and keep food supplies stable for local populations.

  • Rodwell Ferguson Addresses Son’s Run-In with Police

    Rodwell Ferguson Addresses Son’s Run-In with Police

    In an emotional public address on July 24, 2026, Belizean Stann Creek West Area Representative Rodwell Ferguson opened up about his son Stoney Ferguson’s recent run-in with law enforcement in Placencia, condemning his son’s alleged actions while sharing heartbreaking details of the lifelong health challenges the younger Ferguson has faced.

    The incident unfolded on Saturday, July 18, during a routine roadside traffic checkpoint. According to Placencia police, Stoney Ferguson failed to stop at the checkpoint, triggering a police chase that ultimately ended in an altercation. The confrontation escalated to verbal abuse directed at responding officers and resulted in damage to a police vehicle, after which Stoney Ferguson was taken into police custody.

    Through tears, Rodwell Ferguson spoke publicly about the case, acknowledging that his son must answer for any harm his actions caused and face full legal consequences for his behavior. What the public did not know, he explained, was that Stoney has never experienced a day of normal, pain-free health since he was an infant.

    Shortly after birth, Stoney was diagnosed with a severe form of asthma that required extended hospital stays throughout his early childhood. “He lived in the Dangriga hospital more than he lived at home,” Rodwell Ferguson recalled in his phone interview, referencing local medical staff who can confirm the years of ongoing care his son received.

    Eight years before the 2026 incident, Stoney suffered another life-altering injury when he fell from a breadfruit tree while climbing and broke his back. Rescuers found him two hours after the fall, wracked with extreme pain, but due to personal beliefs, he declined invasive medical intervention. He spent only one night in the hospital for observation before returning home, where he has lived with chronic severe back pain ever since.

    This persistent daily pain, Rodwell Ferguson explained, has left his son struggling with constant anxiety and frequent irritability. To maintain independence and avoid relying on others for care, Stoney built a small living selling fresh fruits and vegetables, working the trade nearly every day with his father’s full support.

    “We must respect the police at all times; they are just doing their job,” the elder Ferguson stated firmly, rejecting any attempt to excuse his son’s actions toward officers. He added that while the chain of events that unfolded after his son was taken into custody is still being clarified, the public deserves to understand the context of the lifelong struggles that have shaped Stoney’s daily experiences. This report is a transcribed adaptation of an evening television news broadcast, with Kriol language dialogue rendered using a standardized spelling system for accuracy.

  • Energy CEO Says $73 Million to BEL is No Bailout

    Energy CEO Says $73 Million to BEL is No Bailout

    As Belize prepares to debate a controversial piece of energy sector legislation, a sharp public divide has emerged over whether the proposed $73 million injection into BEL, the country’s primary electricity provider, constitutes a responsible public investment or an unnecessary taxpayer-funded bailout. The BEL Investment Bill, scheduled to be tabled for formal consideration in Belize’s House of Representatives on August 31, 2026, has drawn pushback from political opposition, who argue the public funding amounts to a rescue package for a struggling private utility. But top energy sector officials reject that framing, emphasizing that the capital infusion is structured as an equity purchase of preferred shares, designed to stabilize the company’s finances and protect consumers from crippling rate hikes.

    Dr. Leroy Almendarez, CEO of Belize’s Ministry of Energy, Public Utilities and Logistics, laid out the government’s case for the legislation in a recent public briefing, explaining the structural financial pressures that have left BEL in need of external capital. Unlike many profit-driven private utilities, Almendarez clarified, BEL operates on a pass-through cost model: the company purchases electricity from a range of domestic and international suppliers, including Mexican imports, Hydro Belize, Santander, ASR, Hydro Maya, and the upcoming Babcol generation facility, and is supposed to pass those exact procurement costs directly to consumers without markup. However, regulatory caps enforced by the country’s Public Utilities Commission have prevented BEL from collecting the full cost of the power it distributes, leaving the company with a cumulative $73 million gap in its revenue.

    “If we allowed BEL to recover all of that uncollected revenue in a single year through rate adjustments, electricity costs for Belizean households and businesses would skyrocket overnight,” Almendarez explained. “Instead of forcing consumers to absorb that shock all at once, the government is stepping in to make a targeted equity investment that will bridge the financial gap while positioning public coffers to see future returns.”

    Almendarez pushed back on attempts to frame the funding as either a bailout or a consumer subsidy, noting that the capital is being exchanged for preferred shares in BEL, which guarantee the government priority dividend payouts if the company returns to stable profitability. When interviewer Shane Williams suggested the arrangement could be simplified as a subsidy to keep rates low, Almendarez corrected the characterization: “It’s not a subsidy — it’s an equity investment. We are acquiring an ownership stake that will deliver returns to taxpayers down the line, while avoiding immediate rate shock for working households.”

    Opposition lawmakers have continued to question the arrangement, arguing that it socializes losses for a regulated private utility while putting the full burden of the gap on public finances. The debate is set to intensify when the bill reaches the House of Representatives at the end of August, with stakeholders on both sides already positioning for what is expected to be a heated debate over the future of Belize’s electricity sector.

