National Perspective October 4, 2009

See story on page 7

Sunday, October 4, 2009

58th Edition Vol. 2 - Week 6

BARROW DESTROYING OUR ECONOMY Keeping foreign Investors at bay, and diminishing investment climate

It is becoming obvious that Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s rash -move to expropriate Belize’s largest private telecommunications provider is diminishing the once active investment climate, as it wipes out the investor confidence preventing any sane foreign investor or multi-national wanting from coming to Belize. In just twenty short months, upon taking the reins of government, the UDP has reduced the once Belize’s once

buoyant and thriving economy to rubble, shamelessly existing as a beggar government depending on the financial assistance of friendly governments to barely stay functional.

Since that day when PM Barrow secretly introduced that damning piece of legislation to nationalize BTL, everything has been deteriorating chronically, including his health to the point that there is not a viable sense

Mortgaged Belize City CoMMerCial Centre

...Soon to be Scotia Bank Commercial Centre

PAT ANDREWS As we look at the grim reality confronting the Belize City Council and it’s UDP Mayor Zenaida Moya today, regarding the gross financial irregularities among the other woe’s, we can only imagine to what level of incompetence the city government has reached and

whose going to pay for it.

We all know that they are hardly getting by, functioning on a daily handto-mouth basis breaching standard regulations and procedures using the irregular but unique financial method of underdepositing to stay af loat and avoid outright bankruptcy. It is crystal clear that the City has huge financial problems, even though they themselves as candidates going into the elections, assured the City residents that they could have given Belize City a face lift, provide the essential services of garbage collection, repairing and paving of city streets as well as the unclogContinued on page 3

of direction towards a planned recuperation from this economic tail spin that he created.

To justify his takeover of BTL, he told the Belizean people that it was necessary and in their best interest, adding that the people will be the true beneficiaries of the nationalization. In his quest to hoodwink the people, he promised further competitive and reduced rates with the access such as VOIP among other technological advances BTL offers,

but no sooner was the hostile take-over of Belize Telemedia consummated, Barrow in his usual deceptive style changed the talk.

He immediately used the other side of his cheek to tell Belizeans not to expect any further reductions, since there was already the newly introduced per-second billing among other factors that will make it impossible to consider anything further.

Barrow is now losing beauty sleep and is stressed out because his personal as well as his public life is fast becoming a nightmare.

He is really having a very hard time finding Strategic Belizeans to pool their financial resources to put up the large sum of money necessary to pay for Barrow’s arrogance, the price-tag he will have to pay up as a consequence for his devious obsession regarding Telemedia’s take-over.

And worst, there is no strategic foreign investor looking in from the outside to take advantage of this offer. Investors, who would be enticed under normal circumstances, are cautiously reluctant to pump that kind of money after learning facts surrounding the take-over by a seemingly deceitful,

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“SHaMeFUl, diSgraCeFUl goVt” MOYa BaSHES BarrOW!!!

MOYA ZENAIDA

The Long awaited charges have been brought against Mayor Zenaida Moya. But the charges have little if anything to do with the missing thousand of dollars from the Belize city Council.

As told by Moya attorney Hubert Elrington the Charges are “a sham, they are an invention…existing from “massive shameful, disgraceful government”. He said that Prime Minister Barrow was “evil” and had “destroyed the dream of Philip Goldson”.

“Borrow” as Elrington unique pronounciation, Barrow had “no respect for the little man”.

In seeking to use Zenaida Moya as a scapegoat as he is haunted by mounting corruption in his government Prime minister Barrow has seen the Moya matter blow up in

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Sunday, October 4, 2009

destruction oF an economY OnlY THE PUP Can SavE US nOW!!

These are trying times in the little jewel of Belize. Presently, the rains are upon us and every street is filled with water and potholes and there is no solution being tabled by the City Council to address these matters. In addition, crimes are being committed unabated, while Commissioner Crispin Jeffries is behaving like an ostrich using crime statistic to tell the Belizean people that crimes are decreasing.

There has been no sighting of the Minister of National Security; many believe has not sobered yet from his Independence Day binge.

These incompetent behaviors of both the national and municipal governments are stifling the economy. When crime is high, tourist will be scarce, because no one wants to come to a country where the government is impotent on crime and lack the will and resources to protect them. In addition, no one leave their first world country to come to Belize to see garbage and drive on pothole streets.

When the Prime Minister announced he was taking our Belize Telemedia Limited, many rejoiced in ignorance, today some of those same persons want to turn back the hands of time because they are seeing and feeling the effects of that reckless decision by the Prime Minister. The International Community has questioned the motive and the implication of the government hastily taking over BTL from a private investor and not paying for it. Every person/investor who had intentions of investing in Belize has delayed going forward. This is not good for Belize. In addition, the Prime Minister has the BTL Board and management riddled with family members and cronies.

When all the issues are compressed together, one can clearly see Belize is in trying times.

This problem is magnified because Cabinet and the UDP backbenchers are widely known to be incompetents. In a recent editorial in the “zinc fence” paper, Evan Hyde called them “dodo birds”. So with Prime Minister out on sick leave, there is no one that is dependent enough to do anything substantive to benefit the country.

Unless the government starts working closely with the private sector and remove this hatred they have for businessmen in Belize, the economy will continue down a slippery slope. Our message is that there must be an urgent Economic Summit with a panel of fair minded and battle tested panelist from all sectors to obtain recommendations on the way forward. No more can Belizeans rely on the Prime Minister and his advisors alone, because his advisors have never had any private sector experience. They never had to make payroll for hard working Belizeans before. To put it bluntly, they have been fed with gold spoon for doing nothing.

All of the P.M.’s present advisors leave the country when the UDP is in opposition and return when they are again the government. They are all spineless.

Furthermore, Mayor Zenaida Moya Flowers is being hauled off to court for failing to comply with her own City Council rules and “uttering on a false document”.

If only Mayor “Z” had hired the Ex-First Lady, the Prime Minister would not have ordered her arrest.

Zenaida Moya rose to prominence off the backs of the Trade Unions with the PUP as her biggest target, today she is being disgraced by the UDP. The same party she gave momentum to in 2006 that lead to the UDP 2008 victory has disgraced her in 2009. Talk about biting the hands that feed you! What Zenaida Moya does not realized is that the Hon. Finnegan has been promoting her as the next UDP Party Leader, a post reserved for Hon. Patrick Faber. As a result, the Prime Minister attempted to overthrow Zenaida in the 2008 UDP Mayoral convention, but was unsuccessful. So now, he has another opportunity with the under-depositing saga. The Prime Minister is not concerned with the fact that charges against the Mayor will follow the same faith as Hon. Said Musa’s “theft” charge. He wants the record of the Mayor Zenaida Moya to have a blotch which can be of use when the campaign for election comes around.

There is no doubt that Zenaida Moya Flowers will put up a fight with the Prime Minister as the gloves are off. This however, does not solve the UDP City Council financial woes. What can help is for every City Councilor to take a pay cut, because none of them work full time. They all have substantive jobs. Pay only for attending monthly meetings and let the Mayor do the jobs they are doing. It has always been that way, so this is nothing new. The UDP City Councilors are hustling from the people. They are being paid for doing nothing. For example, all Roger Espejo has done since March 2009 is to hang a Belize Flag from then Commercial Center during the September Celebrations and collects close to $40,000.00 per annum. So, if the Mayor gives them only $100.00 stipend for meeting, almost ½ million dollars will be saved which can be used to pay the sanitation workers.

This country and its economy are going nowhere fast. All the turmoil the UDP is creating is destroying every fabric of the society. This is the time for the Leader of the Opposition to come out swinging with position papers which will have the UDP reacting recklessly which will lead to their demise. Do it via all method such as press conferences, mixers, talk show, etc. The UDP are on the ropes, but the PUP must deliver the KO blow. Do it in an effort to save the economy, and give confidence to investors so the small man can make money. Only then, will the other social ills subside. OPEN YOUR EYES, THE PEOPLE ARE AWAKE!!!

When all the issues are compressed together, one can clearly see Belize is in trying times. This problem is magnified because Cabinet and the UdP backbenchers are widely known to be incompetents. In a recent editorial in the “zinc fence” paper, Evan Hyde called them “dodo birds”. So with Prime Minister out on sick leave, there is no one that is dependent enough to do anything substantive to benefit the country.

What the Prime Minister is very good at, is propaganda and distortion. P.M. Barrow launched an attack on Dr. Carl Ross of the Oppenheimer Funds in an attempt to convince Belizeans that Dr. Ross is incompetent and does not know what he is talking about. What Delroy Kutkelvin and the Prime Minister fail to understand is that what they are doing is seen as damage control. It is an attempt to correct their wrong which has been exposed by Dr. Ross.

The Prime Minister, due to his big ego has started an economic blackballing of Belize. The Independence Day speech shows clearly that the Prime Minister is incompetent and out of touch with the realities of global financing. Clearly, these things are accepted for the local political consumption, however with today’s technologies, anything said and done in public by politicians is instantaneously distributed worldwide.

While the Prime Minister continues to blunder the economy of the jewel, the Mayor and her ten (10) Councilors have been successful on blundering City Hall to the point that they may well need to sell the City Hall building in reality to pay their debt, debt they created on their own. This idea was expressed by the camera ready, Philip Willoughby, who confessed on Monday that they are all incompetent and do not have a plan, but he was given an idea which he tabled. The idea is to sell City Hall. In addition the loan from Scotia Bank which is secured by the Commercial Center is not far from being foreclosed on and sold off to the private sector.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

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Barrow destroying our Economy Keeping foreign Investors at bay, and diminishing

Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1 rogue government with blatant disregard for due process and the rule of law. No investor in their sound mind would take unnecessary risks of losing their investment to a government that could just take control of a private business because of political expediency. Just some weeks ago, Prime Minister Barrow’s financial advisor, Alan Slusher, alluded on the weekly televised Business Perspective show, that there is no evidence that Barrow’s narcissistic expropriation of BTL has reduced investor’s confidence, but then again, in their myopia, not because they don’t see it, it isn’t there!

Last week a New York based financial stock firm ‘Oppenheimer Financial Group’ through its financial analyst/ writer, Carl Ross wrote an article in its September 23rd report entitled: “Belize-Multiple Caution Flags”. Ross who was once at the New York based Investment Banking and Securities Trading and Brokerage Firm of Bear Stearns, is familiar with Belize since he once managed Belize’s file and financial history at Bear Stearns. In his latest report, he warns that with Taiwan abandoning its bid for admittance into the United Nations as a charted member, Belize will eventually lose its principal funding stream which has provided tens of millions of dollars each year in exchange for Belize’s support for Taiwan’s acceptance into the UN. Ross points out that if Taiwan scales back its financial support, it is particularly difficult for Belize to service its debt repayment, forcing Belize Government into increased taxation. On the hostile takeover/ nationalization of BTL by the Barrow Government, Ross says its set a terrible precedent even though it appears to be a developing pattern which raises serious questions regarding due process, the rule of law and the respect for property rights. In his

ging of drains, after they became the municipal government, however, it was a totally different story.

Belize City as it pertains to the maintenance of streets and drains has retrogressed backed into the early years of the nineties.

They are indebted to the sanitation companies’ big time, to the tune of some $2.7 Million dollars and they are nowhere close to paying up what is owed and as a result, many single mothers and other poor sanitation workers can’t get paid for work already rendered.

Councillor Phillip Willoughby this week hinted that a possible way to get out of debt was to sell City Hall and start all over again building another City Hall elsewhere. That is the type of mentality presently at City Hall and most likely is the reason the City Council and its entire administration is in such a mess. But they have other financial outstanding debts where they have mortgaged property or real estate and very soon financiers and the bank will be foreclosing on City property. One such property is the Belize City Commercial Centre at the foot of the Swing Bridge. The Belize City Commercial Centre is mortgaged with Scotia Bank Belize for a whopping $4Million dollar plus accrued interest. Even when other commercial banks turned down the City Council’s loan application because they felt that the

investment climate

analogy, he predicts that no foreign investor would want to buy Telemedia after learning the facts behind the hostile acquisition and disregarded the local market from going to the rescue sensing that the pool is not deep or large enough to finance it.

In a similar report appearing on www. telecom.com News, Views and Reviews on the 28th of September 2009, Tammy Parker wrote regarding the Government’s takeover of Telemedia.

In her article, Tammy stresses that some facts surrounding the nationalization raised considerable questions regarding the nation’s approach to due process especially since the entire expropriation process, from the initial introduction of the bill in the House to the actual government takeover, took only two days and that the new BTL’s board members includes Anwar Barrow, the son of Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow, and his mother, Lois Young, as secretary.

Parker concludes: “potential investors will be wary of entering a country where the government so wantonly takes command of a private business and places the prime minister’s family members on the board, whether for seemingly good reasons or not. The ownership restriction is likely to turn off potential investors, keeping major regional players, such as America Movil, Cable & Wireless and Digicel, far from Belize’s shores”.

Belize Telemedia services 178,880 of the country’s 217,380 subscribers, and while the government and Ashcroft’s interests will continue to argue in the courts over BTL’s valuation and what would be the appropriate compensation to Ashcroft’s group for the government takeover, the government has its own valuation in terms of what they want to pay for the Belize Telemedia.

Mortgaged Belize City Commercial Centre

...Soon to be Scotia Bank Commercial Centre City had a history of none compliance and consistent payments practices for the areas of essential services and wages and felt the City will default because of their long term inability to pay, Patrick Andrews, Manager of Scotia Bank approved the loan mortgaging the Commercial Centre as security guarantee. Many analysts in the financial sector believed that it was negligent and irresponsible on the part of Pat Andrews to approve a loan of $4Million dollars putting Scotia Bank into this type of arrangement with the City Council.

There are many that are now questioning his f inancial pr udence as a manager of Scotia Bank, but know that he is a staunch supporter and f inancier of the UDP and his fanatic love for the party may have overshadowed his poor judgement. With the imminent arrest and subsequent charges against Mayor Zenaida Moya and her f inancial Unit, it is not expected to get any better any time soon, but instead this situation will further decline into a chaotic state and the foreclosures will start to cash in unless the UDP Central Government bailout and pays the mounting million dollar debt of the Belize City Council to avoid the foreclosure against the Belize City Commercial Centre which is among other things, a historical land mark and patrimony of all Belizeans.

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Views & Opinions

Sunday, October 4, 2009

STOP ‘QUICKSTOP’ ABUSE Dear Cayo Concerned Citizens: For some time now I have been hearing of some abusive micro-lending practices that’s been bleeding the poor people of the West, however it was not until our PM’s son’s Anwar Barrow’s Quickstop Lending affected me personally that I fully understood what has been happening and consequently have now found the courage to publicly express my disappointment and mistrust of not only that particular institution but also the entire micro-loans sector of Belize including its chief watchdog (or so I thought) –the Central Bank of Belize.

Specifically, my family’s troubles stemmed from a measly $500 Quickstop loan offered to my sister. She was initially instructed to repay only $625 in six instalments to be deducted by her employer, nonetheless due to loss of employment in the public sector when the new UDP administration took office, my sister ended up defaulting on her loan after only two payments. As expected, three weeks did not past before Quickstop through their related establishment Belize Credit Settlement Agency (same owners) pranced on my sister to collect their money. Although she begun making small payments, her bill quickly grew to $1000 piled up with interest charges and fees of which management refused to provide details on.

About a month later my sister received a summons that was left by Quickstop’s people with her next door neighbour. In court, it was ordered that she continue to make payments to the Court for the amount stated on summons which was by that time $1200. This she complied with but demand calls continued to be received from Quickstop with charges continuing to be added. Again, Quickstop refused to provide a breakdown of the charges. Before my sister knew it, Officer Gamboa broke down her door at about 11:30 pm in the night with a warrant for her arrest demanding repayment of that same measly $500 now turned into a whopping $1500 (an alarming 200% increase)! She was given till 10 am the next day to pay or otherwise sent to prison.

I have several concerns with the Quickstop’s abusive practices: (1) Is it legal for moneylenders to withhold the breakdown of charges from customers whilst continuing to increase these even against the Court’s orders?

(2) Since the Governor of the Central Bank is a ‘personal’ buddy of the PM, has Quickstop been exempted from regulation and the laws as stated in the Moneylenders Act Chp. 260 with the unconscionable interest, fees and charges being levied on consumers such as my sister? Are our consumer protection laws inadequate and do our people know where to get help from to fend off the teeth of these advantageous loan sharks?

(3) Is Quickstop allowed to override the entire concept of due process?

No distress was executed, no judgment summons was served, and my sister was immediately slapped with a committal warrant. Although payments were being made to Court as ordered, no further hearing was allowed for my sister allowing QS to walk all over her! Imagine how many more are being affected right now.

I found out that the PM son’s by his political influence is using members of the Police Department (not a bailiff of the court) to sign off on the distress to make it appear that it has been executed to no avail in order to guarantee quicker cash collection. His mommy and daddy must have told him that the distress process on delinquent customers’ personal property as a suitable remedy would be too lengthy to recover Dad’s “hard earned” money (QS’s on-lent funds) made from Lord Ashcroft. (Yes registry shows that the PM initially held considerable shares in Quickstop). Where is Mr. Perdomo now? Perhaps too busy granting 9mm handgun licenses to his friends and family members. Apparently they are the only ones that need protection.

(4) In fact, I’m sure the PM’s money and ‘legal might’ is behind his son’s abuse and raping of the poor and uninformed consumers of financial services in the West but it seems as if the media is afraid to touch on topics relating to the PM. Does this not equate to the alleged predatory actions of Lord Ashcroft? The PM’s judgment surely becomes questionable when he appoints the same greedy and “forced-ripe” manager of Quickstop (his son) to run BTL. Imagine how that will turn out!

Sincerely,Concerned Citizen

Response: Cayo Concerned Citizens are deeply touched and overwhelmingly concerned about the fate of your sister due to the advantageous and greedy tactics of Quickstop Loan. Sorry to say that from other reports and experiences not much has resulted from taking the UDP profiteers to court or from seeking redress from supposedly competent authorities. This is not the first complaint we have received from the PM’s son. His actions are uncalled for but as you say in your essay, he is protected by the government of the day and surely by his “Daddy” despite the fact that they are acting against the laws of Belize and contrary to our constitutional rights are Belizean citizens. Then again, the PM is making all these amendments to the constitution that we are not careful we may be stripped of all human, natural, citizenry rights and libertieswithin the constitution.

Reports we got from a community on the banks of the Macal River between Camalote and Roaring Creek are that some weeks ago, the PM’s son “Anwar” was seen frequently in this community along with another male of Roaring creek Village. This other male (Hyde) is a 3 X released murder convict. He has only

one hand allegedly because the other arm was blown off during a robbery. Hyde was reportedly in this Hispanic community of former squatters, now lease owners, threatening to take away their lands which most have occupied for some 15 years. Individually, the families were scared of Hyde because of his reputation as a ‘killer’. Some 4 weeks ago the community planned to confront Hyde as a group whenever he returned with his threats. It was a group of some 25 women of the community who grabbed Hyde and promised to give him a beating if he did not desist in threatening their livelihood. When the vehicle Hyde arrived-in decided to back out from the turmoil, it was stopped by the husbands of these women who were waiting at the entrance of the road where with machetes and sticks on hand. Lo and behold a trembling Anwar Barrow alighted the vehicle and being scared for his life promised to pay the people of the community for their lands. (SOME REPORT THAT WHEN HE SAW THE MACHETES WAVING, ANWAR SOILED HIS PANTS).

Those whose lands had already been vandalized (posts rooted and fence torn down) decided to accept the monies but the majority preferred to remain on their lands. Your reflection of “Abuse and Raping of the POOR as sighted on point 4 You see, overnight Anwar also became Real Estate Agent and is selling Belizean land “left, right and center”.

Now think about this, the PM named his son to the Board of Directors of the BTL because as he said in the interview, his son will be his eyes and ears on the Board. Is the PM not disrespecting the likes of Net Vasquez and former PM Manuel Esquivel--both members of the Board of Directors? Why can’t Esquivel be the Eyes and Ears of the government on the Board of BTL? It is plain and simple. NEPOTISM! What we need to do is to expose this corrupt UDP government for what they really are. The PM says one thing on one side of his mouth but does another.

