标签： Belize

On a sweltering June afternoon in 2026, hundreds of police officers from every corner of Belize assembled in crisp ceremonial formation at the Police Training Academy’s Parade Square, gathered not for a routine deployment or emergency response, but for a long-overdue moment of national recognition. The special ceremony was organized to celebrate the discipline, dedication, and extraordinary public service that have kept Belizean communities safe for years, shining a well-deserved spotlight on officers who have gone above and beyond the standard requirements of their roles.

Local journalist Paul Lopez of News Five attended the event and filed this on-the-ground report. Braving blistering mid-afternoon heat, the uniformed officers stood shoulder to shoulder at attention, their ranks filled with personnel who have spent decades committed to protecting Belize and its people. Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Commissioner of Police ACP Bart Jones opened by framing the event as anything but a typical workday for the force. “Today is not an ordinary day. It is one of recognition, gratitude and pride,” Jones said. “It is a day when we as an institution pause to recognize the men and women who have given years of faithful service, discipline and courageous service to the people of Belize and this cannot be overstated.”

Police Commissioner Dr. Richard Rosado expanded on that sentiment, noting that the awards and medals being handed out were only a symbol of a far more important value: the quiet sacrifice and unwavering commitment that defines outstanding policing. “Today, we gather not merely to present medals and awards, but to celebrate something far greater, the enduring service, the spirit of sacrifice and the commitment that define the very best of policing,” Rosado explained. “In the life of a police officer there are countless moments that pass unnoticed by the public eye, moments when courage is chosen over comfort, moments when duty is placed over public convenience, moments when men and women answer a call, step into uncertainty and stand between order and disorder.”

The ceremony recognized a range of achievements across the force. Many officers were honored for decades of continuous long service, with some marking more than 20 years in uniform and a handful reaching the exceptional milestone of 30 years of public service. Other awards went to officers with spotless, discipline-free records, while special commendations were reserved for those who had demonstrated extraordinary bravery or effort beyond their assigned duties. In addition to service awards, more than a dozen sitting sergeants received promotions to the rank of inspector, with senior leadership officially pinning their new badges during the event.

Oscar Mira, Belize’s Minister of Home Affairs, addressed the gathered officers, emphasizing the critical role the police force plays in the country’s ongoing growth and stability. “Men and women from every district, town and city, have dedicated themselves to supporting our national development, protecting communities, safeguarding trade, supporting industries and promoting safe environments that allow our nation to prosper,” Mira said. “Throughout the development of Belize, the Belize Police Department has remained an essential pillar of governance and national stability. Today I simply say thank you for your service.” Mira added that alongside recognizing milestones of long service and good conduct, it was critical to honor officers who had distinguished themselves through exceptional performance that went beyond the call of duty.

As the ceremony drew to a close, the full contingent of officers marched off the parade square to enthusiastic applause from the hundreds of family members, friends, and fellow law enforcement colleagues who had gathered to watch the event. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez. This report is a transcript of an evening television broadcast prepared by the outlet’s news team.

On June 18, ahead of Father’s Day, the Belize Coast Guard paused its critical maritime security operations to recognize a less talked about role that more than 100 of its service members fill every day: fatherhood.

Held at the service’s headquarters, the first-of-its-kind Father’s Day Appreciation Luncheon brought together uniformed fathers from across ranks to step away from patrol schedules, operational duties and the constant demand of their national security mandate, to celebrate their dual commitment to country and family.

For Belize’s coast guards, duty does not follow a standard 9-to-5 workweek. Tasked with protecting the nation’s territorial waters, countering smuggling, and conducting search and rescue operations, personnel spend weeks at sea away from home, missing countless milestones that most parents take for granted. Belize Coast Guard Commandant Rear Admiral Gregory Soberanis, himself a father in service, spelled out the unique sacrifice these men make.