  • BEL Under Pressure Over Delayed Severance Fight

    BEL Under Pressure Over Delayed Severance Fight

    Dated July 24, 2026, a long-running dispute over unpaid severance for former employees of Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) has reached a new flashpoint, as mounting public and governmental pressure pushes the utility to end the months-long stall in legal proceedings that have left vulnerable workers in limbo. For years, hundreds of former BEL workers have waited patiently for the severance compensation they are owed, but their wait has grown increasingly desperate with each passing month. Many of these workers are now advanced in age, while others are fighting serious health conditions that have left them in urgent need of the funds they are owed. What was supposed to be a clear path to resolution through the national court system has ground to a halt, leaving workers with no timeline for closure. The breakdown comes after BEL made a formal commitment to Belize’s Ministry of Labor: during a high-level meeting with Labor Minister Kareem Musa, company representatives agreed they would file the required court documents to seek a formal legal declaration from the Belize High Court within a 30-day window. That commitment was made two months ago, and to date, no court filings have been submitted. Minister Musa has publicly called out BEL for failing to honor its promise, emphasizing the urgent human stakes behind the delay. In a statement reproduced from an evening television newscast transcript, Musa made clear his disappointment with the utility’s inaction: “Hundred percent that is wrong, because they had told me in a meeting that it would only take a month. And that was about two months ago that they were going to file the papers for a declaration in the High Court of Belize in that month. So that has gone way over a month and it should not be the case that we are waiting so long for a judicial matter where we can see that there are a lot of elderly, sick former workers of BEL. So I will press certainly from my end, and from the Ministry’s end for BEL to take the action so we can have a final determination of that.” The Belize Energy Workers Union (BEWJ), which has represented the former workers throughout the dispute, has not relaxed its advocacy for the workers’ demands. Even as some union members grapple with poor health linked to their prolonged uncertainty over unpaid compensation, the union continues to push BEL and the government to move the process forward to a final resolution. This report is a transcribed adaptation of an evening television newscast, with all translated Kriol language statements rendered using a standardized spelling system for accuracy.

  • Belize Eyes Faster Shift to Electric Transportation

    Belize Eyes Faster Shift to Electric Transportation

    In a push to cut fossil fuel dependence and slash carbon emissions from the transportation sector, Belize has committed to accelerating its transition to electric mobility through a cross-regional sustainable transport initiative backed by Taiwan and the Central American Integration System (SICA). The collaborative project, launched in 2026, will center specifically on Belize to assess the practicality of expanding the nation’s electric bus fleet and building out a nationwide network of electric vehicle charging stations, while leveraging insights and expertise from early regional adopters of low-carbon transport.

    Dr. Leroy Almendarez, Chief Executive Officer of Belize’s Ministry of Public Utilities, Energy and Logistics, represented the nation in recent working discussions focused on advancing the initiative. He highlighted that the entire Central American region, coordinated through SICA, shares a collective goal of boosting electric vehicle adoption, driven primarily by commitments to cut environmental harm and improve air quality across the bloc.

    The project is currently conducting a targeted diagnostic analysis of Belize’s current transportation landscape to map out a realistic transition timeline for phasing out diesel and gasoline-powered public transit vehicles in favor of electric alternatives. According to Almendarez, two SICA member states – Costa Rica and Panama – have already achieved far higher electric vehicle penetration than the rest of the region, with Costa Rica emerging as a clear regional leader in sustainable transport policy and deployment. Belize plans to draw heavily on these countries’ hands-on experience to avoid common pitfalls and streamline its own transition.

    A key challenge the initiative will address is the high upfront purchase cost of electric vehicles, a major barrier for private bus and fleet operators in Belize. Almendarez noted that the project will collect and share empirical data to demonstrate the long-term financial benefits of electric mobility to local vehicle owners, who were included in recent working sessions to ensure stakeholder input guides the initiative’s design.

    Almendarez pointed out that beyond environmental benefits, electric transport offers significant financial stability for Belize, a nation that is fully reliant on imported fossil fuels with no control over global price volatility. “If you were running from Belize City to Cayo, you’ll find out that it’s much cheaper” to operate an electric vehicle compared to a gasoline or diesel bus, he explained, noting that lower and more stable operating costs offset the higher initial investment over the vehicle’s lifespan.