Most recent example is the case with the Belize City Council Corruption Scandal where employees are the ones who are being suspended without pay while Mayor Zenaida Moya and other choice Councillors are exonerated. The PM said, No corruption will take place under his watch yet he gives his former Wife and his Son all the big salary position on various BOARDS. All these UDP promises are all wind and of course, a fallacy. However, they will not last forever, not even their full term. The way our economy is showing signs of stress puts this incompetent UDP government on BARROWED time.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

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PUP’s BROKEN HEARTACHE The amandala newspaper, the unofficial messenger of Hon. Dean Barrow (so long as “Lice” keep those Social Security ads rolling in) and its Publisher Evan X Hyde, father of the PUP Lake Independence Representative, Hon. Cordel Hyde, and father-in-law of the PUP Albert Division Representative, Hon. Mark Espat in their headlines last weekend tried to raise alarm (Chicken Little attitude) that the PUP’s are “back in love again”. All because the PUP leadership has decided to checkmate his opponent within the Party by proposing to bring the past PUP Party leader Rt. Hon Said Musa and the Hon. Francis Fonseca, the PUP Freetown Representative and a few other loyalists into the party’s National Executive. Hon. Espat foreseeing a dangerous move to cut his power base in the PUP National Executive along with his chances for leadership in the National Party Convention next year, let loose his “Pit Vulture”, Bill Lindo a.k.a. “Partridge Street John Crow” to launch a vicious unwarranted attack on the Party Leader, Hon. Said, Kareem Musa and Anthony Mahler at last week’s National Executive meeting at the Party Headquarters.

Even Hon. Cordel Hyde made a personal attacked on the Party Leader for not informing him of his proposal ahead of time. It was nasty, as one observer stated “these boys are really determined to keep this party divided”. At day’s end of that heated meeting, there was a compromised proposed by no other than Hon. Mark to include Mark Usher and Hugh O’Brian, two of Mark Espat’s loyalist and demanding the promotion of the “Partridge Street John Crow” in the National Executive. It appears that the Party Leader’s loyal team is either weak or just political dunces because as a result of these proposed changes, the balance of power within the Party’s National Executive has not changed. Hon. Mark Espat then turned to His father-in-law’s newspaper to highlight the sensational ‘Love Story’ headline.

Notable absent was the Party’s National Campaign Manager and new Senator Eamon Courtney.

By bringing Hon. Said Musa and Hon. Francis Fonseca into the National Executive with the proposed all inclusion expansion, I don’t want to get too optimistic, but optimist none the less as I do believe that these public figures bring with them a new level of optimism and hope for disgruntled PUP’s like myself who want to see this Party united in heart and spirit for one common goal and with a true capable and determined leader to move us forward to victory in future elections. We need a leader with true compassion, loyalty and dedication to his Party’s supporters as well as to the Belizean people (not to the “Zinc Fence”). Last Sunday, September 27, 2009 at a National Party Council (NPC) meeting held at Independence Hall, the Rt. Hon. Said Musa, Leader

Contributed by: Gordon Smith

Emeritus Rt. Hon. George Cadle Price and the Party Leader addressed delegates and expressed the need for unity and loyalty. I believed that unity and loyalty will be a major challenge for the PUP as it stands until the two trouble makers (Mark and Cordel) leave this Party. These two don’t understand what loyalty means (take as an example how the zinc fence operates) and they won’t leave the PUP voluntarily because they don’t have anywhere else to go. They just cannot walk. This Hezbollah leader is so consumed with the hunger for power that unity and loyalty means nothing if his political ego is not fulfilled.

It was interesting to note that Hon. Mark Espat’s stooge, Mark Usher; Pickstock Chairman did not show up at the NPC meeting Sunday neither did Carolyn Trench Sandiford’s lacky/friend from Collet Division Dr. Saunders. Yet, listeners to the “Judas” (Hon. Mark Espat’s ‘bra lee’) WUB and the Government Radio Station “Love FM” (a.k.a.

Radio Belize) morning shows were informed that Dr. Saunders and Mark Usher declined to serve on the PUP National Executive. Mark Usher even went as far as to state his intent to resign as Chairman of the PUP Pickstock Committee (at least he showed more b@!!s than the Hezbollah). This column keeps warning the Party Leader about the Local Hezbollah leader and his ally terrorist in the likes of Carolyn Trench Sandiford, the Party Chair Woman and according to some, the “Something In-Law” to the “Zinc Fence” who under instructions from Hon. Mark Espat allegedly set up the Party Leader on many occasions. Dr. Saunders, being the latest pawn that Carolyn has used to set up the Party Leader. And what about the ‘frock-tail diplomat who advise the Party Leader at Blake’s Building? You know I just smell something FISHY. Hon. Party Leader you cannot make a deal with the Devil because you are bound to lose and get hurt in the process (ask Said). I really don’t want Hon. Cordel to feel left out of my essay as many ask why I always referred to Hon. Mark a.k.a “Hezbollah Leader” and not to Hon. Cordel a.k.a. “Follower” but honestly, have you ever heard what position Hon. Cordel Hyde have on any issue? His positions are always Hon. Mark’s position (and we know what Mark’s position is) (smile)” Yu wicked” Rene. The point is that Hon. Cordel Hyde and Hon. Mark Espat are one and the same (“Zinc Fence”); they are both worthless and undermining alike.

I am a solid PUP; I refer to myself as a “classic PUP” not “old or new”. The olive branch leaf that the Hon. John Briceno has extended in the named of Unity is viewed with much skepticism and should be approached with cautious optimism.

“Johnny B’s” sincerity is being questioned due to some of his most recent actions demonstrated lately. Couple days after the Sunday NPC meeting, the PUP Chairwoman Trench Sandiford orga-

nized a “Solidarity Stand” with Captain Charles Good and his wife at Battle Field Park to mark the 59th Birthday of the PUP. At the same time and only a stone’s throw away across Regent Street at the Supreme Court, Francis Fonseca was battling the injustice done to former Minister of Health Joe Coye and senior Statesman the Hon. Florencio Marin Sr. while across the Swing Bridge on North Front Street, the former Prime Minister, Said Musa was launching his book “With Malice Toward None”. Johnny B snubbed them all.

Now you be the judge and tell me about wanting to unify the PUP? But the best part is that Carolyn Trench Sandiford and Deputy Leaders Mark and Cordel manage to convince “Johnny B” that they will be at the “Solidarity Stand” with him if he abandoned Joe, Said and Flo. Guess what? Carolyn shows up at Battle Field Park but there was a no show of Mark and Cordel, so the Leader ended up standing alone AGAIN. Hon. Mark is on the attack? No “Perspective” Mark is no “MOJO” my boy, not right now, you see with Dr. Saunders and Mark Usher out of the national Executive, “Johnny B” now has a slight edge in his favor. Knowing this, the undermining will become more frequent on the PUP’s leadership and the “Old Guard” and Hon. Mark will use his ‘insiders’ like Trench Sandiford and the “Partridge Street John Crow” Bill Lindo to accomplish his dirty works Now back to the Amandala “Back in love” story, it seems that “Father X” is really obsessed or just wants to instigate malice towards the PUP’s leadership struggle, and is hell bound in trying to make Belizeans believe that the only person that can lead the PUP is his son- in-law (by convenience), Hon. Mark Espat .This 60’s “Pot Head”, former self proclaimed revolutionary who calls himself “X” a.k.a. “89 Votes” wants Belizeans to believe that he is so concerned about poor Belizeans but spends more time attacking the Musas and Fonsecas and anyone he believes has to do with the so called PUP ‘Old Guard’ in his newspaper. He should be reporting on the serious political persecution being inflicted on the Belizean people under this vicious United Democratic Party Government who practice political apathy.

Belize is considered the No.1 crime capital in the world. You won’t read that in the Amandala, or read that this Government especially the police Minister is impotent on crime but instead you will read about PUP affairs. The present health system is in its worst situation ever. Young, old, and poor people die regularly at the KHMH, and certainly no criticism of this UDP Government by the Amandala. Poor Belizeans keep losing their land leases/titles every single day, because of the vindictive corrupt Ministry of National Resources. Amandala have never criticized the present “Land Grab” corrupt UDP ministers. Blatant nepotism and cronyism are rampant at every

level of the UDP Government department yet the Amandala is utterly silent. The Mayor of Belize City is alleged to have misappropriated over quarter million dollars of the City’s taxpayers monies at City Hall and her arrest is imminent. The City Council is broke and cannot pay the sanitation workers, now Councilor Phillip Willoughby has contemplated the selling of the Commercial Center and or City Hall to settle their financial debt and still “Father X”, his son-in-law “Hezbollah” and the Amandala cannot criticize the UDP. They want the Belizean people to believe the PUP’s who are trying to unify, are more news material and are dangerous for Belize. How comes “Father X” and Hon. Mark Espat don’t print in their newspaper that they themselves sought financial help from the British Billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft when they wanted to formed their “New Third Party”. Let “Father X” explain to the Belizean people how SAGIS, a Lord Michael Ashcroft company, owns shares in KREM? Hon. Mark and the “Follower” Hon. Cordel should explain to the PUPs why they went to seek Ralph Fonseca’s and Said Musa’s support when they tried to overthrow Johnny B’s leadership after the devastating 2009 City/Municipal Council defeat. So “Father X”, how comes Lord Michael Ashcroft was good for you and your son-in-law then, but now, not good for anyone else? How comes the People’s United Party cannot win an election with the “Old Guard” and the “New PUP’s” unifying now? But when it was convenient for Mark Espat, a unified “Old Guard” and “New PUP” could have won. “Father X” you are a mischief maker like your son-in-law (I wonder who taught who?), this unity being displayed by the PUP is not about “Falling in love again.” It is about “Broken Heartache” and “X” guess whose heart got broken! You’re right, the leader of the local Hezbollah, your “son-in-law”.

In closing I would like to say thanks to the National Perspective Newspaper for publishing my views and opinions and the many disgruntled PUP’s who feel the same way I do and constantly express their support. The Belize Times (the official newspaper of the PUP) and the Amandala (the messenger of the UDP Prime Minister) would never print my articles because of my straight forward critics of the Hezbollah and the Zinc Fence. Remember the Leader of the local Hezbollah Hon. Mark Espat writes the Editorial for the Belize Times and the Tuesday Amandala.

He also sanctions attacks on members of the PUP in his father-in-law’s newspaper the Amamdala.

A unified PUP is a threat to Hon. Mark Espat’s bid for leadership of the People’s United Party and just the idea of such unity would most certainly “Break his Heart”. You see Mark has no other place to go; in fact every political organization knows him and keeps avoiding him. Check the VIP’s. Those that have ears to hear! HEAR.

KREMANDALA $ELLOUT Mose handpicked by Barrow to head ineffective CYDP for a fee Amandala gets special Social Security ads from millionaire ‘Lice’ X Hyde gets special Accomodation Agreement from BTL (Barrow Telemedia Looting)

‘X’ CAN’T CRITICIZE BARROW & THE UDP

A PAID AD

PAGE 6

The saga of Charles and Hirian Good continues to be written but unfortunately, it might wind up a tragic epic of frustration and futility.

The husband and wife team have been vigilant in their protest but attention to their plight seems to be waning by the hour. Except for the occasional honk from the passing sympathizer, the Goods have been all but ignored by a callous and hostile media which seems more concerned with covering the ass of an evidently corrupt and incompetent government than in heeding a call for justice. Notwithstanding, the Goods seem ready and willing if necessary, to render the ultimate sacrifice in their effort to expose the unfair practice of victimization engaged in by, as Delroy Cutlkelvin would put it, “this Dean Barrow government.”

Sunday, October 4, 2009

ny, rally a group of supporters and make it a daily routine.

Who bex, bex!

The Goods predicament began when the wife, Hirian Good, was fired from her job as School Warden at the Trinity Baptist School in Belize City. From all indications, Hirian Good did an exceptional job and went far and beyond the regular call of duty.

Mrs. Good reportedly performed much more that her required School Warden’s duties, serving as cook, babysitter and guardian for many of the children attending that school. When interviewed about the decision to terminate Mrs. Good, Education Minister Patrick Faber flatly admitted to playing politics and boasted that he would do so whenever he could get away with it. According to Faber, Mrs. Good should have been terminated as soon as his party assumed office since, after all, she is a PUP and

...the Goods have been all but ignored by a callous and hostile media which seems more concerned with covering the ass of an evidently corrupt and incompetent government than in heeding a call for justice.

Interestingly enough, the husband, Charlie Good, worked many years as security for one of these very media houses that have now all but turned their backs on his cause. The publisher of the Amandala has boasted on more than one occasion, that Charlie Good literally saved his life after supposedly refusing to carry out an order to assassinate him.

Good was once a high ranking member of Belize’s security forces. Notwithstanding that there was never any evidence given to substantiate whether or not, anyone in fact ever really wanted to hurt Evan Hyde, he has apparently told the story enough times to at least convince himself. One would think then that if for only that reason, Charlie Good would be given at least a fleeting mention in each and every edition of that newspaper. Charlie Good had been calling the Krem WUB morning talk show with daily updates of his protest until he was one day rudely dismissed by host Mose Hyde. Good then took up to calling the PUP’s Positive Vibe morning show, the host of which has been more accommodating and sympathetic to his cause.

I personally feel that the PUP should have been on board with the Goods from the very outset but as PUP Party Leader John Briceno tried to explain this week, they apparently did not want to make it seem political. The UDP had no such qualms about standing with, and even legally defending, any who sided against the PUP while they were in power; that’s what oppositions do! When the Nobles threw bottles at Said Musa’s house, Dean Barrow was there to bail them out. When protestors assaulted the Police in Belmopan, Dean Barrow took leave from the House Meeting to secure their release.

The media obviously had no problem with that then, yet when Johnny Briceno, a full six weeks after the initiating of the protest, decided to show solidarity with the Goods he gets widely condemned by the self same media. Good for you John-

he needed to provide jobs for his people.

After their impressive win at the polls in February of 2008, then Prime Minister designate Dean Barrow openly acknowledged that the UDP could not have won had they not gotten the votes of many disgruntled PUP’s. He promised that given that fact, his government would not embark upon the type of wholesale victimization which they did in 1993. It is not the only promise that Mr. Barrow has broken!

The story of Charles and Hirian Good is a sad one but not an isolated one. The fact that they have been brave enough to make a stand is commendable and they speak for many others who have fallen prey to the vicious axe of victimization. It is a trademark of the UDP party, and while many have taken their fate in stride, Charles and Hirian Good felt that they could not and would not. As Party Leader John Briceno pointed out to an interviewing member of the media, they should not be condemning him for showing solidarity but instead should themselves be out there, picking up pickets and joining in the protest against these abominable acts by government. Political victimization is wrong regardless of who is perpetrating. To be condoned and encouraged by the very Prime Minister who gave his solemn word that it not occur, makes it extraordinarily wrong.

On another note, I wish to take this opportunity to wish the People’s United Party a Happy 59th Birthday. The PUP has done much good for Belize, taking our country from colonization to independence. Despite vicious propaganda by a mercenary media who themselves have benefited from the open-handed and liberal policies of this grand ole party, the PUP continues to regroup and gets stronger by the day. In the words of Winston Churchill, “The truth is incontrovertible; malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.” Long live the PUP and long live Belize!

RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY by: nuri Muhammad

The recent moves by the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Johnny Briceno to reconfigure the executive of his party is a sign that the PUP appears to be finally coming in from the cold. But while this is seen as a positive move by some supporters of the party there are others who view it as a backward move and seem to be filled with disappointment and vexation.

Despite the crippling dysfunction of the Opposition over the last eighteen months there remain those PUPs who are stuck in the blame game of faulting Said/ Ralph for the lost of ’08 and have trouble getting beyond their hindsight. In the mean time the UDP continues to take advantage of a dysfunctional Opposition by keeping the blame Said/Ralph paradigm alive sustained by sections of the media.

And while the PUP remained in the cold the country went on without an effective Opposition for the first quarter of this term and as a result the UDP got away with some major breaches in the social contract and further jeopardized the governance process they swore to correct during their campaign.

Breaches like transparency and accountability. Last year they set up a ministerial committee to monitor the pricing of consumer goods to ensure that people would not be overpriced for basic food items. When last have we heard from that phantom committee while prices of goods on the shelf continue to escalate? They advanced their cause on the mantra: Tings haad outya, yet nineteen months later, tings haada outya. They promised that they would bring down the cost of living, “no matta wat”, yet the cost of living continues to escalate especially since people can’t find work. They promised to that there would be no increase in fuel prices but both fuel and butane prices continue to escalate. They promised that utility cost would go down, yet BEL rates continue to rise.

They have taken political tribalism to a new level by violating the citizens’ constitutional right of freedom of assembly and right to work by firing workers for no other reason than they were PUP. The Prime Minister has attracted the attention of the international community for his blatant nepotism in advancing members of his

family to lucrative and high positions.

The latest in this comedy of errors is the debacle at City Hall and the saga of the rise and fall of Z. Again this had nothing to do with efforts of the Royal Opposition but is the result of the self-destructive process that is endemic to the DNA of the UDP. However an effective Opposition could have rode the wave of this debacle instead of standing on the sidelines watching the parade go by. An effective Opposition should have been marching with the hundred plus disgruntled workers from BML who have not been paid for the last eight weeks rather than joining the protest of one single person and his wife for one day; while Charlie Good’s protest is significant and merits support, politics is about numbers.

Again it is obvious that the Opposition over the last eighteen months was suffering from the frigidity of the cold and if nothing else the new additions to its Executive will bring additional brain power to thaw out its positions and infuse some much needed creativity into its strategies to effectively oppose this Barrow administration which is rapidly losing the street credibility it gained since February ’08.

The collective brain thrust of Said Musa, Frances Fonseca, Lisa Shoman, and Eamon Courtney, if properly utilized, should bring a tremendous boost to the Opposition.

At a time when fish like Hubert Elrington de come from riva battam to verify the endemic, self-destructive nature, in the DNA of the UDP, the handwriting on the wall is becoming even clearer for all to see.

The next step, hopefully not too far down the road, is for the Opposition to create the enabling environment for the return of additional creative energies like Godfrey Smith, Dickie Bradley, Jorge Espat and yes, Ralph Fonseca, to reenter the party leadership, and to make their valuable contribution to a PUP win in 2013. Its not until the PUP sees victory clearly in its sight will it drop its ‘Cainan fratricide’ and engage in the real war of defeating the UDP. A mature political organization is not a social club where everybody likes everybody; shared vision requires putting personal feelings aside and finding common ground for a cause bigger than ourselves. (Comments welcomed at nuribze@gmail.com)

BCB Holdings & Belize Bank Promotes Two Belizeans September 29, 2009 Two Belizeans are the recipients of major career promotions with the Belize Bank and BCB Holdings Limited which is the parent group for the Belize Bank. In a press release issued this week they announced the appointment of Jose Cardona to the post of Chief Operating Officer. Cardona, a twenty- seven year serving veteran of the Belize Bank and is now responsible for the attainment of the group’s overall operational goals including to develop and implement space-planning strategies to accommodate current and future organizational needs. The other Belizean who got a

major career move is Michael Coye who has been promoted to the post of Deputy Group Chief financial Officer.

Coye’s new job is to assist the Group’s Chief Financial Officer in planning and financial reporting, as well as financial management and regulatory reporting. He will report to the Chief Executive Officer and will liaise between the CEO and the organization as it relates to business strategy. The BCB Holdings announcement also named Italian national Fillippo Alario as the group’s Chief Risk Officer responsible for strategic leadership of risk management within the BCB Group.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

PAGE 7

‘‘With malice toward none” it is thorough and workman…notes on a political life – a review like inStill the execution of its objective, the

as prime minister of Belize and leader of the Peoples United Party. Although he spoke to, with and in the media on a regular basis, and campaigned throughout the length and breath of the country during village, municipal and general elections, my opinion is that he hardly spoke about the people, places and things we wanted him to share his candid thoughts on. He takes advantage of this book to do so, but this memoir is no full length autobiography.