“The sacrifice that we make as military personnel is significant. The time spent away from home, away from your family, there are key moments that you miss at times where the regular citizen can enjoy an eight to five job more or less. That’s not our timeframe. We are always on the go because of the mandate that we have. So you find that many of our or all of our fathers really spend a lot of time away from home. And so it’s those moments, those family moments, whether it’s a graduation whether it’s a birthday or a family gathering, we can’t always be there,” Soberanis said.

Yet even with these unpredictable, demanding schedules, the majority of father-service members maintain active, loving roles in their children’s lives, a commitment organizers said has long gone unrecognized publicly. The luncheon was designed as a small but meaningful gesture to shine a light on that double dedication: to protecting Belize’s borders, and nurturing their own families back on shore.

For Rigoberto Rivas, a Chief Petty Officer with 25 years of service in the Belize Coast Guard and a father of five, the recognition felt like a long-overdue honor. “To be recognized as a father is a great pleasure for me because it’s a big responsibility. And apart from that, it’s a pleasure, to be a father. I am pleasure to be a father of five and a husband, [to] a lovely wife. And apart from that, like I said, as a leader as well, it’s a pleasure for me to be here standing after twenty-five years of service. To my wife back home and my lovely kids, I love you all,” Rivas shared in a heartfelt address to attendees.

The afternoon was filled with casual fellowship: attendees shared stories from their careers and family lives, enjoyed friendly competitions, and exchanged words of encouragement for one another. Beyond honoring the fathers in uniform, the event also shone a light on the quiet work of the families who support service members through long deployments and missed holidays.

Soberanis emphasized that the commitment these fathers make extends far beyond their own homes, directly strengthening the coast guard’s ability to keep Belize safe. “Fathers today, we honor them, we highlight their commitment to duty. We highlight their selfless service, and we also highlight what they bring to the table when it comes to the execution of operations for the safety, security, and naval defense for the country of Belize,” he said.

This report was compiled by Shane Williams for Belize’s News Five, from a transcript of the outlet’s original evening television broadcast.

Against a global backdrop of advancing equitable education for all learners, the Central American nation of Belize has introduced an ambitious nationwide program designed to embed inclusive education principles into its education system and bolster targeted support for students with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).

The project is led by Belize’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology (MoECST), with strategic partnership and funding support from two major international education bodies: the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Implemented under the umbrella of the IDB’s Skills for the Future Program, the initiative centers on upskilling educators through comprehensive training in inclusive teaching practices and the design of customized Individual Education Plans (IEPs) tailored to each student’s unique needs.

The program’s foundational first phase kicked off with 55 participating teachers and Special Education Officers, who are working to earn professional certification as Special and Inclusive Education Coaches. This opening stage of training takes the form of a week-long intensive residential program, split between two of Belize’s leading education institutions: the University of Belize in the capital city of Belmopan, and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Institute in Belize City.

After the conclusion of in-person instructional sessions, participating trainees will continue their professional development journey through a structured blend of online coursework and one-on-one mentorship. This extended learning phase is designed to reinforce core competencies and ensure coaches are prepared to provide ongoing, hands-on support to schools across the country.

Once fully trained, the new cohort of coaches will establish a interconnected national support network. Their core mandate will be to guide frontline classroom teachers, share evidence-based best practices for inclusive instruction, and drive the transformation of learning spaces into accessible, welcoming environments that accommodate the needs of all learners regardless of ability.

Over the full lifecycle of the initiative, program leaders aim to deliver inclusive education training to more than 500 teachers across Belize. This scaled-up training is expected to build a more robust, sustainable foundation for equitable learning opportunities that are accessible to every student in the country.

Government education officials note that the new initiative underscores Belize’s long-standing commitment to upholding the principle of inclusive education, and aligns the country’s national education strategy with widely accepted international development goals that affirm universal access to education as a fundamental human right. With financial and technical backing from the IDB’s Skills for the Future Program and GPE grant funding, Belize is actively expanding its national capacity to ensure that students with all types of diverse learning needs receive the targeted support they require to thrive academically and socially.