  • Hoogleraar Moomou: Een gedeelde rivier vraagt om gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid

    Hoogleraar Moomou: Een gedeelde rivier vraagt om gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid

    For centuries, the Marowijne-Lawa-Litanier River that cuts across the border between French Guiana and Suriname has been far more than a cartographic boundary or administrative dividing line. It is a lifeline, a sacred cultural and spiritual touchstone for Indigenous peoples and Maroon communities that have made its banks their home since long before modern nation-states drew their lines across the region.\n\nIndigenous groups including the Kali’na, Arawak, Teko, and Wayana-Apalaï were the first inhabitants of the river basin. Beginning in the 18th century, Maroon communities—descendants of formerly enslaved people who escaped colonial plantations in Suriname—settled along the river’s reaches, including the Aluku-Boni (from 1776), the Pamaka (from 1877), and the Ndyuka (also called Okanisi), who first settled along the Tapanahoni River in 1766 before expanding to the Lawa River banks in the 1880s.\n\nFor these communities, the river border has a meaning fundamentally different from the one imposed by national governments. While citizenship is formally defined by which side of the river a person is born or resides on—French for those on the French Guiana side, Surinamese for those on the Surinamese side—local worldviews do not recognize a rigid dividing line. As André Pakosie, a Maroon writer and community leader born in the region, noted in a 2018 essay: “In my youth, I grew up with the idea that for us Maroons there was no border between Suriname and French Guiana. People on the other side of the Marowijne just spoke a different dialect, same as us. The land on both sides belonged to everyone, not to France or the Netherlands—it was our shared home.”\n\nThat centuries-old fragile balance between communities and the river ecosystem has come under growing threat since the end of the 20th century. Large-scale resource exploitation, unchecked pollution, and inflexible cross-border border management that ignores local traditions and needs have eroded the sustainable stewardship that traditional authorities maintained for generations. Accelerating ecosystem decline, combined with the shrinking influence of traditional governance, has pushed the region to a breaking point, according to Jean Moomou, a professor of history at the University of French Guiana who authored this analysis of the river crisis.\n\nToday, the single greatest threat facing the basin is unregulated, illegal gold mining. The activity has carved up riverbeds, cleared old-growth forests, and eroded river banks across the region. Worse, mercury runoff from mining, mixed with plastic, metal, and battery waste, has poisoned the river’s water. This contamination has put both public health for local communities and the basin’s unique biodiversity at severe risk.\n\nFor local people, the damage is not only environmental but cultural and spiritual. As one traditional healer (obiauman) put it: “All the water spirits have left and hidden themselves.” With the loss of the river’s traditional purity, long-held cultural practices that structure community life are also fading. The arrival of unregulated mining has also brought a surge in violent conflict, most notably the deadly clashes in gold mining areas around Maripasoula in the late 1990s and early 2000s.\n\nThese interconnected challenges are not isolated incidents: they expose a deep structural crisis that demands coordinated action from political leaders, civil society, and scientific experts across both borders. Inaction would put both the long-term and short-term socioeconomic well-being of local communities and the ecological integrity of the transboundary basin at irreversible risk.\n\nMoomou notes that the 2021 protocol for border redefinition jointly proposed by the governments of France and Suriname offers a promising path forward. The updated border framework creates a clearer, more effective regulatory structure to crack down on illegal activities like unregulated gold mining, while opening the door to cooperative management that honors the river’s role as a shared resource for the communities that have depended on it for centuries. The core demand from researchers and community leaders remains clear: the river must be managed as a shared resource, with full respect for both ecological health and the long-standing use rights of the Indigenous and Maroon peoples who call it home.

  • City Hall Touts Transit Progress as Commuters Brave Heat and Rain

    City Hall Touts Transit Progress as Commuters Brave Heat and Rain

    When Belize City launched its electric bus pilot program in July 2024, it marked a bold step toward sustainable public transit for the coastal Central American city. Two years on, city leaders are celebrating a key milestone: the small fleet of two electric buses has already carried nearly 400,000 passengers, proving strong local demand for cleaner, accessible public transportation. But for daily commuters relying on the new service, one critical oversight has turned everyday trips into an uncomfortable gamble: a lack of functional, weather-protected bus stop infrastructure leaves riders waiting in extreme heat or sudden heavy rain, with nowhere to shelter.

    Deputy Mayor Eluide Miller recently acknowledged that this gap is a valid, pressing concern for residents, confirming that the city has now finalized plans to address the long-standing issue. The first major improvement will be a state-of-the-art new sheltered bus stop constructed at the high-traffic Battlefield Park location in central downtown Belize City, a project set to break ground in the near term.

    Looking beyond the initial pilot phase, Miller outlined a multi-term strategy to overhaul the city’s entire bus stop network. The current council has committed to advancing upgrades through the end of its term, and Miller emphasized that the next incoming city council will need to allocate dedicated ongoing resources to both modernize existing stops and build new facilities to support planned route expansions for the growing electric bus fleet.

    Miller explained that the limited scope of the initial pilot program explains why infrastructure upgrades were not prioritized from the start. The initiative was designed as a test bed to evaluate whether electric buses could operate reliably and effectively in Belize’s climate and urban context, with only a small number of vehicles deployed initially. Comprehensive infrastructure upgrades were not baked into the original pilot’s limited scope and budget.

    As Belize City pushes forward with its transition to electric public transit, the infrastructure upgrade plan signals a shift from testing the viability of e-mobility to scaling the service into a fully functional, resident-focused public resource, addressing the most immediate pain point for daily users.