To be sure there are thumbnail sketches of former cabinet colleagues, and selected paragraphs mostly on some of his more notorious critics, but there is little by way a us M id Sa . on of full measure-taking of rt. H some of the personas and personalities with whom By: Glenn Tillett I’m always happy whenever any Beliz- he fought either together or against.

You’ll still be left wondering what Said ean puts their thoughts, opinions, memories, recollections et cetera down on paper and of- thinks of Dean Barrow the man, for example, fer us insights into their lives, but I’m posi- even as you infer his opinion of Dean Bartively delighted when one of our leaders does row the politician from his characterizations so. In this case, I am beside myself that it is of some of the things Dean may have done or said.

Said Musa who decided to do so.

Although his writing style is fairly clear I doubt that there’s anyone who has been resident in Belize the past decade or so who is and plain, and displays a sneakily deft touch aware of themselves who does not know who in the use of a wry wit, a smidgen of a droll Said Musa is, and I have yet to meet anyone sense of humor and a rare ironic turn of praise, who does not have an opinion of him. I am a few more anecdotes here and there about not sure exactly what it says about him that some the many powerful people he dealt with, these opinions run the gamut from demon to would certainly have enlivened the reading and made the pages turn a little faster. the deference normally reserved for deity.

Who broke down and cried like a baby I also doubt anyone has been as pilloried or as praised as Said Musa was during the when they were told to pack up and leave, for five years that spanned his last term of office example.

recounting of what had transpired during the 1998-2008 Said Musa administration, and as an attempt to set the record straight, it succeeds wonderfully.

It would appear a tad obvious to the cynic, but the melodrama in the fourteen chapters strewn across 209 pages, including preface, postscript and acknowledgements, is founded in the pathos of his early years. It is telling that his recounting of his forbearers makes it quite clear that he is quite the polyglot – Arab (Palestinian), Maya, Scotsman and “Coloured”.

The fourth child of a poor family, he went from selling tamales in the streets to the apex of our socio-politico triangle – Prime Minister of Belize. But his is no magical rags to riches tale, but one that extols the virtues of determination and hard work.

In the second chapter he dispenses with his education and the how and why of his advent into politics and over the next twelve chapters expounds on his experiences as leader and prime minister starting with his ascension to party leader in 1996 through the next thirteen years, ending with his acquittal of a charge of theft in 2009.

Said Musa is an able attorney and he builds his case with a lawyer’s skill. He has great recall and an eye for detail, and capable assistance in the persons of former Cabinet Secretary Robert “Bobby” Leslie and university lecturer and expert researcher Dr. Aondofe (Joseph) Iyo as he marshals the facts to support his argument.

“Notes” is, as he eloquently says, his “… reflection on my stewardship as a servant of the people.” It is also his attempt to set the record straight in a compendium of facts, figures and opinions.

Said Musa changed Belize, and to be sure, vice versa. He recounts his vision of government in notes covering 60 plus topics that detail his attempt to change our lives.

From notes on his cabinet, poverty, crime and youth violence, penal, political,

health, workers rights, health, public service and judicial reform, gender inequity, growth economics among many others, through musings on capital punishment, the future of the PUP, opinions on Ralph, Jules, Mark, Evan X, and Harry Lawrence, and securitization, G7, Intelco, BTL, Social Security, DFC, BAHA, Small Farmers Bank, elections to his trial, Musa chronicles his achievements, points out his mistakes while refuting his critics cryptically but yet comprehensively.

Many will read it for the titillation of his opinions on the personalities, the tattle of what happened when, but how many will stay through the entire serving for the hard talk of facts and figures?

How many will be persuaded by his argument that the 1998-2008 Musa Administration succeeded far more than it failed, that its virtues far out-weighed its faults?

I admit that perhaps if only because I was a willing participant, I am one of those who believe that that administration was the most revolutionary in the annals of this nation, and that Belize and Belizeans are far better of for it. Whether you agree or not, however, you should read this book.

Of one thing you will be sure after you’re done perusing Said’s notes, throughout the triumphs, the trials, the tribulations he is still a confident man and a force still to be reckoned with. A Chinese proverb notes that one should never leave a live dragon out of one’s calculations - Said’s many acquaintances, friend or foe, would do well to pay heed. In “Notes” the man says neither mea culpa nor goodbye.

I am left with the conclusion that there are more chapters left to write, certainly more on his earlier years, certainly much more on the people he met, loved and detested, fought and worked with, and certainly on more yet to come.

Editor’s note: I want to publicly thank Glen for his unbiased review of this book and certainly agrees with him on his views regarding the man and leader.

The Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Proudly announces The XV International Guitar Competition From the 24th -31st October 2009

US $10,000 FIRST PRIZE

The Alirio Díaz A.C. International Guitar Competition Association is organizing the XV International Guitar Competition that pays homage to Alirio Diaz from the 24th to the 31st October 2009 which will be contested in Carora, State of Lara in Venezuela. The Competition will be held in various promotional sites with concerts in the City of Barquisimeto, State of Lara. This Competition is sanctioned by the Venezuela’s Ministry of Popular Power responsible for Culture through the National Institute of Eccentric Arts and Music, IAEM.

The Association is a civil oriented society which has the principal objective of paying permanent tribute to Venezuela’s Virtuoso’ Guitarist, Alirio Diaz of International fame, to stimulate Venezuela’s Guitarist generation and World guitarists through this International Guitar Competition that carries his name. This is done with the objective to promote the propagation of the guitar. The Competition is open for the participation of guitarists from throughout the world without distinction of race, sex, creed, social condition and or nationality.

First prize will be US $ 10,000, or the equivalent in Venezuelan currency;

second prize will be US $ 5,000, or the equivalent in Venezuelan currency; third prize will be US $ 3,000, or the equivalent in Venezuelan currency. In addition, the three categories will be awarded a medal and diploma.

Judges include: National Judges: Senio Díaz, Darío González, Rubén Riera International Judges: Berta Rojas from (Paraguay), Javier García Moreno from (España), Carlos Molina (USA), and Juarez Moreira from (Brasil) Belizeans interested in competing can visit the web at www.aliriodiaz.org/c_ antecedentes_i.htm and register as soon

as possible to be eligible.

The Alirio Díaz International Guitar Competition pays homage to the artistic importance of this Venezuelan guitar virtuoso and celebrates his invaluable contribution to the Venezuelan and international guitar school, through the education and encouragement of budding guitar players and his work as a musicologist and researcher, which has enriched the guitar repertoire played today worldwide.

The Alirio Díaz International Guitar Competition also seeks to further the musical career of up-and-coming guitarists, by providing a privileged setting for new talent on the world music scene.

The Competition also provides an excellent means to introduce our Venezuelan music, not only by such well-known artists as maestros Antonio Lauro, Raúl Borges, Rodrigo Riera, Inocente Carreño, Evencio Castellanos and Vicente Emilio Sojo, but also by the new generation of composers, by including their work in the repertoire of the different qualifying rounds included in the competition.

PAGE 8

Sunday, October 4, 2009

le t ters to the

Editor

SHUT-UP

RUSSELL VELLOS

Evan X Hyde always says that the two most difficult people to control behind the zinc fence are Russell Vellos and Mose. Their hatred and bias run so deep that they often come across as mindless, ranting idiots.

Case in point: two school children are victims of gun violence minutes away from the Amandala compound on Monday and Russell wastes newspaper space on Tuesday railing up bout a PUP Party Council.

Nobody cares about your opinion on PUP politics. Our children are killing each other and crime is at a level never before seen in Belize. All this and the Minister is nowhere to be seen, too ‘intoxicated’ say some to give a damn about our plight. Write about that Russell or shut the hell up.

You are part of the problem.

Amandala Reader No More!

CATHOLIC TEACHERS UNDER PRESSURE September 28, 2009 Dear Editor, I was a teacher for 27 years, and am a firm believer in the ChurchState system. This partnership has served Belize and her children well for many years. Now we have an upstart and short-tempered Minister of Education who wants to break up this partnership, believing that it will endear him to the Kremandala crowd – what do they know about education anyway?

I wrote this letter to let all Belizeans know about the pitiful depths that the Minister has sunk to force Catholic teachers to put pressure on their management to support the Commission.

For the first time ever, Catholic teachers were not paid on the last Friday before the end of the month.

While ALL other teachers from ALL other denominations were able to collect their pay, Catholic teachers had to go another weekend without money. Teachers live hand to mouth, Mister Minister, not like you and your fat salary.

They are being punished by the Minister because Bishop Wright and the Catholic Church have not been fooled into accepting a devaluation of our education system. How cruel of Minister Patrick Faber to try to divide and conquer teachers like that!

I call on all teachers to stand firm against this oppressive tactic and show support for your fellow Catholic brother and sister teachers.

Thank you, Marta Itza

AH, Z...

rEPrInTEd FrOM UnBElIEvaBlE BElIZE BlOG I’ll just say it right now, just shoot it straight from the hip: Z is no fool.

Okay, there, I’ve said it.

But I’ll say this as well: as smart as she is, she is utterly lacking in ethics and morals, and she has absolutely no sense of personal responsibility. In place of these things, she has survival skills second only to the legendary cockroach, the one who is expected to survive nuclear winter.

Mark my words, Z will survive this latest episode, and will have no conscience whatsoever about having to sacrifice a few of her minions, her order-takers, to do it.

Mr. Davis, you’re a fool. Kiran Squared, so are you both. You remain silent, you protect her; your names are in the news nonstop. The way things are shaping up, your fingerprints, and only yours, apparently will be found on the shovels that were used to bury the metaphorical bodies. So...TALK! Throughout history, the most basic of leadership lessons have included the rule that the leader takes the blame for what happens on her watch. It’s why the captain of the Titanic went down with his ship. I have yet to hear the mayor display

enough maturity and leadership to take the blame for all these misadventures at City Hall. At the same time that she’s not responsible for the bad deeds, she seems to be the only person who can be credited for what goes right, and her Councillors are so cowed or compromised that they too opt to remain silent in the face of it all.

At the higher levels and the party levels, Z enjoys the protection of powerful ministers, the kind who are also incapable of distinguishing right from wrong beyond making sure the law works for them and theirs and that the votes and the money flow their way. She is therefore the anointed heir to the Mesopotamia throne, misdeeds be damned. We are led by financial sociopaths, it seems. Their mantra?

We can do whatever we want, the PUP did worse. That truth is fast fading away for you guys, nor did we vote you in so you could be ten percent less corrupt. You’ve turned out to be the same breed of dog in a different collar.

No, the guiltiest heads will never roll, and Belize is worse off for that fact.

“Listen to me, when you see that group together, Esquivel, Net Vasquez and what is the next one?

Barrow, stay away from them... They have never yet been able to take Belize through a five year period without landing us on the reef.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

PAGE 9

NEWS FROM

LATIN AMERICA AND THE REGION

DE-FACTO HONDURAN GOVERNMENT EXPELS OAS REPS Gives Brazil ultimatum, Brazil says “doesn’t accept ultimatums from coup-plotters.”

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Honduras’ defacto government on Sunday expelled personnel from the Organization of American States (OAS) looking to set up a mediation effort and gave Brazil a 10-day ultimatum to decide what to do with ousted President Manuel Zelaya, who is holed up in the Brazilian Embassy.

OAS Special Adviser John Biehl told reporters in the capital,Tegucigalpa, that he and four other members of an advance team — including two Americans, a Canadian and a Colombian — were stopped by authorities after landing at Tegucigalpa’s airport Sunday. Biehl, who is Chilean, said he was later told he could stay, but the others were put aboard flights out of the country.

“We were detained in the airport,” Biehl said.

“A high-ranking official told us we were expelled, that we had not notified (the interim government) that we were coming.”

“For reasons I completely do not know, as we were getting in a line for the flight (out), a colonel in civilian dress called my name ... and said I could decide then and there if I wanted to stay.”

Biehl said he planned to set up a visit by OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza, who he said would arrive “at the appropriate time.”

The defacto government’s Foreign Minister Carlos Lopez said the four were turned back because they had been “clearly warned” that they had to give advance notice of their visit, and didn’t.

He said Biehl had been allowed to stay because he had played a role in the San Jose talksmediated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias.

Interim President Roberto Micheletti had previously said the OAS was welcome to come, but suggested that they begin arriving on Monday. Flores said the team’s arrival didn’t come “at the right time ... because we are in the middle of internal conversations.” Talks between Zelaya and Micheletti’s representatives have produced no results.

A spokesman for Micheletti also warned Brazilian authorities to “immediately take measures to ensure that Mr. Zelaya stops using the protection offered by the diplomatic mission to instigate violence in Honduras.”

Meanwhile Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva immediately rejected the missive, saying his government “doesn’t accept ultimatums from coup-plotters.”

Micheletti didn’t specify what he would do after 10 days. He has said previously that he plans to arrest Zelaya, who was deposed in a June 28 coup. Zelaya faces treason and abuse of authority charges for ignoring court orders to drop plans for a referendum on rewriting the constitution.

But Micheletti has also said he has no plans to raid the Embassy and that Zelaya could leave if Brazil offers him political asylum.

Zelaya, who surprised the world by sneaking back into Honduras last week, called on his followers nationwide to mark Monday’s threemonth anniversary of the coup with a mass march in the capital to demand his reinstatement.

Brazil — like the rest of the international community — recognizes Manuel Zelaya as Honduras’ legitimate president, and says it wants to protect him.

But Brazil said previously that Zelaya’s arrival took Embassy officials by surprise, and Silva asked Zelaya “to take care to give no pretext to the coup leaders to engage in violence.”

On Tuesday, the day after Zelaya’s return, baton-wielding soldiers used tear gas and water cannons to chase away thousands of his supporters outside the Embassy.

Since then, the diplomatic mission has been surrounded by police and soldiers. Zelaya and about 65 supporters inside accused authorities of temporarily cutting off water and electricity early in the week, and later said the government released an unidentified gas that caused headaches,

VENEZUELA EXPLORING

URANIUM DEPOSITS WITH RUSSIA

PORLAMAR, that the two naVenezuela – Ventions agreed to ezuela’s science work together on and technology geological studminister said his ies in the Vencountry is workezuelan Andes ing with Russia and the foothills to detect deposits in his home state of uranium but of Barinas, where withdrew an earsatellite informalier denial that the tion indicated the country was also leaders of africa and South america attend the africa and South existence of “difamerica, aSa, Summit in Porlamar, Margarita working with Iran. ferent minerals Jesse Chacon originally denied the reports that are very important for the country’s develthat Venezuela is receiving support from Iran to opment.” He didn’t elaborate, and didn’t menseek uranium, but clarified later Saturday that tion uranium. his comments were only in regard to Russia U.S. State Department spokesman Ian and that exploration efforts with Iran fall under Kelly has said U.S. officials have “concerns” the direction of Venezuela’s Mining Ministry. about the possible exchange of nuclear mateMining Minister Rodolfo Sanz said Friday rial between Venezuela and Iran. But analysts Iran is helping Venezuela to detect uranium say Iran, which has its own uranium deposits, deposits and that initial evaluations suggest re- doesn’t have any immediate need to import the serves are significant. His announcement was metal. made the same day world leaders criticized Chavez’s project remains in its planning the Islamic republic for secretly building a stages and still faces a host of practical hurdles, uranium-enrichment plant that could be used likely requiring billions of dollars, as well as to make an atomic bomb. technology and expertise that Venezuela lacks.

Sanz declined to respond to reporters when Russia has offered to help bridge that gap, questioned Saturday about Chacon’s remarks. but Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for Russian President Hugo Chavez said only that Venezu- state nuclear agency Rosatom, has said there ela “has a lot of uranium.” are no concrete projects and that any joint minAsked about how Venezuela will use its ing of uranium or the radioactive metal thorium uranium reserves, Chacon said that they would is still a long way off. be exploited to develop “nuclear energy for meBoth Chavez and Iranian President Mahdicinal purposes, for peaceful purposes.” moud Ahmadinejad are well-known for their Chavez had expressed interest in develop- anti-U.S. rhetoric, and have forged ties in eving nuclear energy as early as 2005, and men- erything from finance to factories, provoking tioned Venezuela could discuss it with Iran. He concerns in Washington. Iran now manufacsaid during a visit to Tehran earlier this month tures cars, tractors and bicycles in Venezuela.

a uran President Mana.uel Zelay nd Ho d ste ou of s ter or pp Su gucigalp participate in a march in Te nosebleeds and nausea.

Brazilian Charge d’Affaires Francisco Catunda confirmed that Saturday: “Yes, it was released,” he said in a rare interview outside the building. “One of our officials felt it, felt symptoms.” Catunda added that some people had throat problems, but he did not give details.

A Honduran rights group, the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, said Saturday that independent medical personnel entered the Embassy and confirmed that some of the people inside had symptoms. But Zelaya was in good health, they said.

Zelaya accused Micheletti’s government Sunday of bombarding the Embassy with “electromagnetic radiation.” In a statement broadcast

by Channel 36 television, Zelaya did not offer any other details, nor did he specify whether the alleged radiation had hurt anyone.

The U.N. Security Council has issued a statement that “called upon the de facto government of Honduras to cease harassing the Brazilian Embassy.”

A leader of Zelaya’s National Front Against the Coup said a protester died Saturday from complications due to inhaling tear gas when soldiers and police broke up Tuesday’s demonstration. Local news media reported the woman had asthma.

Protesters say 10 people have been killed since the coup, while the government puts the toll at three.

New talks to resolve the dispute began after Zelaya reappeared in Honduras last Monday following what he described as a secret, 15-hour journey. Many nations have announced they would send diplomatic representatives back to Honduras to support negotiations.

But the defacto Honduran government said Sunday it would not automatically accept ambassadors back from some nations that withdrew their envoys.

Countries including Spain, Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela will have to negotiate re-establishing diplomatic relations with the foreign ministry and reaccredit their diplomatic representatives, the government said.

NEW WAVE OF SWINE FLU

HITS MEXICO

MEXICO CITY – The next wave of swine flu has arrived, and Mexicansare bracing for an outbreak that may be even larger than the one here last spring that became a pandemic.

Daily diagnoses reached higher levels in September than the H1N1 peak in April, with 483 new cases in just one day this month alone. It’s unlikely there will be large-scale closings of schools and stadiums, however, because health officials know the virus is usually mild if treated early.

“We know the situation is not as serious” as officials feared last spring, said Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova.

Still, 3,000 schools across Mexico were closed earlier this week as a result of the virus. That number has dropped to 128, Education Secretary Alonso Lujambio told senators Wednesday, as he said officials are still developing the criteria they will use to shut down schools in the future.

When the first cases of swine flu were confirmed in late April, Mexico’s government immediately ordered the closure of all schools, museums, libraries and theaters in the capital. Within days, schools nationwide, restaurant dining rooms and other businesses shut down, streets mostly emptied and soldiers handed out millions of face masks.

Mexico could see up to 5 million cases of swine flu during this winter’s flu season and deaths could reach 2,000, Cordova said.

Some hospitals already have the same number of swine flu patients as they had in April, he said Thursday. Officials are negotiating with laboratories to secure doses of a vaccine by October, he added. Mexico had 29,417 reported cases and 226 deaths as of Friday.

The World Health Organization says more than 300,000 cases of H1N1 have been confirmed throughout the world, and more than 3,900 people have died from the virus.

a woman wears a face mask, as a precaution against swine f lu

PAGE 10

W

RLD

Sunday, October 4, 2009

NEWS

IRAN TEST FIRES MISSILES revolutionary Guard’s Zelzal

missile

make any difference which country or regime has launched the aggression,” state media quoted Salami as saying. He said the missiles successfully hit their targets. The tests came two days after the U.S. and its allies disclosed that Iran had been secretly developing a previously unknown underground uranium enrichment facility and warned the country it must open the nuclear site to international inspection or face harsher international sanctions.

The missiles tested weren’t the kind that can carry a nuclear warhead. Iran is developing such ballistic missiles, but the U.S. believes that e ffort has been slowed. But the tim-

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she doesn’t believe Iran can convince the U.S. and other world powers at the upcoming meeting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, putting Tehran on a course for tougher economic penalties beyond the current “leaky sanctions.”