Nestled in Belize, the quiet small community of Scotland Halfmoon Village has been upended by an escalating crisis that local officials have so far left unaddressed: a massive, spreading black ant infestation that took root in the aftermath of Hurricane Lisa, and has now overrun private properties, farmlands, and multiple residential homes.

For years, this creeping ecological nuisance has grown steadily worse, turning daily life for dozens of local residents into a constant fight against the invasive insects. Norman Anthony, one of the hardest-hit villagers, shared his ordeal with local outlet News 5, describing how the ants have completely changed the way residents interact with their own land. “Right now if you walk in the yard, they will start crawling all over your feet,” Anthony explained. He also noted a striking shift in the local insect population: the black invaders appear to have displaced the native red ant population entirely, leaving the village dominated by this far more disruptive species.

According to Anthony’s estimates, the infestation currently stretches across 40 to 50 acres of the village’s land, impacting roughly five to six households. Unlike many pest outbreaks that are concentrated in a handful of nests, these black ants are scattered across the entire affected area, making large-scale eradication efforts far more difficult for residents to carry out on their own. Lifting any object left resting on the ground, Anthony says, reveals hundreds of visible white ant eggs, confirming the population is still growing rapidly.

The damage caused by the invasion extends far beyond mere nuisance. The ants have been attacking local fruit orchards, burrowing into tree roots and slowly killing valuable crops that many residents rely on for food and income. They also pose a direct threat to local livestock: newborn farm animals have been harmed as the ants crawl into their sensitive eyes and soft tissues. When rainy weather approaches, the colonies surge into residential homes in search of higher ground, forcing families to coexist with the insects inside their own living spaces.

Local residents have not stood idly by. They have tested a wide range of commercial pesticides and homemade eradication strategies, but none have delivered long-term relief. While some treatments temporarily drive the ants away from small areas, the colonies always rebound and return within days, leaving residents trapped in a cycle of repeated, futile efforts to control the population.

Community leaders and affected residents say they formally requested assistance from the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA) weeks ago, but as of yet no inspection team has been dispatched to the village to evaluate the scale of the crisis. For the villagers, their ask is modest: they do not demand immediate, large-scale relief, only that a representative from a relevant government agency visit the community to see the infestation firsthand, and work with residents to develop a viable solution to eliminate the ants and restore normal life to the village. “It’s really terrible,” Anthony said of the ongoing crisis, echoing the frustration of the entire affected community.

Three and a half years after a horrific New Year’s Eve shooting left three members of a Belmopan family dead and one injured, the long-awaited sentencing of convicted former police corporal Elmer Nah has been adjourned at the eleventh hour. Presiding trial judge Justice Nigel Pilgrim announced Thursday that he requires additional time to thoroughly review all legal and victim submissions presented to the court, pushing the final sentencing decision to 9 a.m. Friday.

Nah was found guilty on May 29 of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder for the 2022 attack that targeted the Ramnarace family in their Belmopan home. The gun violence immediately claimed the lives of brothers Jon and David Ramnarace. Jon’s wife, Vivian Belisle Ramnarace, survived the initial shooting but ultimately died from her injuries later. The fourth victim, Yemi Alberto, escaped the attack with his life.

During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, prosecution attorneys and surviving members of the Ramnarace family pushed the court to deliver the maximum possible penalty: a life sentence. Their argument centered on the extreme brutality of the crime and the irreversible, lifelong harm the massacre has inflicted on the victim’s extended family and community, asserting that the severity of Nah’s actions demands the harshest punishment allowed under Belizean law.

The guilty verdict in Nah’s trial rested heavily on a pivotal piece of evidence: the testimony that Vivian Belisle Ramnarace gave prior to her death. In his May ruling, Justice Pilgrim characterized her first-hand account of the attack as consistently credible and reliable, noting that surveillance and body camera video evidence collected by investigators aligned perfectly with her description of the event. The judge also fully rejected Nah’s attempts to account for his whereabouts the night of the shooting, concluding that the former law enforcement officer had intentionally fabricated his story to mislead both investigators and the court.