The Iranians must “present convincing evidence as to the purpose of their nuclear program. We don’t believe that they can present convincing evidence, that it’s only for p e a c ef u l

TEHRAN – Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said it successfully test-fired short-range missiles Sunday in drills meant to show Tehran is prepared to crush any military threat from another country. The display of force comes days after the U.S. and its allies warned Iran over a newly revealed nuclear facility it was secretly constructing.

Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guard Air Force, said Iran had perfected its short range missiles to make them more accurate in tactical battlefield situations and defend the country from any attacks.

“We are going to respond to any military action in a crushing manner and it doesn’t

ing of the missile tests has been widely interpreted as an Iranian show of force in the face of the international storm of criticism over the secret facility.

Tehran carried out the missile tests now “to show some muscle, show some strength, and say the game is not over for Iran yet,” said Alex Vatanka, a senior Middle East analyst at IHS Jane’s. He noted that Iran will be meeting with the Western powers in Geneva next week.

“They felt going into these meetings next week that they needed to have something else to bolster their position, and I think that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard showing a bit of military muscle here is part of that,” he said.

purposes, but we are going to put them to the test,” Clinton told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Defense Secretary Robert Gates arguing that pressuring Tehran economically and diplomatically would have a better chance of changing the Tehran government’s policies than military strikes against the nuclear site. “The reality is, there is no military option that does anything more than buy time,” he told CNN’s “State of the Union” in an interview broadcast Sunday.

The nuclear site was revealed in the arid mountains near the holy city of Qom and is believed to be inside a heavily guarded, underground facility belonging to the Revolutionary Guard, according to a document sent by President Barack Obama’s administration to lawmakers.

After the strong condemnations from the U.S. and its allies, Iran said Saturday it will allow U.N. nuclear inspectors to examine the site.

PORLAMAR, Venezuela – Hugo Chavez made diplomatic inroads inAfrica on Sunday at a summit of South American and African leaders where he offered Venezuela’s help in oil projects, mining and financial assistance.

The Venezuelan president and Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi led about 30 leaders in agreeing to strengthen “South-South” ties at the two-day summit, which was the Libyan ruler’s first visit to Latin America.

“With this summit, a new era begins in the unity of South America and Africa,” Chavez said.

Venezuela signed energy cooperation accords with Mauritania, and Niger, and Chavez said his government would like to help build a refinery in or near Mauritania. He said he hopes to sign another energy accord soon with Sudan. Venezuela also plans joint mining companies with nations including Mali, Niger and Mauritania, Chavez said, adding that “we’re going to see results.” He said the two regions together have enormous economic potential.

Seven South American leaders signed an agreement to create a regional development bank with $20 billion in startup capital, and Chavez offered to help create a “South-South bank” with African countries in the future.

It is unclear how much investment and aid Chavez is prepared to offer in Africa since his oil-producing country is coping with a sharp drop in its revenues due to lower world crude prices.

Chavez said Venezuela signed an agreement with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization offering agricultural assistance in Africa, from seeds to help with irrigation systems. The summit on Venezuela’s Margarita Island addressed a wide range of concerns, from hunger in Africa to theeconomic crisis and a common response to climate change. It also gave Chavez an opportunity to increase his influence in Africa while criticizing U.S. and European influence in poorer nations.

“There will no longer be a unipolar world,” Chavez said, referring to U.S. dominance. “In the 21st century, theAfrican Union and South America will be truly great powers.”

Gadhafi called for a NATO-like defense alliance for Africa and South America as leaders agreed to link up to gain more clout as economic and political blocs.

“We have to form a NATO for the south,” Gadhafi said Saturday. “And that’s not a terrorist action. We have a right.”

He denounced the U.N. Security Council as an elite club where nations such as Libya have no voice, and called for the two continents to unite to demand change.

Presidents from Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe agreed on a need for U.N. reform, and called for unity to speak with a stronger voice.

“We’re 65 countries with more than 1

billion inhabitants who want to be heard,” Silva said. As for the economic crisis, the Brazilian president said, “There is no better response to the crisis than integration.”

Chavez blamed the economic downturn on “the countries of the North” and said the crisis reveals the failures of “speculative, plundering” capitalism.

“We have to create a new international system, and we’re doing it,” the socialist president said. “The solution is in our hands. It’s not in handouts from the North.”

“South-South” cooperation was a buzzword at the summit, which brought together both the African Union and the South American bloc Unasur. Gadhafi, who has ruled Libya since he seized power in a 1969 coup, has sought a higher profile internationally in recent years and is currently chairman of the African Union. He met Chavez in one of his trademark Bedouin tents, set up next to the hotel pool.

Gadhafi echoed Chavez’s concerns about the world’s economic powers, saying through an interpreter, without naming countries, “They think the planet is divided into two parts: masters and slaves. The masters are in the North and in the South are the slaves.”

Zimbabwe’s Mugabe criticized economic sanctions imposed against his government by the U.S. and theEuropean Union, but said “we are going ahead” nevertheless. The European Union and other Western nations say that even though Mugabe now presides over a coalition

Israel has trumpeted the latest discoveries as proof of its long-held assertion that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons. “The revelation of the secret Iranian facility also demonstrates to even the most skeptical people the evil intentions of Iran,” said Danny Ayalon, Israel’s deputy foreign minister.

“The Iran’s ongoing military maneuvers ing the last one i ncludand all their missile tests are a huge challenge to the international community,” he added in an interview with Israel’s Channel 10 Sunday. By U.S. estimates, Iran is one to five years away from having nuclear weapons capability, although U.S. intelligence also believes that Iranian leaders have not yet made the decision to build a weapon.

Iran also is developing ballistic missiles that could carry a nuclear warhead, but the administration said last week that it believes that effort has been slowed. That assessment paved the way for Obama’s decision to shelve the Bush administration’s plan for a missile shield in Europe, which was aimed at defending against Iranian ballistic missiles. Salami said Iran would test mediumrange Shahab-1 and Shahab-2 missiles on Sunday night and a longer-range Shahab-3 missiles on Monday, during drills set to last several days.

Iran’s last known missile tests were in May when it fired its longest-range solidfuel missile, Sajjil-2. Tehran said the twostage surface-to-surface missile has a range of about 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) — capable of striking Israel, U.S. Mideast bases and southeastern Europe.

government, not enough has been done to begin democratic reforms after years of authoritarian rule.

Chavez defended Mugabe saying “they demonize him” in the news media because he’s an “anti-colonialist.” “We have to line up in defense of him, his government,” Chavez said.

Chavez has built close ties with other countries at odds with Washington such as Iran and Syria, and has defended Iran’s nuclear program while saying that Venezuela also plans to tap atomic energy — and that it shouldn’t concern world powers like the U.S. Asked by reporters about Venezuela’s efforts to detect uranium deposits, Chavez said with a smile that “we have a lot of uranium — lots and lots.”

African leaders including South Africa’s Jacob Zuma and Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika attended the summit alongside eight South American presidents from Argentina’s Cristina Fernandez to Bolivia’s Evo Morales.

Taking a stance on the top political standoff in Latin America, leaders backed a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning “acts of intimidation” against the Brazilian Embassy in Honduras, where ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is holed up.

Silva rejected a 10-day ultimatum from Honduras’ de facto government to decide what to do with Zelaya, saying his government “doesn’t accept ultimatums from coup-plotters.”

SOUTH AMERICA MAKES DIPLOMATIC INROADS IN AFRICA

Sunday, October 4, 2009

TO THE WORLD!!

By: Keisha Milligan

Belize City; Tues. Sept. 29, 2009 At the tender age of 16 weighing only 135 pounds, Carlton Bowers won his very first boxing fight. He would never forget it. It was in 1972 at the Big Bird’s Isle when he knocked out the Mexican fighter Cecilio Na- v a r e z .

Today Bowers told National Perspective that he is ready to take on anyone, including the man, Murphy McClaren, who supposedly took his title a couple years ago.

Bowers said that he would feel overjoyed to see an institution opened that is dedicated to boxing. Since his days of boxing, it has truly gone unheard of. Today, at 52, he stands ready to train youths if the system is there behind him. He has a record of 17 wins and 8 losses in the 25 professional fights that he has fought and a total of 20 wins and 7 losses for the 27 amateur fights.

He still believes that he holds the title for Belize because the man who knocked him down refuses to give him a rematch. He is completely scared, said Bowers. I can guarantee him that he would never beat me again, said Bowers, his hand in the boxing mode. “I will beat him in the side until he drops”, said a very serious Bowers.

Bowers challenges anyone, saying that he still has a solid left hook and can take them out. The first fight he won he knocked out the man Navarez in the 1st round. In another fight he knocked down Roberto Rosalez in the 2nd round.

Recalling some other boxing start in Belize around his time of reign, Bowers named Rupert Flowers, Albert Larry, Claufus Lord, Christo Billano, Fat Feva, Fitzroy Gussepi, Floyd Mayweather and Samuel ‘Red Bwai” Flowers.

His boxing career took him to countries like Panama, El Salvador and Mexico. His trophies he gave for donation to people, so all he has is his word and his fist. He guarantees that he is not just all talk. Put him in a ring with anyone and he will take them out.

play it straigHt By: Keisha Milligan

Belize City; Tues. Sept. 29, 2009 For 7 years now, Marina Martinez has been operating her own meat shop at Queen Square Market. Since the temporary move of the market, she is now stationed at the very front of the market when you enter off Cemetery Road.

She is situated at booth #8 on the right hand corner when going in.

She worked with Manuel Castillo for many years in his meat shop and realized that she could also do the same. She had gained enough experience and knew exactly how to go about operating a meat shop. After getting her small pay off for her years or working- she started buying and selling pork and beef meat.

There are 3 prices for the beef and 2 prices for the pork. Those are $3.50, $4.00 and $5.00 and $4.50 and $5.50 respectively. She has pork shoulder, ribs and chops to name a few.

Her son, Marvin Estrada works with her and today, apron on, he was placing some

meats to hang in the shop. He joined in with his mother after he finished school. He was always around it, so he learnt what he needed to know, which saves some cash for the family, so as not to pay a helper.

Marina does not only sell meats, though, as she is in the perfect location, she also sells fruits and vegetables. She complained that the potato and carrots are scarce. In fact they were waiting for the stock of potato to come in, saying that they won’t know what will be the retail price until they have gotten it and tallied out everything to ensure they make a small profit.

Since last week there were no carrots.

That too is to come in tomorrow, she said. Among the many fruits and vegetables they have are potato, sweet peppers, watermelon and pepper. They also sell rice and beans and some minor grocery items, such as toilet paper and toothpaste.

Marina is opened 6:00-6:00 from Monday to Saturday. On Sunday she is opened half day. She can also be reached at 600-4881 for the bigger orders of meat.

SUPREME MEATS where the best meals begin

By: Keisha Milligan

Belize City, Tues. Sept. 29, 2009 Supreme Meats, located at #116 Cemetery Road has been around for at least 2 years. The owner of the meat shop is husband and wife Albert and Avis Hoy, some very humble people who are always smiling despite the adversities.

Albert told us that he had operated a Hotel and Bar in Caye Caulker after retiring from working as a Director of Physical Plant at the University of Belize. After he faced tragedy while operating the hotel and bar, which required much work and time, he decided to give Caye Caulker something they did not yet have. That is when the idea for a meat shop sprung to mind.

He later opened, “Land and Sea Meat” in Caye Caulker and he and his wife operated it for some years. When they first came to Belize he was still operating it, but earlier this year, he gave up the reigns of that one and is now solely operating Supreme Meats, which has a motto, “Where the best meals begin”.

His shop sells, Beef, Oxtail, New York Strip Loin, minute steak, pork leg roast, lean ground pork for $6.00 a pound, tongue, tripe, beef stir fry chips, stew pork without the skin for $5.00 a pound and snapper to name a few. He also has Shrimp and, lamb and other fish products.

In stock he has coconut oil for sale, to give your food that very rich coconut flavor. He sells honey for $6.00 a pint, seasonings from Sewell spices, juice, jello for a $1.00 a cup and soda.

Including himself and his wife, he has a total of 5 employees. They provide you with either freshly cut meats or packaged.

He is opened from 7:30 then closes for lunch from Monday to Friday and re-opens at 1:30 and closes for the day at 6:00 p.m.

A couple weeks ago I erroneously mentioned the name of the Meat Shop as Prime Cut Meat. My most humble apologies to the owner of that business.

PAGE 11

YOUR WEEKLY

HOROSCOPE Aries March 21-April 19

M

ercury turns direct on Tuesday, so expect to make progress in your daily affairs.

Wherever you have suffered delays, those blockages will soon come unstuck. You

can now get moving on all those projects that have been on the back burner. As Mercury is currently in your work zone, this is the time to sign deals, commit to contracts, and generally get on with life.

Taurus April 20-May 20

O

nline affairs may seem slow, with e-mails dwindling or perhaps nonexistent. If your virtual lover is still fond of you, you should hear something from him or her soon. The same is true of any problems with lovers. It will be easier to sort out misunderstandings at this time. Mercury aspects Mars on Wednesday, which is going to encourage a flurry of ideas that will help you formulate a plan of action.

Gemini May 21-June 21

T

he good news for this week is that Mercury, your ruling planet, turns direct on Tuesday. It’s currently in the sign of Virgo and your home and family zone, so any misunderstandings in this area should now begin to be resolved. If you’ve been waiting for Mercury retrograde to end before putting your house on the market, you can now go ahead. The process of buying or selling should go that much more smoothly.

Cancer June 22-July 22

M

ercury turns direct, allowing you to catch up and get back into the race. If you’ve suffered from computer or car problems, you should be able to resolve these much more quickly. Ideas will come thick and fast in response to your questions, but you may also be swayed by your emotions, as there’s a Full Moon in your career zone later in the week.

Leo july 23-August 22

Y

our finances continue to be in focus this week. Thankfully, Mercury will turn direct on Tuesday, which means that any delays in this area should soon be sorted out. If you’ve had to wait for issues to be resolved and felt some frustration about this, you’ll now get the satisfaction you deserve. You’ll also find your talks with bank managers to be much more fruitful and productive.

Virgo August 23-Septemer 22

F

or starters, Mercury, your ruling planet, turns direct. This means you can now go ahead with all kinds of projects that have been delayed for one reason or another. Mercury also makes some interesting aspects that dominate the astrology for this week, which means that ideas will be plentiful. The more you’re willing to network and socialize, the more chance you’ll have of finding the answers to your problems.

Libra September 23-October 22

W

ith Venus, Mercury, and Saturn all in Virgo, you may be criticizing yourself and doubting your efforts before you have really begun. Try not to be too much of a perfectionist; otherwise, you’ll never get anything done. Mercury turns direct on Tuesday, which means that you’ll be more in touch with your intuition.

This is especially important in terms of your career. There’s going to be a Full Moon in your relationship zone.

Scorpio October 23-November 21

Y

ou love your old friends, but the new friends you’re making have that special something and you want more. Mercury turns direct in Virgo this week, so any misunderstandings that have arisen should be cleared away over the coming days and weeks. Your friends may have a number of suggestions that will encourage you to explore new ideas, cultures, and philosophies.

Sagittarius November 22-December 21

he good news is that Mercury turns direct this week, which makes it easier to reach your deadlines and make good progress. Now it’s safe to sign important T documents and commit to deals and contracts. Mercury aspects Mars twice over

the course of this week, which may coincide with talks and discussions associated with financial deals or perhaps with your bank manager in a bid to raise capital.

Capricorn December 22-January 19

ercury turns direct this week, which should put an end to delays. This is very much an idea week, so take the time to get feedback from business colleagues, M lovers, or friends. The more you’re willing to share your thoughts, the more it will

help you find your focus. From Tuesday on, it’s safe to start legal proceedings, sign documents, and commit to projects and contracts.

Aquarius January 20-February 18

f you’ve experienced delays and frustration in this area, all of this should clear up over the coming week or so. It’s now safe to apply for mortgages, loans, Icredit cards, and overdrafts without any complications or misunderstandings.

You may also feel moved to ask for a pay raise or extra work to help fund future projects.

Pisces February 19-March 20

A

new love affair gets off to a passionate start. The attraction between you may be intellectual at first, but this will soon change to something much more physical. The Full Moon in Aries on Saturday takes place in your personal financial zone. You may feel a power ful urge to go shopping and enjoy a little retail therapy. You may want to take a risk by dating someone with whom you feel power ful chemistry.

PAGE 12

Sunday, October 4, 2009

DENGUE DEAN

The Prime Minister of Belize, Dean Barrow, postponed Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting claiming he is suffering this time from the dengue fever. Friday’s sitting of the House of Representatives has similarly been adjourned for the same reason. The week before Barrow was non functional based on a bad back.

Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting should not have been put off. Where the Prime Minister is unable to Chair a Cabinet meeting the Deputy Prime Minister can preside.

The business of the nation and its suffering people are more important than Mr. Barrow’s fever, much more important.

Our nation is beset with bedeviling problems. We have been waiting for one year eight months on the New UDP government to solve the problems.

Alas, no such solutions are forthcoming. What manifest itself with continuing clarity is a one man band staffed by incompetents and nincompoops, presided over by a megalomaniac Prime Minister who has taken arrogance and nepotism to a new level.

The hard truth about life in Belize is that our standard of living has perceptibly fallen. The quality of our lives is in question. For all intents and purpose the government has abandoned the society to the criminals – Every Citizen including the Prime Minister, knows that Minister Perdomo has no ideas or solutions to deal with the rampant, rising crime. The man

has the effrontery the face of brass-to announce that crime is on the decrease. What from all complaints have decreased is the support to the Police. Less vehicles, less incentives, less respect. There is even a shortage of bullets. Officers are now being sent on patrol with there rounds of 9mm.

Not a single serious project has been developed for the vulnerable youth population. Sports are at a standstill youths have no future. The Conscious Youth Development Programme last week was forced to admit that at a small out doors event their officials were sexually molesting the female minors. The school holiday season from June to September passed without any major summer programs of worth for the thousands of school children left to idle. Despite the wise saying that an idle mine is the devil’s workshop.

It is obvious that our economy is under tremendous strain. The arrival of Dean Barrow as Prime Minister has not seen a single job creating project. Not one investment has come to the country, nor is there any on the horizon. This is not a nice situation for the country. Lack of jobs and lack of investment means more crime and hard time.

The arrival of Dean Barrow as Prime Minister since February 2008 has seen the increase in the cost of food items and the cost of living. The man has patently misled the country. Forced to admit that his government has chalked-up a deficit of

sixty million dollars, he increased the tax on petroleum.

In addition to the high taxes and customs tariff on petroleum the Prime Minister placed a further burden on suffering Belizeans when he put an extra tax of one dollar on every gallon of kerosene, regular gasoline, premium gasoline and diesel. He said when the price of petroleum reached seven dollars he would remove the tax. He is a liar.

The price is over nine dollars and he has done nothing to reduce the burden on a suffering citizenry and businesses.

The Prime Minister, who has the tongue of a serpent, told this nation that even at the wisp of corruption he would act decisively and root it out. He is a liar.

Several instances of corruption has come to the attention of the public, mostly by his ministers, but nothing has been done. The sole reason he was forced to appoint an inquiry into the scandalous stealing at the Ministry of Health is to avert a strike by doctors who publicly decried the blatant raiding of tax payers’ funds. The Minister of Health has found it convenient to keep his mouth shut. His closet cronies are involved.

Neither are we amussed over the recent circus surrounding Mayor Moya. Despite hundreds of thousand of tax dollars gone missing, the Mayor has been charged for petty offences that have nothing to do with dishonesty or stealing or any embezzle-

ment. She is charged because her staff did not use the correct forms to write on. What mockery! What insult! What fools we are being made of by our Prime Minister.

What is no mockery is the vindictive nature of the Prime Minister. Political victimization under Dean Barrow has returned with a vengeance. Minister Faber’s brazen statements on national television that he fired Mrs. Hirian Good because she was a PUP is nothing short of scandalous. This humble school warden had committed no wrong. But Faber could boldly boast of beating up on the mother because his Prime Minister had preceded him in telling us that victimization is his policy.

Those kicked out of their much needed employment were, in his words “causalities of war”. What war is that Mr. Prime Minister?

It is poverty that he should be fighting.

It is unemployment that he should be at war with. Not vulnerable school wardens.

We can proceed with the brief summary of the many ills plaguing our land for which Barrow and his government are without solutions. But the point is obvious.

With the greatest of respect, bad back or no bad back, dengue or no dengue, the Prime Minister is not more important than this nation. Even if he thinks so.

Belize under the UDP and the dengue plagued egotistic Prime Minister is markedly getting worse.

ADELE RAMOS DID PENNIL PULLED NO JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY OUT HIS PENIS? Jude Pennil has been charged by the Police for exposing his person in public to the annoyance of the female proprietor of Gulf Hotel on Sunday 27th September.

The proprietor of Chinese origin called the Police after she had a mild altercation with the home owner for pointing her hotel camera in his yard. The home owner, a member of the Belize Defence Force saw the proprietor pointing her surveillance camera into his yard. He and his friends were repainting his wooden house and playing music. He went across to the hotel and respectfully requested that the camera be placed in its regular position showing the street entrance to the Hotel . It is not known if the request was compiled with.

What apparently followed is one of the workers was taken a piss in the yard and the proprietor then called the Police with a report that someone pulled out their penis

at her. The Police, who are under instructions to give special treatment to Chinese immediately, responded. A vehicle loaded with Special Forces in black, tooting SLR and M16 heavy caliber weapons roughed up Pennil, slapped him and threw him in the vehicle. It is not known if they were later “invited” for fry chicken or other gifts as has become the practice with their loses.

Pennil was thrown in the Piss-house as the Police detention cells are known, and spent the rest of Sunday the Sunday night and taken to Court Monday. He was offered bail in the sum of two hundred dollars and lost the Monday’s wages from his construction job.

Gulf Hotel at mile 2 on the Northern Road is an establishment for under cover lovers where for forty dollars secret sex partners can spend an hour of pleasure.

Finally a True DEPUTY Hon. Francis Fonseca is the New Deputy Leader of the People’s United Party. At a National Executive meeting on Sunday the second highest decision making body endorsed Francis in the new post.

It is to be recalled that at the convention last year to elect a new Party Leader Francis came within twenty votes of taking leadership of Belize’s oldest and most successful political party.

Francis is the former Minister of Education, Attorney General, positions in which he acquitted himself excellently.

He is also a two time elected representative of the Freetown constituency and

Adele Ramos, Deputy Editor of the Amandala newspaper, last week wrote an article on corruption in Belize. The article quotes extensively from an overseas organization by the name of Transparency International (TI), a respected watchdog group.

Adele’s article is printed on page 4 of the Amandala. It is headed: “Belize Gets Low 2.9 score in the TI’s corruption and Private Sector 2009 Report”.

Belize is rated III out of the 180 countries reported on. Zero (0) represents highly corrupt countries and a score of 10 represents highly clean countries. For 2009 Belize is almost at the highly corrupt rating with 2.9.

Adele’s article is only twelve paragraphs. Unbelievably, there is not a word from Adele to point out to her readers that the Report covers the first year of the UDP government. Even worse for journalistic integrity is the total failure to inform readers that there have been several instances (she could have used the word allegations) of reported corruption under the UDP government. The Ministry of Health scandal, the Ministry of Lands on going and endemic corrupt practices, Minister Boots Martinez pool table fiasco and Senator Juliet Thimbrel eighty thousand dollars grant or loan from Minister Finnegan from

money sent by Venezuela to assist the very poor and needy with housing repairs.

Adele not only refused to mention the obvious perception of corruption for her Prime Minister, as Minister of Finance, to be paying his ex-wife more than a million dollars for dubious court case; but the sensational happenings at the Belize City Council with Mayor Moya and missing monies are completely ignored.

It is, to put it mildly, an insult to the intelligence of the readers of that newspaper.

An article covering the issue of corruption by an international agency but saying not a word about what is actually happening in Belize under the UDP. Power to the People-who do selective reporting. The hot topic of Belize being featured on the internet dictionary and encyclopedia –wikipedia displaying for the whole world that the Prime Minister of Belize appointed his brother Denys to be a Judge, his ex-wife to be a money making machine and his son to be a Director on several Boards. This would never be brought to the attention of Amandala readers if left to Adele Ramos. This blatant type of nepotism is corruption. And don’t pect any article critical of the rogue government of Dean Barrow written by Adele Ramos.

is currently a member of the House of Representatives. He holds a University degree in economics and a second university degree in law. On Monday this week he, along with Anthony Sylvestre a won big victory against the Government of Belize in the Supreme Court in which Lois Young Barrow brought another victimizing case to embarrass former Ministers Florencio Marin and Joe Coye.

Francis will bring a high level of dedication and hard work to his new post at a time when the PUP needs it.

Party Leader John Briceno can rest assured that at least one of his Deputies will not be undermining and bad mouthing him.

In welcoming Francis to the Deputy post, Party Leader Briceno said it was one more tangible sign of the unity and strengthening of the PUP.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

PAGE 13

BY: MarSHall nUnEZ

WILL THE MAYOR REALLY BE ARRESTED?

Wednesday, September 23

As we come to the end of this work day, most of the media are anxiously awaiting and monitoring the courts for the moment when sitting mayor Zenaida Moya Flowers be brought before the police and court to be arraigned and charged. It was last week Friday that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) promised to act based on the files and the special audit report that was given to her regarding the situation at City Hall. In this historic and unprecedented political move, the residence of Belize City and perhaps Belizeans all across the country, are watching attentively to see what will transpire. This is historic for various reasons: it is the first time in our political history that the Mayor of the largest municipality would have been criminally charged and brought before the courts.

It is also very historic because it is the first female Mayor of Belize City and maybe the most significant but surprising fact is that it is a U.D.P. Mayor representing a U.D.P City Council that would be criminally arraigned when there is a U.D.P Central Government sitting in Belmopan.

No doubt this certainly has people’s eyebrows twirling, because it is very hard for us to digest this type of malicious internal political action.

It has been over one year now since allegations of wrong doing were levied against the Mayor. These allegations came from

members of her own Council; remember the Mark King discloser and evidence of wrong doing by the mayor? Remember Dr. Manuel Esquivel coming out and making stern accusations against Zenaida? With all that, Zenaida was still allowed to run as the Mayoral

indictment on the U.D.P. You can blame the P.U.P for all sorts of stuff, but there is absolutely no way or no time that you can accuse the P.U.P of using the City Council financial resources for election campaigning; it is important that I remind you that the P.U.P occupied City Hall for 16 consecutive years.

Now let us examine the numbers and figures a little bit. The Special Audit revealed that between January and March of this year over a quarter million dollars was unaccounted for under the Moya-led Council’s invention known as “Under-Deposit.” Just for argument sake, if the system of under-depositing was created under Zenaida, in the first term of her office (36 months) how much of the City’s financial resources could have disappeared as a result of under-depositing.

Obviously the Belize City Council is incompetent but worst than that there is gross misappropriation of tax payers’ money, there

Perhaps, if the Prime Minister and leader of the U.D.P had acted assertively at that time, it could have saved the entire U.D.P the embarrassment that they are facing now. candidate for the U.D.P. Perhaps, if the Prime Minister and leader of the U.D.P had acted assertively at that time, it could have saved the entire U.D.P the embarrassment that they are facing now.

The special audit report focused specifically on March 3rd and March 4th 2009 the day before and the day after the Municipal elections of 2009. During those two days, the report clearly indicates that Zenaida used the City Council financial resources for the municipal elections campaign. Twist that and turn that any way you want, that is clearly an

is lack of accountability and transparency and they exhibit the worst governance that any public institution has ever exhibited in Belize. When I say that the Council is incompetent, that is an under statement; the Council has an outstanding loan to Scotia Bank for over 3 million dollars for which they pawned the Commercial Center. It is our understanding that the principal on that loan is not being reduced. The Council owes the sanitation companies BML and BWC approximately 2.7 million dollars and over 2.3 million dol-

lars respectively. Earlier this week the sanitation companies demonstrated against the Council as there are forced to do work or more importantly has already done work and have not been paid; in both cases for over 10 weeks. In the case of BML it is almost $70,000 per week multiplied by 10 weeks.

This means that the services that should be provided by these companies will be affected significantly; if they will be done any at all.

The consequences of that will be over-grown grass, clogged drains, dirty side walks and generally a filthy and unsafe city, infested with rodents and rising violent crime. While all these are happening, the Mayor needs to answer for her ‘over-deposit’. Will the Mayor really be arrested?

In the case of Belize Waste Control, the Council owes them $36,000 per week for 10 weeks. Again, these companies has already done the work, incurred the expenditures of salary and maintenance and are now unable to collect for services rendered. While they have the burden of trying to figure out how they will pay there bills, somebody has been over-depositing. Will the Mayor really be arrested?

Initially, this appeared to have been a personal beef between Mayor Moya Flowers and Prime Minister Barrow, but when the basic services to the city have been so grossly neglected and there is no accountability and prudent management of the resources of the City, this is not about the Prime Minister and the Mayor. This, my fellow Belizeans, is about the over 70,000 tax paying residents of Belize City, we deserve betters service, we demand accountability of our funds and we need the answers to the many, many questions. Paramount among those questions is: if the Mayor is charged criminally and again I ask will the Mayor really be arrested? But if the Mayor is charged criminally, then she breaches the oath to her office. For that we need to ask if she will be asked to leave or if she will resign. For right now though, what we would like to know is, will the Mayor really be arrested?

“SHaMeFUl, diSgraCeFUl goVernMent” Continued from page 1 in his face and expose his “silly” charges as an attempt to hoodwink the Belizean public.

Moya was no less merciless with harsh criticism of her Prime Minister. She told the media gathered at the courthouse that she was an elected official and for that she is being charged for what happened at the City Council. She said Barrow was also the Minister of Finance and monies are missing from the Treasury will he be charged for that?

From the steps of the Chief Magistrate Court, Rhenae Nunez fiked this report: Belize City, Thurs. October 1, 2009 Since nine-thirty on Thursday morning the media and Belize City have been riveted by news of the eminent arrest of the Mayor of Belize City, Mrs. Zenaida Moya Flowers. It was rumored that the arrest would happen on Wednesday.

A small number of spectators gathered across from the Queen Street Police Precinct to witness the Mayor being taken in shackles to face the law for improprieties in the Belize City Council.

Only it didn’t happen that way.

Around nine-thirty, the Mayor showed up in her white Mayoral SUV and was taken to the Criminal Investigations Branch where she was charged. About an hour later she was taken to the Magistrates Court where twenty-two charges were read to her and Dwain Davis, Kiran Budhrani and Kiran Vanjani, all City Council employees.

While the Mayor was being processed inside the police station, a demonstration by sanitation workers of Belize Maintenance Limited (BML) and some from Belize Waste Control Services Limited (BWSL) was in full swing in front of City Hall. Emotions of sanitation workers had reached boiling point over months of salaries

MOYa BaSHES BarrOW!!!

that they have not collected. According to Lawrence Ellis, Manager of BML, the Belize City Council owes his company over seven-hundred thousand dollars. The debt has dealt a crippling blow to the company and its ripple effects are being experienced by the sanitation workers who showed up at the Magistrates Court and vented their discontent. Workers have been laid off, the city is filthier and workers are unable to meet their mundane needs of feeding their families, pay their rents, and meeting other obligations.

When the Mayor exited the courtroom, she was greeted by vitriol from her critics as well as cheers from the few of her faithful supporters.

Conspicuously missing from the entire show this morning was the UDP’s mouthpiece, Wave Radio or any visible representative of El Guardian Newspaper, the UDP’s paper. This, pundits are saying is a sign that there is discord within the ranks of the UDP. When Mayor Moya-Flowers exited the court, it was clear that she was in fighting form. She spoke with the media alleging widespread corruption in throughout the Barrow Administration. “With the KHMH issue, will the Minister of Health be charged? When it comes to border management, will the Minister responsible for border management be charged? …The Minister of Tourism, and the list could go on when it comes to land…all these things…you understand?....All the Ministries, every single thing…. because they are elected officials just like myself. They are no different from me.”

The Mayor, speaking for and on behalf of herself she said that she is not the type who hangs over the shoulder of workers. As if distancing herself from the ‘under-depositing’ allegations against Dwain Davis and Kiran

Budhrani and Kiran Vanjani, the Mayor tried to sound as if she had nothing to do with or knew nothing of what her staff were engaged in. The Mayor referred to the charges as, “foolishness”.

She expressed regret that it is her own party. “Exactly it is my own Party and I know everybody knows that I do not have a cozy relationship with the Minister…with the Prime Minister…with the leader of the Party…they know that fully well ….This is not something new man….that we all know from the convention…Zenaida is not somebody that is a puppet, we all know that I am not a puppet…and from the convention year, they wanted to ensure that I was not the mayoral candidate…but the people had their way, the people had their say and I have been elected and I will ensure that I continue serving the people of Belize City. No one person elected me…no some executive of the party elected me, the eight thousand voters who went there to vote for us, they elected me and I will serve them.”

The Mayor appeared perturbed when she expressed that physically she felt well. “I feel that somebody doesn’t have balls when they will come after me, when I’m on my bed delivering a child…. that is how foolish it is,” she vented, “when I’m delivering a child…they think I’m that weak, that I will not come up….well you know what? I am a strong woman…Everybody knows I am a strong woman! And they will see.

This will play out and they will see that I have done nothing wrong. I am a strong woman who will not have anybody dictate to her, I am not a little girl…I da noh anybody lee gial.”

The Mayor concluded her statements saying that she will remain a UDP even though Barrow may send his “minions” after her. She

said that they may not want her as part of the party but that is not the sentiment that she gets from the rank and file of the party. To her supporters she said that she and her newborn are fine and expects to prevail over the “trumped up malicious charges”.

All four persons charged: Mayor Zenaida Moya-Flowers, Kiran Budhrani, Kiran Vanjani and Dwain Davis received bail. Mayor Moya-Flowers and Kiran Vanjani who were laid with twenty-two counts of “breaching the City Council’s Regulations” as well as “making false utterances”, received bail for fifteen thousand dollars each.

Kiran Budhrani who was only laid with two charges: “violation of the City Council’s Regulations”, received bail for three thousand dollars.

They are to return to Court on November fourth.

All four appeared before Chief Magistrate, Margaret Mckenzie. Mayor Moya-Flowers was represented by Prime Minister Barrow’s arch-rival, Hubert Elrington, who dismissed the charges as, “nonsensical”. In the afternoon when the Mayor returned to court along with Kiran Budhrani and Dwain Davis, she was accompanied by Attorney Michael Peyrifitte, also a Barrow archrival. While Peyrifitte was cautious about the outcome of the matter, Hubert Elrington was dismissive and confident that his client will prevail. Peyrifitte told the media that the charge sheet speaks nothing to the amounted as being misappropriated by the Mayor and the others accused. Attorney Peyrifitte said that he was not surprised by the charges.

Thursday’s drama cast attention on the UDP. Insiders are saying that the event will exacerbate the infighting in the UDP and cause the government to implode. So far, there has been no official reaction from the UDP.

PAGE 14

Sunday, October 4, 2009

FC BELIZE BOMBS WAGIYA

4-1 FOOTBALL IN BPFL

Belize City, September 27, 2009

F.C. Belize had a blast as they walked over Wagiya of Dangriga 4-1 in week 5 of the Belize Premier Football League competition at the M.C.C. grounds on Sunday.

City fans roared their approval as Jerome Archer, formerly of last season’s Ilagulei, drilled the Griga dang goalie with the 1st goal for FC Belize in the 2nd minute of play. Frustrated by the FC Belize defense, Wagiya’s Chavis Lopez

beat his own keeper with that dreaded autogoal in the 28th minute as the city boys took a 2-zip lead into the half time break.

Mark “Kelo” Leslie added a 3rd goal for the city squad in the 55th minute, and the visitors finally got their action going when Allan f lores scored for Wagiya in the 65th minute. Alas for Wagiya, it their only f lash in the pan, as Byron Usher drove in a 4th goal in the 70th to seal the 4-1 win for FC Belize.

Out on the island, the Belize Defense Froce battled to a 1-0 win over the San Pedro Dolphins when Or-

lando “Leechy” Jimenez scored the winning goal in the 82nd minute.

The long-awaited “Clasico”, the confrontation between defending champs Nizhee Corozal and the runner-ups, Hankook Verdes, at the Ricalde Stadium on Sunday led to such heated emotions on and off the field, that the BPFL committee is reviewing the game.

This weekend all teams rest with the exception of the Belize Defense Force who will host Corozal Nizhee at the M.C.C. grounds on Saturday night.

SCA VOLLEYBALL GIRLS SPANK HONDURAS San Jose, Costa Rica, September 27, 2009 The St Catherine’s Academy volleyball girls spanked over Honduras 3-2 to post their 3rd win in their 6th fixture at the XIV CODICADER Central America Students Games, to finish ranked 4th in the standings at the Costa Rica Tennis Club gymnasium in San Jose, Costa Rica on Sunday, September 27.

The SCA girls kept their head in the game, even when down 2 sets, to recover from the deficit to win the 3rd, 4th and 5th sets. SCA’s captain Emma Hoare led their attack offensive with Kelsey Balderamos, Analisa Habet and Gabriela Jennifer Perez hammering home kills, but to give the Honduran girls their due, their defense was good! They dug up saves for what seemed like certain kills, rallying the ball to renew their attacks, which were getting thru despite SCA’s attempts to block. Kayla Dawson and Lila Estephan received and recovered; SCA’s libero Vivianni

Avila saved the day with many a heroic dig.

Rebecca Rath, Krystal Jones and Ashley Habet rotated in as subs for the 2nd set but the Honduran girls prevailed in the first 2 sets: 25-16 and 25-16.

The Belize basketball boys and girls cheered when Rebecca Rath gave the SCA girls new life by serving 4 aces, which broke the Honduran girls’ will, renewing the SCA girls ‘faith in themselves as they took the 3rd set 25-23.

The SCA fan base grew, with even their vanquished opponents Nicaragua cheering them on, as they took the 4th set: 25-18. Gabriela Perez delivered the coup de grace to take the 5th set 15-11.

The win broke the SCA girls’ 3-game losing streak to Costa Rica on Thursday: 6-25, 13-25 and 15-25, to El Salvador on Friday 14-25, 24-26 and 20-25, and to Guatemala on Saturday: 13-25, 12-25 and 18-25.

Defending champs, Costa Rica’s Liceo UNESCO de Perez Zeledon remained undefeated as they defended their title to win gold again Sunday

night. It was Costa Rica’s last gold medal as they came back from a 2 set deficit to win the next 3 sets against the up to then undefeated girls of Guatemala’s Colegio Sagrado Corazon. The Guatemalan girls had won the first 2 sets 28-26 and 26-24, but their hitters tired as their best spikes were dug up by the Costa Rican girls’ defense. The Costa Ricans won the next 3 sets: 25-17, 25-15 and 15-6.

Guatemala won the silver with 5 wins, 1 loss.

El Salvador took home the bronze with 10pts from 4 wins, as they had lost to Guatemala on Monday. All 3 teams had enjoyed 3 set wins against Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Costa Rica had eliminated El Salvador from gold medal contention by handing them their 2nd loss on Saturday. Again the Costa Ricans rallied from a 2-set deficit to win the last 3 sets: 25-21, 25-15 and 15-4.

Honduras finished ranked 5th, with 2 wins over Panama and Nicaragua, and Panama ranked 6th with one win over Nicaragua, who ranked 7th.

3-2

Sunday, October 4, 2009

PAGE 15

JULIAN CHO TECHNICAL VOLLEYBALL BOYS

WINS 3-2 VS. NICARAGUA

San Jose, Costa Rica, September 23, 2009

4th set 25-18 and dominated the 5th set: 15-4.

It proved to be their only win as Costa Rica’s Liceo Atenas boys won over the Toledo boys in 3 sets: 25-12, 25-11 and 25-20 on Thursday. On Friday, El Salvador’s Instituto Tecnico Ricaldone hammered the Toledo boys: 25-12, 25-16 and 25-9. On Saturday, it was Guatemala’s La Preparatoria who won over the Toledo boys in 3 sets: 2521, 25-18 and 25-17. On Sunday, it was Honduras’s turn to win in 3 sets: 25-12, 2521 and 25-21.

El Salvador’s Instituto Tecnico Ricaldone won the gold medal which was decided by points as

The Julian Cho Technical High School volleyball boys from Toledo district made history as they won the Belize’s first victory ever in male volleyball in 3 years of Belize competing at the CODICADER Games. The Toledo boys toughed it to win 3-2 against Nicaragua in their 2nd game at the XIV CODICADER Central America Students Games at the Costa Rica Tennis Club gymnasium in San Jose, Costa Rica last Wednesday.

The Toledo boys won the 1st set 25-18, but the Nicaraguan team came right back in your face to win the 2nd set 25-18 and the 3rd set 25-23. The Toledo boys came back to win the

3 teams: El Salvador, Guatemala and Costa Rica each finished with 5 wins - 1 loss. The 3 way tie was decided by the best point average: El Salvador had 1.49, winning 481 pts while giving up 322 pts. Costa Rica’s Liceo Atenas won the silver with a 1.13 average, winning 570 pts while giving up 421pts. Guatemala claimed the bronze with a 1.13 average, winning 445 pts while giving up 395 pts.

On Saturday, Costa Rica had beaten El Salvador, coming back from a 2-set deficit: 24-26, 21-25 to win the next 3 sets: 25-23, 25-20 and 15-12.

Costa Rica might have won the gold, but for a heartbreak loss to Guatemala on Sunday. Guatemala took the first 2 sets: 28-26 and 27-25; Costa Rica won the 3rd and 4th sets 25-19 and 25- 23, but Guatemala took it away in the 5th set 15-12. The 3 teams that medaled had enjoyed 3-set wins against Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

PARADISE FREEDOM FIGHTERS SADIE VERNON BASKETBALL BOYS & KRAAL ROAD FC LEAD BELIZE POST 2ND WIN: 82-78 VS COSTA RICA BANK SUPERLEAGUE FOOTBALL Punta Gorda Town, September 27, 2009 The Paradise/Freedom Fighters and Kraal Road F.C.lead the Belize Bank Super League Football tournament, both posting wins in Week 8. The Paradise/Freedom Fighters drilled Santa Elena Synergy F.C. 3-0 at the Toledo Union Field on Sunday afternoon.

Ralph Flores scored the winning goal for Paradise/Freedom Fighters in the 21st minute of play and Tarrell Flores added a 2nd insurance goal in the 26th minute. Devon Makin made doubly sure of the win with a 3rd goal for the P.G. squad in the 41st minute to give them a 3-zip lead at the half.

The Cayo visitors never recovered and failed to impress the P.G. goalkeeper in the 2nd half, the final whistle sounde toa 3-0 win for the Freedom fighters.

Kraal Road F.C. also posted a2-1 win over Tex Mar United at the Michael Ashcroft Stadium last Saturday night, avenging their 5-zip humiliation in their first encounter with Tex Mar at the MCC grounds. Delroy “Thinman” Andrews drew first blood for Kraal Road in the 6th minute of play, but Ashley Torres soon equalized for Tex Mar in the 10th minute, and the game was a 1-1 draw at the half time break. It was not until the 80th minute that the pressure of the Kraal Road offensive forced the Tex mar defence to give up a penalty, and Delroy Andrews converted to give the city boys the winning goal.

In Dangriga, defending champs Valley Renaissance of Pomona had to settle for a 1-1 draw with the Placencia Assassins at the Carl Ramos Stadium on Sunday. Jason Westby scored first

for the Assassins in the 6th minute, but Alexander Peters equalized for the Griga Dang squad in the 13th minute.

Hattieville F.C. held football clinic for the Cayo South United 3-2 at the Hattieville Football Field on Sunday afternoon. Richard Usher drove in the first goal for Hattieville in the 15th minute of play and he village boys held on to their 1-0 lead up to the half time break. In the 2nd half, Ronny Gonzalez scored a 2nd goal for Hattieville in the 70th minute, and Phillip Staine scored a 3rd goal in the 78th minute to give the village boys a 3-0 lead.

It was getting late in the ball game when Wilhelm Coye delivered the first goal for the Cayo visitors in the 81st minute, and Earl Peters added a2nd goal in the 90th minute, but it was too little to late as the Hattieville crew went on to post the big 3-2 win.

Inclement weather forced a postponement to the scheduled confrontation between San Felipe Barcelona and the San Pedro Islanders F.C in San Felipe Village.

The competition continues this weekend with Tex Mar United hosting the Placencia Assassins at the Michael Ashcroft Stadium on Saturday night, while out on la Isla Bonita the San Pedro Islanders F.C. will face Santa Elena Synergy F.C. at the Ambergris Stadium, also on Saturday night. Kraal Road F.C. hosts Hattieville F.C. at the M.C.C. grounds on Sunday, while Cayo South United will take on San Felipe Barcelona at the Isidoro Beaton Stadium. Down south, the champs Valley Renaissance look for another win when they challenge the Paradise/Freedom Fighters at the Carl Ramos Stadium on Sunday.

AT THE XIV CODICADER GAMES

San Jose, Costa Rica, September 24, 2009 The Sadie Vernon Technical High School boys posted their 2nd win 6556 over Costa Rica’s Colegio Seminario as they exited the XIV CODICADER Central America Students Games held at the National Gymnasium “Eddy Cortes” in San Jose, Costa Rica last Thursday.

The Sadie Vernon boys took it to the Costa Rican half of the court from the getgo, with team captain Kachief Thomas hitting 3 long treys to topscore with 22 pts, while grabbing 5 rebounds for a 21-14 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. Jelani Elvis Usher added 14 pts and snagged 6 rebounds, to give the Sadie Ver non boys a 43-26 pt spread at the half time break.

In the 3rd quarter Akeem Trapp came up big on defense, grabbing 8 rebounds and scoring 12 pts, as the Sadie Vernon boys continued to lead 48-44 at the end of the third quarter.

Sadie Vernon’s Landon Reneau added 6pts while grabbing 8 rebounds Dijon Mcnabb tossed in 5pts and grabbed 5 rebounds, while Raheem Gaynair chipped in 4 pts and captured to win 6556.

The win assuaged the pain of a 60-71 loss to Panama on Tuesday and a 76-80 loss to Nicaragua on Monday.

Gold medalists Guatemala emerged undefeated 6 wins, despite a 62-65 loss to Nicaragua. The loss was overturned to a 20-0 win by

committee decision after Guatemala won an appeal about the addition of the player, Franklin Rainston Omeir to Nicaraguan roster.

Salvador won silver with 4 wins and 2 losses and Honduras with 4 wins 2 losses took home the bronze, they had lost to El Salvador 57-62 on Wednesday.

The Guatemalan girls were also undefeated with 6 wins to win gold.

They blew away Nicaragua: 95-33, Panama: 90-30, and Belize 117-17, but silver medalists El Salvador made them work for the 57-54 win while bronze medalists Costa Rica lost 48-53 to Guatemala El Salvador had 5 wins, while Costa Rica had 4.

Belize’s representative: the Gwen Lizarraga High School girls had won their 4th game after 3 losses: 65-56 against Nicaragua on Independence Day, but it proved to be their only win as they lost to Panama 33-72 on Tuesday and 37-66 to Costa Rica’s Colegio Seminario on Thursday; to rank 6th in the final rankings.

PAGE 16

Sunday, October 4, 2009

BY RHENAE NUÑEZ

CARLOS PERDOMO IS A

BIG FAT Minister of National Security, Carlos Perdomo has quieted about Belize’s crime situation because he is at a loss for words.

He cannot play the blame game anymore; there is no Ralph Fonseca to blame for the ineptitude of the Police Department. Carlos’ impotence is fully exposed now, and there is only him to confront about this importunate violent crime situation. As I pen this one on Wednesday morning I’m learning that another black man has fallen at the corner of Vernon and Partridge Street overnight – multiple gunshots I’m learning.

This is a stones throw away from the ‘Zinc Fence’. As I questioned the significance of the institution of the Supreme Court last week as I watched as police acted like hooligans, when they roughed up Charlie Good, I now question the significance of the ‘Zinc Fence’ institution. Over the years that institution has boasted about its impact on their environment. Stories of how many mouths they have fed and their militant defense of the black race was the staple.

Zinc Fence was most vociferous about the teaching of African and Mayan History in Belizean schools, however Zinc Fence has been mum about the insult by Lois Young to the Maya as they agitate for Communal Land Rights in the Courts. According to

IMPOTENT LIAR

Lois and supported by political Dr. Awe, the Maya of Belize are ‘immigrants’. How dare that descendant of slaves? Anyway I didn’t mean to go off on Zinc Fence, it is Carlos Perdomo this weeks essay is meant for. This week I need to discuss the current state of the Belize Police Department having looked through the window of the Queen Street Police Precinct. It is a vexing and depressing situation.

I got a mini tour of the Queen Street Police Station a few days ago. It is a tour that I encourage every concerned citizen to take. During the tour you will gain insight into the demoralization that has suffused the Belize Police Department. The police are not being properly compensated, they work in a filthy environment, and it is seriously under resourced. There are senior officers who do not have and have not been assigned transportation, yet they are expected to show up at scenes of crimes.

There is discord throughout the rank and file of the police department. There officers who have worked very hard and are deserving of promotions but Carlos, having politicized the department, those promotions may never happen. It begs the question again, why hasn’t Prime Minister done anything about Carlos Perdomo?

Carlos, when he became ‘Minista’ targeted certain officers for political victimization.

Those officers had to be punished for the perception that they are PUP. One case that stands out in my mind is that of Senior Superintendent, Chester Williams. To watch as violent crimes continue unabated in Belize City especially, and there is no action on the part of the police department to curtail it, is frustrating and very discomforting for city residents who now get the sense that we are not safe or immune to the crime.

I took it upon myself to feature the famed Crooks Report in a series in this paper, I have lost count of how many copies I have distributed, I am at least glad for the interest that some citizens have displayed in wanting to see for themselves so they can make educated contributions to the super important issue of crime. My purpose for doing so was to enlighten readers on the maladies that plague the police department, and to expose the possibilities for improvement. I also have to comment on the unsanitary state of the police holding cell at the Queen Street Police Precinct. After last weeks carnival, a number of young men were picked up and jammed into the small holding cell of the West Landivar holding cell on Campus Avenue. Soon after, the ambulance had to be called to take some of the detainees to the hospital because they were fainting. It points to the lack of human education on the part of officers of the department and the wanton abuse of human rights by police officers.

The real problem however, lies at the Queen Street Police Station. The stench that greets you when you go within a few yards of those “pisshouses” is enough to knock you out. For too long we have accepted this situation and have resigned to that being a part of the punishment for those who offend the law. In this day and age when we are more aware of dangers of bacteria and the mutative abilities of viruses, we must know that it is unsafe and in-

humane to store human beings along with their own waste for hours on end! I was in the office Criminal Investigation Branch a few weeks ago and DAMN! The stench in that office was choking me. An officer kept spraying air-freshener but that only made the condition worse. As the detainees walked pass, they reeked of human waste.

I was concerned for their health because I know what bacteria like Salmonella, and E-coli and other deadly bacteria that derive from human waste can do. There is absolutely no excuse for storing human beings in their own waste. I am surprised that the public health department has never, ever intervened on the state of the police holding cells. Those shit-houses need to be cleaned every day, two or three times a day.

No one – I don’t care who – deserves to be forced to live with their own waste. That is the ultimate denigration for any animal, let alone a human being.

Since I have been asked, I will resume the Crooks Report next week. We have to do better, I know we can. Carlos Perdomo cannot be let off the hook for his neglect of the Police Department and his electoral division, Caribbean Shores. I haven’t seen Carlos in West Landivar in a long time.

Like the people thrown into the stinky holding cells, does Carlos think the same way of us who live in Caribbean Shores?

Our streets and riddled with potholes, our drains no longer exists, Dolphin Park and other recreational facilities in the area are in disrepair. What have we done to you Carlos? What crime did we commit that we are being punished by you Carlos?

Gone are the days when Carlos could sing from his favorite song-sheet, that of corruption by the former government. Our young men are dying in our streets every ‘eff-ing’ day! R@$$ Carlos! When are you going to act! It is now your responsibility Carlos. You are a pitiful excuse for a statesman let alone one for Minister of National Security. How many more have to die you impotent drunk?

Sunday, October 4, 2009

PAGE 17

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Sunday, October 4, 2009

Views & Opinions Terror nights in Honduras Contributed: Special Correspondent

The military dictatorship in Honduras under Roberto Micheletti has increased the level of state sponsored terror against its people, especially now after the constitutionally elected President Manuel Zelaya has made a surprised return into the country. The terror visible across Honduras today now wears the emblematic military uniform, boots, and helmets. They are the army soldiers and paramilitary police who are supposed to be protecting the Honduran people and the true democracy that they are acclaiming but instead, they race up and down the impoverished communities believed to be supporters of the elected president implanting fear and panic shooting live rounds of ammunition indiscriminately at the protesting crowds.

Reliable sources inside the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa assured us that every single night since September 21st when President Mel Zelaya slipped back into the country by surprise and found refuge in the diplomatic confines of the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, the military dictatorship has converted Honduras into a huge jail with no human rights, no civil liberties guarantee. Justice is suspended and the judiciary has openly taken side with the failed regime that took over Honduras by force on June 28th many believe, with the covert intervention and assistance of US CIA Special Operatives. The Military and Police under the orders of Roberto Micheletti are taking advantage of the martial law to settle scores against political rivals, breaking into homes and torturing of innocent civilians.

Every night since the 21st September, military truck loads of civilians are carted into police barracks and other military facilities where they are beaten without mercy, humiliated and jailed.

This is the same Roberto Micheletti who said that Manuel Zelaya was ousted to preserve and protect the Honduran Constitution but he has shown in such a short period that his power and leadership is above the constitution imposing Curfew/martial law and suspending the constitutional guarantees, where the impartial media

is not allowed to cover the reality of what is transpiring. This past weekend it was an open season for the military and police lashed out repressively unprovoked and without any reason against the protesting Honduran people who are demanding the reinstallation of their president, the elected Manuel Zelaya.

Around the Brazilian Embassy, they act with no regard for international law or respect for life and property. They cut-off the water and electricity and even intercepted phones conversations throughout the general vicinity where the Brazilian Embassy is located. They installed a loud noise making equipments around the Embassy to create a sense of panic for those inside and have even emitted a chemical fumigation discharge into the Embassy compound that have caused a dizzy reaction by those inside. The defacto regime of Roberto Micheletti have given an ultimatum to the Southern Brazilian Giant who have responded equally stern saying that they are not moved.

The already impoverished Honduran people are going through a new level of terror and are now seeing the worst level of military dictatorship under this defacto government of Roberto Michelletti in their entire history.

According to Hunan Rights groups watching the situation closely in Honduras, there are between 600 and 1000 detainees that have been beaten up and held up in various military and police installation across the country without charges.

While the United States has condemned the military coup in Honduras, it is a mare replica of what transpired in Venezuela against President Hugo Chavez some years ago and where clearly they had a part to play but backed fired.

Today, the United States have cut off some economic aid and stripped the dictators of their US Visas but they are not doing anything more because it has been the Latin American countries that have been sounding the war drums against Micheletti.

GOB’s TELEMEDIA take-over

...after effects warnings

Excerpts from the Tammy Parker article regarding GOB TELEMEDIA take over, the writer statess: On the nationalization front, the government of Belize late last month expropriated BTL, taking over 94% of the company’s shares that had been held by companies controlled by British businessman Michael Ashcroft.

Belize’s legislators contend that the government takeover was in the best interests of the Belizean people, but some facts about the nationalization raise considerable questions regarding the nation’s approach to due process.

The entire expropriation process, from initiation in the nation’s legislature to the actual government takeover, took about two days. and BTl’s new board members include anwar Barrow, the son of Belize Prime Minister dean Barrow, and his mother, lois Young, as secretary.

Belize’s government has said that it hopes the full nationalization of BTl is temporary, since it would like to offer shares to other investors, to encourage investment and competition in the nation’s telecommunications market.

But potential investors will be wary of entering a country where the government so wantonly takes command of a private business and places the prime minister’s family members on the board, whether for seemingly good reasons or not. and Belize’s government still wants individual institutions and people to be limited to a stake in BTl of 25% or less, ensuring that none has majority control. The ownership restriction is likely to turn off potential investors, keeping major regional players, such as america Movil, Cable & Wireless and digicel, far from Belize’s shores.

The arguments between Belize’s current government and Ashcroft are convoluted. BTL was first privatized in 1984, and no single entity was supposed to hold more than 25% of the company.

But BTL’s shares were bought up by Ashcroft’s companies, and the telco has since been accused of negotiating an anticompetitive contract with the nation’s previous government.

This so-called Accommodation Agreement is said to have required government agencies to use BTL services until 2015 and guaranteed the company a 15 % minimum rate of return, among other things. The London Court of International Arbitration recently awarded to BTL a US$38.5 million judgment against the Belize government, which lawmakers say they will not pay.

Now the government alleges that just prior to its late-August nationalization of BTL, Ashcroft’s people took US$8 million in “management fees” from BTL’s accounts.

In another twist, Belize’s government contends that Ashcroft-affiliated charitable trusts recently acquired a 77.38% shareholding in BTL rival Speednet Communications, giving Ashcroft’s businesses a monopoly on telecoms services in Belize. In 2009, Belize’s mobile market penetration reached 73%, according to Informa Telecoms & Media.

Of the nation’s 217,380 subscribers, 178,880 belonged to BTL, and Speednet had 38,500. The government and Ashcroft’s interests will, naturally, argue in the courts over BTL’s valuation and what should be proper compensation to Ashcroft’s group for the government takeover. The Hayward Charitable Trust, an Ashcroft affiliate that claims to own 70% of BTL’s shares, has said that recent figures place BTL’s value at US$300 million. The government, however, says the valuation is closer to BL$300 million (US$150 million).

Tammy Parker is a principal analyst at telecoms.com parent Informa Telecoms & Media.

Read more at www.intelligencecentre.net

PUBLIC

ANNOUNCEMENTS Births Danielle Loretta Ann to Dwayne Andrae Scott and Stasia Selena Scott nee Soutar Allisa Katherine to Robert William Dawson and Vanessa Dawson nee Blake Addison Gentry to Alonzo Flota and Alissa Flota nee gentry Lovely Jesuka to Jean Lifranc Jironvil and Marie Dunelle Jironvil nee Mondesir Samiya Abigail to Julio Manuel Matus and Erica Samira Matus nee Bahadur Tamiah Pari to Jareth Tablada and Francine Noemi Tablada nee Flowers

Marriages Jason Gilford Sutherland, 33, to Almitra Mirea Cano, 22, both of Belize District Alfred Wayne Shurtleff, 66, to Fabienne Marthe Chicault, 43, both of Belize District Charles Wilfred Murrillo, 48, to Eusebia Amador Benitez, 50, both of Belize District Ryan Glynn Allday, 32, to heather Ann Hess, 31, both of U.S.A. Darrell Sylvain Bradley, 30, to Julie Ann Keneisha Ellis, 27, both of Belize City Graham John Hibbert, 28, to Sarah Elizabeth Heyman, 32, both of U.S.A. Jahangir Abadi, 59, to Gilda Ramirez, 33, both of Cayo District Stephen Nicholas Schwind, 26, to Christina Renee Lacroix, 22, both of U.S.A. Jair Jael Teck, 21, to Glendi Chi, 19, both of Orange walk District Vicente Ical, 74, to Adriana Pop, 62, both of Toledo District Edwin Phillip Thomas, 45, to Elizabeth Adelita Eiley, 42, both of Cayo District Allen Alexis Tuyub, 24, to Meylin Garcia, 25, both of Orange walk District Adrian Marciano Allen, 39, to Amy Maria Canul, 23, both of Belize District Franz Kroeker, 21, to Maria Wall, 18, both of Orange walk District Kevaun Jareth Gillett, 25, to Joseline Marie Dyson, 20, both of Cayo District Hilberto Hernandez, 17, to Rosalva Rosita Tzib, 19, both of Belize District Marc Anthony Horton, 49, to Robin Rae Orton, 40, both of U.S.A.

Deaths Lisa Jessie Marin, newborn Brenda Yvonne Dawson, 46 Emilia Anita Chan, 70 Donald Alexander Robinson, 87

contact us at: Editor: 605-4508 nationalperspectiveeditor@gmail.com osilva_56@yahoo.com 25 Nanche Street, Belmopan

Deh Teef Wi! Sunday, October 4, 2009

craZy glue Hired to deFend sticKy Fingers BY: rHEnaE nUnEZ

Belize City, Wed. September 30, 2009 There is growing excitement over the reported eminent arrest of Mayor Zenaida Moya. That is the latest buzz – that the Director of Public Prosecution, Cheryl-Lynn Branker-Tait, has issued instructions for Zenaida’s arrest. To that end, Zenaida has been summoned to the Queen Street Police Precinct to face charges in relation to allegations of corruption that occurred in City Hall.

The entire saga is an irony for a once famous, now infamous Zenaida MoyaFlowers. Her rise to fame and fortune was meteoric and intoxicating. Her debut on Belize’s political scene was like the second coming. Zenaida was anticorruption and for good-governance and transparency. Yet when asked during her first term in office for the City’s financial reports, those were never forthcoming. Zenaida shirked every time.

Belize City Hall became the center of cheap gossip where tales of jealousies and personality clashes emanated like smoke billowing from a burning building. Through it all, Zenaida fired those who dared to challenge her authority and in some cases, not only fired them but sued them too. She did not win. In fact, the National Perspective has learnt that Zenaida’s reason for getting rid of Sharole Saldivar was more than just for talking to the wrong people. In fact the wrong ‘person’ could have been her dear beloved, then fiance’ Dj Dalla Flowers.

But this latest episode will not go away neither will it leave the Mayor or the UDP in the peace for that matter. Belize City is short Two Hundred Seventy-Four Thousand, Six Hundred Fifty Seven Dollars and Forty-Six cents ($274,657.46). That hefty sum has allegedly went missing between January 2009 and April 2009. According to a

famed audited report, which the National Perspective newspaper has obtained a copy of, there has been a plethora of corrupt practices that was occurring in City Hall and Hubert ultimately Mayor Zenaida Moya is responsible. She is the captain of the ship, however it is the Director of Financial Services, Duane Davis, Kiran Budhrani, Supervisor of Financial Services and Philip Henry; a traffic officer who have been suspended.

According the auditor’s report, “Audit noted that 64 fuel receipts from vendors were presented which totaled $2,415.10. Examination of the receipts revealed that 21 of those receipts were for fuel bought on behalf of the Council

by Mr. Philip Henry which amounted to $1,470.00 during the period 3rd March 09 to 3rd April 09.”

The report went on to say that, “Further analysis revealed that within two days on the 3rd and 4th March 2009, the Council had spent $1,050.00 on fuel from Esso Service Station which is located at mile 2 Northern Highway in Belize City. That is five (5) receipts on the 3/3/09 and ten (10) on the 4/3/09 each valuing $70.00.”

Philip Henry explained to the auditors that he was assigned to monitor garbage hot spots as well as remove derelict vehicles. According to Henry, he borrowed some money from his wife to purchase fuel to do the work. Henry said that he was reimbursed in late March of 2009. However when audit investigat-

Elrington

ed some of the receipts that Henry brought it, s o m e t h i ng stunk in City Hall!

Philip Henry, a known UDP zealot, told auditors that he got the receipts from Esso R a m o n’s

Service Station.

When auditors investigated they explained that, “According to Mr. Gongora, the Manager of Esso Service Station, the receipts were not issued by his station and that only customized receipts which show the business name, Tax Identification Number, address, phone number etc. On 13th August 2009 Mr. Henry revealed that the receipts were issued by BUCA Shell which is situated at mile 2 ½ Northern Highway even though Esso Service Station was written on them.”

Naturally audit went to check that out.

Audit reports that, “Audit visited BUCA Shell gas station on the 13th August 2009 and was informed by both the Manager Ms. Therese Sabala and her senior supervisor, Miss Francine Banner, that the receipts were not issued by them. They further stated that their cash sale receipts are customized and that it would bear their identification number as well as their address and business name.” Audit concluded that the receipts are fictitious.

The allegations have struck a chord and touched off a firestorm in the talkshow circuit with city residents calling for Zenaida Moya-Flowers’ arrest and/ or removal from City Hall. The revelation has angered City residents who don’t

PAGE 19 seem to be shocked as much as they are miffed. The Belize City Council has fallen way short in the performance of its basic services to the City. Streets are in the most deplorable state they have ever been with crater-size potholes, overgrown street sides and clogged drains with garbage strewn all over. On Monday workers for Belize Maintenance Limited staged a demonstration in front of City Hall to register their discontent about not being paid because City Hall owes their company over two million dollars for sanitation services. The workers ranted and railed about the bills that they have to pay and their children who were going hungry because some of them have been laid off because Belize Maintenance Limited cannot afford to pay them.

While the Mayor has been instructed to present herself to the police on Wednesday, she has also gone on the offensive by filing a suit against the Government of Belize. The Mayor’s attorney is Hubert Elrington who gave the media an earful. This is another hilarious irony if this story wasn’t so serious. The Mayor has hired ‘Crazy Glue’ to defend her. Hubert Elrington bears the infamous name, “Crazy Glue” that he earned while was Minister of Housing because of alleged corruption on his part. History seems not to have absolved him. Elrington advised the reporter with whom he spoke to run if she saw, Prime Minister Barrow, former Prime Minister Esquivel and Net Vasquez coming. Elrington has become PM Barrow’s arch rival after he referred Dean Barrow as, “all glitter and no substance”. Hubert Elrington’s brother is Honorable Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington who is the current Attorney General.

The Mayor is supposed to be charged for “failure to comply with City Council Regulations” and “uttering on forged documents”. The latter charge has to do with the bogus receipts that were tendered to audit for which thousands of dollars were obtained purportedly for the purchase of fuel. We shall wait and see how this one pans out for the Mayor.

The views expressed by this columnist is not necessarily those of the national Perspective.

By: dulce Silva

Are you tired of varying proporhave tried all kinds of promising products and results. They say prevention is better than cure, measures you can take to improve the appearance of

of seeing giant pimples tions on your face? I bet you still haven’t gotten satisfactory so here is a list of 10 preventative your skin!

Top 10 Ways to Prevent Acne 1) Change Your Pillowcase Often Hair transfers all the different hair products like gel, hairspray, and grease onto your pillow case as well as smoke, dirt etc. So it is wise to change your pillow case every other day this also depends on how oily your face is and how often you wash your hair.

2) Sleep with Your Hair Pulled Back Sleep with your hair pulled back to keep it off your forehead and the rest of your face.

3) Keep Your Hands Off Your Face Your hands have been everywhere! Every time you touch your face you coat your face with the same dirt your fingers picked up. Washing your hands a little more often wouldn’t hurt either!

4) Wash Your Face Once a Day Use a mild soap for your face. Do not use regular bar soaps for your face, they can irritate your skin if you over cleanse, and never go to bed with makeup on your face!

5) Use a Non-Comedogenic Lotion Even if you have oily skin it still requires some moisturizing. The oilier your skin is the lighter you want to go on lotion thickness. Non-comedogenic moisturizers keep pores from clogging so if it doesn’t say non-comedogenic somewhere on the bottle, don’t use it.

6) Drop the Soft drinks and Caffeine Soft drinks can cause or increase an outbreak if you’re prone to acne, and moreover who wants those unwanted calories that come along? Caffeine acts as a diarrhetic and dehydrates skin so if you’re a coffee lover try switching to tea it has less caffeine.

7) Get a Good Night’s Sleep Everyone knows that getting at least eight hours every night is essential for healthy looking skin!

8) Stop Smoking Smoking clogs pores and cuts off oxygen to facial tissues giving skin a dull color, and increasing the likelihood of outbreaks.

9) Give Up Junk Food Your body doesn’t’ need any extra oil! Fries, chocolate, doughnuts etc are all guilty of causing breakouts. By giving up junk food you will cut down on zits and trim inches off your waist.

10) Stop Stressing Stress puts your hormones in a heightened state, hence the once-a-month breakouts. Once you have major responsibilities or anything that makes you worry take a deep breath and relax; this however is easier said than done!

PAGE 20

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Domingo, 4 de Octubre, 2009

Edición 58 Vol. 2 - Semana 6

BARROW DESTRUYENDO

NUESTRA ECONOMÍA alejando inversionistas extranjeros y disminuyendo el clima de inversión

Es obvio que la decisión repentina del Primer Ministro Dean Barrow de expropiar la Proveedora de Telecomunicación Privada y más grande del país está disminuyendo el clima de inversión que en una vez fue activa. A logrado erradicar la confianza del inversionista y así mismo previniendo que cualquier inversionista o multinacional venga a Belice. En solo veinte cortos meses, desde que tomaron las riendas del gobierno, el UDP ha reducido lo que en un entonces fue una economía boyante a ruinas; Desvergonzadamente, existiendo como un gobierno parásito dependiendo en la asistencia financiera de gobierno amistosos para mantenernos a flote.

Desde el día cuando el PM Barrow in-

trodujo secretamente la enmienda de ley para nacionalizar a BTL, todo parece que se ha ido deteriorando crónicamente, incluyendo su salud al grado que ya no existe un sentido viable de dirección hacia un plan de recuperación económico sobre el caos que el mismo creo. Para justificar su toma hostil y control de BTL, le dijo al pueblo beliceño que su acto fue necesario y en su mejor interés, agregando que el pueblo seria los verdaderos beneficiarios de esta nacionalización. En su plan de engañar al pueblo, prometió reducir más allá el costo de la telefonía y permitir el acceso del VOIP, (voz sobre internet) entre otros accesos de los avances tecnológicos que BTL ofrece, pero cuando ya se había concluido el control de Belize Telemedia, Bar-

row en su vicioso estilo de engaño cambio su parecer. Inmediatamente, utilizo el otro lado de su hocico para decirle al pueblo que no esperen otras reducciones ya que el recién introducido costo que cobra por segundo entre otros factores, ha dificultado cualquier consideración para bajar el costo en estos momentos.

Barrow parece estar perdiendo sueño y se encuentra estresado en su vida personal y pública, que rápidamente se está convirtiendo en una pesadilla. Lo encuentra muy difícil de atraer beliceños con capital estratégica para invertir y alzar la cantidad de dinero necesario para que Barrow pague por su arrogancia como el precio que tendrá que pagar como consecuencia de su obsesión en la toma de Telemedia.

Lo peor es que no existe inversionista extranjero que quiera llegar a Belice para tomar ventaja de esta oferta. Aquellos inversionistas que bajo circunstancias normales, lo considerarían, cautelosamente se niegan a invertir fuertes sumas de dinero en este país bajo este gobierno después de conocer los hechos que rodean la toma de control de la telefónica, que demuestra su falto de respeto para el proceso legal. Ninguna inversión en su juicio tomara riesgos innecesarios de perder su inversión a un gobierno que de noche a la mañana puede tomar control de una empresa por razones políticas.

Hace unas semanas, el Consejero financiero del PM Barrow, Allan Slusher dijo públicamente que no existe ninguna prueba que la expropiación de Telemedia por parte del gobierno ha reducido la confianza del inversionista, pero en verdad en su miopía, no porque no lo ven, significa que no exista.

El Grupo Financiero Opennheimer basado en Nueva York, que opera como una firma financiera bursátil, llevo un artículo escrito por el analista Carl Ross el pasado 23 de septiembre que se titula “BeliceMúltiple Banderas de Caución”. Ross que también fue analista financiero del Grupo Bear Stearns que conoce muy bien el historial financiero de Belice advirtió que con el abandono por parte de Taiwán de ingresar a las Naciones Unidas como miembro, Belice eventualmente perderá su

CENTRO COMERCIAL HIPOTECADA MUY PRONTO SERÁ CENTRO COMERCIAL SCOTIA BANK

PAT ANDRES

Al enfrentando nuestra triste realidad referente a la Municipalidad de Ciudad Belice y las fechorías al que se le acusa a la Alcaldesa Zenaida Moya, sobre las irregularidades financieras de su gobierno municipal entre otras, solo podemos imaginar el grado de incompetencia que se ha alcanzado y quien pagara por ello.

Sabemos que apenas están funcionando con finanzas que solo cubre los gastos del día y por eso han tenido que violar las regulaciones y procedimientos de la ciu-

dad utilizando una manera irregular en su contabilidad para permanecer a flote y prevenir una bancarrota. Está bien claro que la ciudad tiene grandes problemas financieros, reconociendo ellos mismos cuando fueron candidatos antes de las elecciones que si podían administrar la ciudad, llevarla adelante, proveer los servicios esenciales de la recolección de basura, la reparación y pavimentación de las calles, así como el mantenimiento de los desagües. Pero después que entraron como gobierno municipal, todo lo prometido, se convirtió en otro asunto.

La ciudad de Belice particularmente hablando sobre el mantenimiento de las calles y los desagües, parece que se ha atrasado una vez más a los principios de

los años 90’s. La ciudad esta endeudada con las empresas de mantenimiento, limpieza y sanidad. Esta semana se conoció que se debe un monto de $2.7 Millones de dólares a una Empresa de Limpieza, y no existe manera de cancelar esas deudas que resulta que las madres solteras y los pobres trabajadores no puedan obtener su sueldo por lo que ya trabajaron. El Concejal Phillip Willoughby esta semana, insinuó que una manera efectiva de cancelar las deudas seria de vender el salón municipal de ciudad Belice y construir otra Municipalidad en otro lado. Este tipo de mentalidad que se demuestra en la municipalidad actualmente podría ser unas de las razones porque la administración del Municipio se encuentra en el caos. Pero tienen

PAGINA 2

Domingo, 4 de Octubre, 2009

Destrucción

de una economía

Solo el PUP podrá salvarnos!!

Por: Omar Silva

No es tan fácil vivir en estos tiempos difíciles en nuestra joya Beliceño. Actualmente las lluvias tienen las calles inundadas con baches por doquier y no existe solución en el horizonte por parte de la Municipalidad para solucionar estos temas.

Además, el crimen esta en aumento y se cometen al sol del día , mientras el Comisionado de la Policía Crispin Jefferies se comporta como el avestruz utilizando las estadísticas del crimen para anunciar que el crimen esta en descenso y es a lo contrario.

Ni se ve la pista del Ministro de Seguridad ; tal vez no se ha recuperado de la borrachera del día de la Independencia.

Estos comportamientos a nivel de Gobierno Central y Municipal esta sofocando nuestra economía ya que el crimen va en aumento , el turismo esta en descenso porque nadie quiere venir a un país en donde el gobiernos impotente en la lucha contra el crimen y no dispone de los recursos para protegerlos, además, nadie deja un país del primer mundo para minuscluirse entre basura y caminar calles llenos de baches.

Cuando el Primer Ministro anuncio que estaba tomando control de Telemedia, muchos se regocijaron en ignorancia, hoy esas mismas personas quisieran voltear las manos del tiempo porque están sintiendo la viga y los efectos de una ironía decisión por el Primer Ministro.

La Comunidad Internacional ha cuestionado el motivo y las implicaciones del gobierno en haber hecho una repentina decisión en la toma de BTL de un Inversionista privada sin pagar por ello. Cada persona/ Inversionista quien ha tenido la intención de invertir en Belice se han hecho para atrás. Además , el Primer Ministro tiene a frente de la junta directiva de BTL con miembros de su circulo familiar.

Cuando los temas comprimido por estos tiempos difíciles , se pone mas perra la situación. El problema se magnifica porque

el Gabinete y los otros miembros UDP se conocen como una bola de incompetentes.

Ya es tiempo para que el gobierno trabajar de cerca con el sector privado y remover ese dio a los empresarios de Belice, la economía continuara resbalando hacia abajo.

Nuestro mensaje es que deberá forjarse una cumbre económica de inmediato con un panel de personajes de experiencia para así obtener recomendaciones para una dirección hacia delante. Beliceños ya no pueden esperanzarse al Primer Ministro y sus Consejeros, porque ellos nunca han tenido experiencia en el sector privado.

Para ser mas directo, todo los consejeros del Primer Ministro han sobrevivido con la cuchara de oro en sus bocas y cuando su Partido setan en Oposición, ellos huyen hacia el exterior y regresan cuando cambian las cosas.

Son considerados sin agallas. Lo que hace muy bien el Primer Ministro es la propaganda y la distorcion de los hechos.

Barrow ha lanzado un ataque a la persona e integridad del Dr. Carl Ross de Oppennheimer Fuds en su intento a convencer al pueblo que el Dr Ross es un inepto y no sabe lo que dice. Lo que Delroy Kutkelvin no sabe y el Primer Ministro no entiende es lo que ellos estan haciendo es control de los daños.

Por el orgullo y egocentrismo del PM, Belice esta sufriendo a nivel internacional.

En su discurso de dia de Independencia demostró su incompetencia que parece estar fuera de la realidad referente a las realidades de finanzas legal.

Mientras el Primer Ministro continua su camino errónea, la Alcaldesa Moya y sus 10 Concejales tambien llevan a cavo sus errores en la municipalidad al grado que muy pronto sera necesario hipotecar el Palacio municipal de Cd Belice para pagar las dedas tal como lo ha insinuado el Concejal Phillip Willoughby. Ha demostrado que son una bola de incompetentes.

El Pueblo Esta despierto, abran los Ojos

¿Barrow trata de destruir su carrera política?

“Están maquinando violaciones criminales para acusarla” alega Hubert Elrington Aunque los residentes de ciudad Belice permanecen viviendo entre la basura por la incompetencia del gobierno municipal bajo el UDP, parece estar en aumento la deterioración de los servicios especiales que se espera de cualquier gobierno municipal responsable, las grandes expectaciones para que el UDP frene la corrupción, demostrar su transparencia y contabilidad se va desapareciendo esa posibilidad con las grandes irregularidades demostrado por el mismo gobierno municipal bajo la Alcaldesa Zenaida Moya que prometió imponerlo.

La ironía de todo este escenario que nos aflige hoy es que antes de las elecciones municipales del 2009, los residentes de ciudad Belice obtuvieron la información de todas esas irregularidades que ha sido la orden del día dentro del Concilio bajo el primer periodo de la misma Alcaldesa Moya.

Seles mostro recibos subrayando las irregularidades y la manera unilateral en que la Alcaldesa administraba la ciudad, el gobierno Central también tenía conocimiento, pero en el momento no hizo nada para detenerlo y a la vez, trato de cubrirlo para engañar a los votantes. Los residentes de la ciudad de Belice han sabido de lo que está ocurriendo y han preferido vivir en condiciones deterioradas entre el basurero viendo grandes baches en las calles sin reparación y los canos y desagües inundadas. Aun así, los residentes entregaron su voto ciegamente a un Partido de engaño UDP. Los ciudadanos optaron por ignorar todas las señas de incompetencia y malversación de fondos y le dieron un segundo periodo a la alcaldesa Zenaida Moya. Moya nunca fue la candidata predilecta del Ejecutivo UDP y durante las Convenciones políticas, el partido puso todos los fondos de Campana detrás de la candidatura de Anthony Micheals, para que el quedara como candidato del Partido para la Alcaldía. Pero Moya encontró los fondos necesarios para salir victoriosa en las Convenciones, cuando las elecciones terminaron y entro a su segundo periodo, un nuevo escándalo se hizo público en referente a las prácticas irregulares que el Concilio ha utilizado para permanecer a flote.

Poco después, el Primer Ministro Barrow anuncio el nombramiento de tres Ministros de Gobierno quienes serian los responsables de supervisar la administración y los asuntos de la municipalidad de la ciudad de Belice. También se nombro a Patrick Tillett del Ministerio

de Finanzas para actuar como el controlador de finanzas dentro de la ciudad. Con poderes de veto sobre las decisiones y discreciones financieras de la alcaldesa. Como resultado Patrick Tillett investigo, encontró y público un reporte inicial que revelo las prácticas irregulares de la alcaldesa Moya y de su Concilio. Pero la alcaldesa Moya en una Conferencia de Prensa públicamente le recordó al Primer Ministro y a Patrick Tillett que ella fue la quien eligieron como alcaldesa y reitero que ella solo rendirá cuentas a los residentes de ciudad Belice.

El Primer Ministro Barrow vio la oportunidad estratégica para deshacerse políticamente de una carga y a cualquier reto en el futuro de su liderazgo y por lo mismo, ordeno una auditoria a fondo de la municipalidad de ciudad Belice. En esa auditoría, el auditor general revelo que entre Enero y Abril del 2009, se detecto irregularidades y malversación de $275,000 dólares, que en verdad fueron cometidos durante el primer periodo de la Alcaldesa Moya. El Primer Ministro Barrow fue el primero de hacer conocer su disgusto referente al reporte y menciono en la radio WAVE que la alcaldesa Zenaida Moya significaba una vergüenza para él y el Partido UDP con el fin de distanciarse de las atrocidades relacionadas a la Alcaldesa.

Los residentes deberán recordar que fue este mismo Concilio Municipal de Ciudad Belice que el entonces líder opositor Dean Barrow utilizo refiriéndose a ellos como un verdadero ejemplo de la democracia, la transparencia, la contabilidad, libre de corrupción al que un gobierno central UDP aspiraba adoptar. Hoy en una movida estratégica, Barrow intenta distanciarse de Zenaida Moya y su administración dentro de la ciudad de Belice. Analistas y cínicos políticos creen que lo está haciendo porque al igual lo mismo o peor está sucediendo en todos niveles del gobierno central en todos los Ministerios. Se cree que sus acciones de utilizar la ley en contra la Alcaldesa Zenaida Moya es un desvió para una vez más engañar al pueblo haciéndoles creer que tiene cero tolerancia por la corrupción pero a la vez, su gobierno apesta con la corrupción. El martes de esta semana, se anuncio que Zenaida Moya enfrentaría cargos por incumplimiento de las reglas administrativas y financieras de la ciudad. Pero su abogado defensor Hubert Elrington no permaneció

Domingo, 4 de Octubre, 2009

PAGINA 3

NOTICIAS

REGIONAL / LATINOAMERICA

GOLPE EN HONDURAS BUSCA FRENAR ALBA

laya en Honduras, fue un ataque contra la Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de América (ALBA) para evitar su crecimiento que se venía expandiendo por la región.

En rueda de prensa desde la isla venezolana de Margarita (noreste venezolano), donde participa en la II Cumbre América del Sur-África (ASA), el mandatario El presidente boliviano dijo que la situación en la nación centroamericana “es una advertencia del imperio”.

El mandatario dijo que la situación “El golpe en Honduras es una adveren esa nación centroamericana “es tencia del imperio frente a los países del una advertencia del imperio” y rechazó ALBA (...) es una medida del imperio la situación económica que se vive en para intimidar a los países integrantes. esa nación por culpa de roberto MiYo creo que este golpe en Honduras se cheletti. hizo para no expandir el ALBA en la l presidente boliviano, Evo Morales, región”, expresó el jefe de Estado boaseguró este domingo que el golpe de Estado contra su homólogo Manuel Ze- liviano.

…asegura Morales

Recalcó que “si Micheletti quiere lo mejor para su país debe renunciar, que vuelva la democracia y el presidente legal y constitucional, Manuel Zelaya, y garantice elecciones nacionales”.

Rechazó la situación económica que se vive en esa nación por la crisis política y llamó al líder del gobierno de facto, Roberto Micheletti, a considerar el llamado contundente de la comunidad internacional de darle el poder de vuelta a Zelaya.

“Yo siento que en Honduras hay un problema social y económico por culpa del señor Micheletti”, denunció el mandatario y contrastó la situación con la democracia que se ha vivido en Bolivia, país que también ha sido objetivo de golpes de Estado.

“Yo prefiero ir todos los años a elecciones que tener el poder por medio de una insurrección (...) En Bolivia tuvi-

mos de tres a cuatro presidentes en un año por golpes de Estado (...) ahora hay una revolución democrática”, recordó.

El presidente aprovechó la oportunidad para llamar la atención del gobierno peruano por proteger a los ministros del ex mandatario Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (2002-2003), quienes son solicitados por la justicia boliviana.

“Por ahora se les da esa protección del gobierno de Perú pero tarde o temprano serán juzgados. Mi pedido al gobierno de Perú es que no cometa el grave error de proteger a los delincuentes”, expresó.

Alabó a la Corte peruana por enjuiciar a “quienes hicieron daño como Alberto Fujimori (ex- presidente) pero de parte de las instancias políticas proteger a los delincuentes es contradictorio”. “Antes los delincuentes se escapaban a Estados Unidos, ahora se escapan a Lima”, denunció.

Rodas viaja con Calderón Respeto a la vida a cumbre del Sica del presidente

Manuel Zelaya

…demandan Países de Cumbre ASA

El presidente brasileño durante su intervencion en la Cumbre de la ASA en Margarita El mandatario sudamericano dijo que la “mejor respuesta a la crisis es la integración” y que gracias a la apuesta que se hizo hace un año con el eje sursur nuestro países sufrieron menos” los efecto de la debacle de la economía capitalista.

El presidente brasileño Lula Da Silva , aseguró este sábado que gracias a la unión que comenzaron a emprender África y América, la crisis económica mundial afectó menos a los países que conforman ambos continentes, ya que todas las economía estaban subordinadas a Estados Unidos y Europa. En su intervención en la II Cumbre de Jefe de Estados América del Sur y África (ASA) en Nueva Esparta (noreste de Venezuela), el mandatario sudamericano dijo que la “mejor respuesta a la crisis es la integración” y que gracias a la apuesta que se hizo hace un año con el eje sur- sur nuestro países sufrieron menos” los efecto de la debacle de la economía capitalista.

Lula explicó que desde la Cumbre que se realizó en 2008 en Nigeria se lograron resultados concretos en el área comercial. En los últimos dos años el intercambio paso de 6 mil a 36 mil millones de dolares y “ no paró de for-

talecerse” y reveló que desde el primer encuentro el comercio se elevó en un 50 por ciento. “África y Sudamérica pasan por un momento de transformación sin precedentes, los retos deben unirnos y no dividirnos”, instó el mandatario. También se refirió al golpe de Estado en Honduras contra el presidente constitucional, Manuel Zelaya al pedir que entre los dos continentes no hayan más retrocesos como esos. “Tenemos que barrer las dictaduras militares de antes, ya no podemos permitir retrocesos como esos”, afirmó. Lula pidió que ambos continentes trabajen juntos para la reforma del Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) “para participar en las cuestiones de la agenda internacional” “El siglo 21 nos encuentra cada vez más unidos y no existe reto global que no incluya a Sudamérica y África (...) este es el mensaje de Brasil para ayudar cada vez más este puente que construimos sobre el Atlántico”, declaró.

También instó a los presentes a corregir los errores parta que en la tercera Cumbre que se realizará en Libia, haya más políticas comunes y sean invitados otros países latinoamericanos que estén interesados en participar.

En un documento, leído por el presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez durante la II Cumbre de aSa, los presidentes sudamericanos y sudafricanos expresaron su rechazo ante las acciones del gobierno de facto hondureño y pidieron respeto a la vida del presidente Manuel Zelaya.

Los países de América del Sur y África, reunidos este sábado en la Isla de Margarita (norte de Venezuela), manifestaron su preocupación profunda por la situación política en Honduras, y pidieron al gobierno de facto respetar la vida del presidente constitucional Manuel Zelaya.

“Los jefes de Estado y de gobierno ASA reunidos en la isla de Margarita expresaron su profunda preocupación por la situación política de Honduras”, expresa el documento, leído por el presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez durante la plenaria de la II Cumbre América del Sur-África (ASA). A través de este documento, también apoyaron la declaración del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU, emitida

el 25 de septiembre que exige garantizar la seguridad de la embajada de Brasil en Tegucigalpa, donde se refugia el depuesto presidente Manuel Zelaya, desde el pasado 22 de septiembre.

Igualmente concordaron con la declaración de la Unión de Naciones Sudamericanas (Unasur) y la Unión Africana (UA) en la que se pedía la vuelta de Zelaya a la presidencia.

Por último, exhortaron al gobierno de facto de Roberto Micheletti a que “cumpla con la Convención de Viena sobre relaciones diplomáticas, en especial la inviolabilidad de la seguridad de las personas que se encuentran dentro de instalaciones diplomáticas”.

Zelaya, quien fue sacado de Honduras durante un golpe de Estado perpetrado el pasado 28 de junio, logró entrar a su país el pasado lunes y, desde entonces, se encuentra en la embajada de Brasil en Tegucigalpa. Su entrada al país ha sido marco de reiteradas represiones del gobierno de facto hacia manifestantes que han mostrado su apoyo al depuesto mandatario.

LLAMENOS: Editor: 605-4508 osilva_56@yahoo.com 25 Nanche Street, Belmopan, Belize

PAGINA 4

Domingo, 4 de Octubre, 2009

BARROW DESTRUYENDO TU HOROSCOPO NUESTRA ECONOMÍA alejando inversionistas extranjeros y disminuyendo el clima de inversión

fuente financiera que ha proveído decenas de millones de dólares cada año a cambio de que Belice apoye la introducción de su membrecía en la ONU. Ross puntualizo que si Taiwán remueve ese apoyo financiero, será particularmente difícil que Belice pueda cumplir con sus pagos de deudas que forzaría al Gobierno de Belice a incrementar la taza de impuesto. Sobre la nacionalización hostil de Telemedia, por parte del gobierno de Belice, Ross dijo que es un terrible antecedente aunque dice que aparenta ser un patrón en desarrollo que cuestiona el proceso de ley y el respeto al derecho de la propiedad privada. En su analogía predijo que ningún inversionista extranjero se atreverá a comprar a Telemedia después de conocer la manera hostil de su adquisición y descalifico al mercado local de ir al rescate ya que dijo que no tienen la capacidad de generar lo suficiente recurso necesario para financiarlo.

En otro reporte similar publicado el 28 de septiembre, a través de la www.telecom.com que da puntos de vistas, revistas y noticias sobre la Telefonía, Tammy Parker dedico una nota a la toma de control de Telemedia por parte del Gobierno enfatizo que los hechos que rodean la toma hostil de la telefónica cuestiona el respeto del proceso legal por el gobierno. Agrego que hace que el país se mire mal en el exterior por la rapidez en que trascurrió desde la

introducción de la enmienda en el parlamento hasta la conclusión de la toma que se efectuó en menos de dos días. Le da aval a que aparente el nepotismo cuando después de lo hecho, el Primer Ministro Barrow nombre a su hijo primogénito Anwar Barrow para funcionar como ejecutivo de la junta de directores y a su madre Lois Young Barrow como la secretaria. Parker concluye advirtiendo que inversionistas potenciales lo pensaran bien antes de entrar a invertir en un país en donde el gobierno descaradamente toma control de cualquier empresa y pone a miembros de su familia a administrarlo. Esto aseguro, alejara a empresas inversionistas como la América Móvil, Cable & Wireless y Digicel de las costas de Belice.

La Belize Telemedia tenía capturado 178,880 de los 217,380 suscribid ores de la telefonía y mientras el gobierno continua discutiendo sobre la compensación adecuada a BTL, el gobierno tiene su propia idea sobre el valor en relación a lo que quiere pagar por Telemedia.

Los que serán los chivos expiatorios cuando BTL fracase, serán Slusher, Barnette y Alvarez porque ellos debieron estar asesorados apropiadamente para dar el consejo adecuado al Primer Ministro en contra la idea de una toma forzosa. El tiempo lo dirá y mientras tanto los beliceños sufrirán el castigo.

CENTRO COMERCIAL HIPOTECADA MUY PRONTO SERÁ CENTRO COMERCIAL SCOTIA BANK otros deudores a quien se les deben fuertes sumas de dinero y en donde tienen hipotecado propiedades, y inmuebles.

Uno de aquellos inmuebles es el Centro Comercial de ciudad Belice ubicado al pie del puente giratorio en el Centro de la Ciudad. Se entiende que dicho centro comercial está hipotecada con Scotia Bank Belice por un monto de $4 Millones de dólares más los intereses crecientes. Aun cuando otros bancos comerciales habían negado la solicitud para el préstamo por parte de la ciudad, por tener un historial de incumplimiento e inconsistencias en las prácticas de pagos, por ejemplo, a las empresas de limpieza y sueldos de personal de la ciudad, se creo que la ciudad no pudiera cumplir con pagos a largo plazo. Pero Patrick Andrews aprobó dicho préstamo por $4 Millones de dólares poniendo a Scotia Bank en un arreglo forzosamente

con la ciudad.

Ahora, existen muchas cuestiones referente a la jurisprudencia del Gerente de Scotia Bank, aunque todos saben que es un fuerte miembro y simpatizante y financiero del UDP y posiblemente por su amor fanático al partido, se enubecio su razonamiento. Con el arresto inminente y cargos contra la alcaldesa Zenaida Moya y miembros de su sección financiera, no se espera que nada mejore pronto más bien se espera que la situación vaya decayendo a un nivel caótico y que resulto en que los inmuebles hipotecados sean embargados, al menos que el gobierno central UDP se encargue de pagar las deudas que incluyen millones de dólares por parte de la ciudad de Belice. Para prevenir que se embargue el Centro Comercial que entre otras cosas, es un sitio histórico y patrimonio de todo beliceño.

¿Barrow trata de destruir su carrera política?

“Están maquinando violaciones criminales para acusarla” alega Hubert Elrington

callado y dijo que ha entablado una moción constitucional de 9 puntos en la Corte Suprema en contra el gobierno de Barrow. El acusa al gobierno de utilizar rumores e inuendos para enjuiciar a su cliente en público.

Demando que el gobierno demuestre pruebas para que el proceso judicial se escuche en una corte de ley.

Elrington cree que la misma malicia y veneno de Dean Barrow termino con su carrera política cuando era un Ministro dentro del gobierno UDP en el periodo 1993-1998.

En el caso de Zenaida Moya, Elrington cree que utilizo la ley criminal para destruir la carera política de Moya, porque ella tuvo la aganas de decirle a Barrow que ella era la Alcaldesa elegida y que ella administraba su Concilio y no Barrow.

Elrington cree que el Gobierno Central

está violando la naturaleza democrática del Concilio porque fue la Alcaldesa Moya y su Concilio quienes fueron elegidos y ellos son quienes deben de rendir cuentas al pueblo y no al gobierno central ni a Patrick Tillett quien es tan solo un trabajo en el Ministerio de Finanzas.

El abogado defensor Elrington cuestiona la autoridad constitucional del Sr. Barrow en referente a los asuntos de la ciudad, agregando que Barrow tiene sus propios problemas que atender en Belmopán. Elrington concluyo aconsejando al pueblo beliceño para que tengan cuidado con Manuel Esquivel, Net Vasquez y Dean Barrow. Agrego que este trió siempre que están juntos dentro de un gobierno, nunca logra su periodo completo de 5 años sin derrumbarse y predijo que ese es la misma dirección en que estamos yendo.

SEMANAL

Aries 21 Marzo-19 Abril

Mercurio y Venus transitando por tu casa seis reflejan un periodo marcado por mucha actividad en tu vida diaria. Indica que se pueden dar muchos cambios para bien en el contexto del trabajo.

Revela que a corto plazo tendrás que tomar decisiones y actuar con rapidez para asumir una mayor autonomía y control sobre tus propios asuntos. Durante esta etapa estás dispuesto a conseguir lo que te has propuesto aunque lleve un gran esfuerzo y desgaste por tu parte. Es un buen momento para invertir en temas económicos, o para buscar mejoras en el ámbito del trabajo. Respecto a la salud, te sentirás ágil de mente y de cuerpo.

Tauro 20 Abril-20 Mayo

El tránsito de Mercurio y Venus por tu casa cinco y mandando buenos aspectos a tu signo indica un periodo ideal para enamorarte, para activar tu vida social, para divertirte y para disfrutar. Tendrás que tomar conciencia de tus verdaderas necesidades afectivas y actuar con inteligencia. Los asuntos de amor, si son positivos, influyen para mejorar tu estado anímico. Entras dentro de una etapa llena de actividades, pero para avanzar de forma correcta necesitarás saber. Para que las cosas funcionen al cien por cien necesitas movimiento a tu alrededor tanto desde el ámbito profesional como en el sentimental. Debes de apostar por ti mismo. Es el momento de decidir qué es lo que quieres hacer.

Gémini 21 Mayo-21 Junio

Mercurio y Venus transitando por tu casa cuatro indican que puede haber cambios en tus relaciones familiares. Quizá sea ahora el momento de luchar para defender tus intereses. Conceptos como independencia o autonomía respecto a la relación con tu familia tendrán que ser revisados.

Le vas a dar seriedad a tus enfoques o análisis. Refleja un periodo excelente para dar más estabilidad a tu mundo personal. Es una etapa importante para dejar atrás algunas ideas y actitudes del pasado que en la actualidad son un lastre que no te aporta nada. Es importante que haya una comunicación cálida y sincera con las personas de tu entorno más íntimo.

Cáncer 22 Junio-22 Julio

El tránsito de Mercurio y Venus por tu casa tres revela que nuevas ideas y proyectos ampliarán tus perspectivas. Sabrás divertirte con las pequeñas cosas que la vida te ofrece. Se potencia tu creatividad, tu buen humor y tus dotes de seducción. Es excelente para realizar cambios personales. Es el período idóneo para lograr una comunicación cálida y sincera con las personas de tu entorno. Vivirás momentos muy creativos, llenos de inspiración. Tu ánimo optimista y de participación social te llevará a tener experiencias que te gratifiquen emocional e intelectualmente. Ahora puedes aprender muchas y muy distintas cosas.

Leo 23 Julio-22 Agosto

El tránsito de Mercurio y Venus por tu casa dos te invita a cambiar de estrategia en lo que respecta a mejorar tus recursos personales. Revela que tu patrimonio se reactiva, aunque tendrás que hacer ciertos reajustes respecto al pasado. Estás en disposición de tener ciertos lujos personales que hagan más feliz tu día a día. Quizá efectúes ciertas compras innecesarias pero que te darán mucho placer. Es una época excelente para formular planes y estudiar las metas que deseas conseguir. Vas a tener que desarrollar todo tu potencial sobre la base de tu propia voluntad. Es posible que te pidan cuentas por tu manera de gestionar el dinero.

Virgo 23 Agosto-22 Septiembre

El tránsito de Venus y Mercurio por tu signo indica que estás viviendo una etapa ágil y vital donde expresas una disposición más abierta hacia los demás. Tu magnetismo es grande, una oleada de entusiasmo te invade. Lo que muestres de ti mismo hacia el exterior revertirá en tu interior de forma positiva y renovadora. Quizá te enamores de la persona deseada o te abras a un verdadero encuentro con tu pareja. Se mejora tu lado creativo expresando tu identidad personal con más determinación. Está acabando la monotonía en la que has vivido últimamente pero es importante que actúes con realismo, prudencia y sentido común. Confía en ti y despliega todas tus habilidades.

Libra 23 Septiembre-22 Octubre

El tránsito de Mercurio y Venus por tu casa doce indica que vas en búsqueda de diversas cosas.

Tendrás que poner tu energía en los asuntos más íntimos. No olvides los temas del corazón por potenciar otras áreas de tu vida. Es importante que seas muy consciente de todo lo que se cuece alrededor de ti. Ahora te vas a demostrar la facilidad o la dificultad que tienes para aumentar tus defensas emocionales. No es prudente tratar de imponer nada a la fuerza ni precipitar acontecimientos.

Acércate más a tu pareja y comparte con ella tu mundo interno. Deja de aislarte y todo te marchará mejor. Ahora debes de tratar de definir mejor tu personalidad y de mejorar tu autoestima.

Escorpio 23 Octubre-21 Noviembre

El tránsito de Mercurio y Venus por tu casa once indica que mejoran tus relaciones de amistad. Todo aquello que te conecta con tu mundo más lúdico te reporta felicidad. Harás todo lo posible por renovar tu mundo afectivo y para hallar soluciones a tus problemas de relación con los demás. Te interesa salir de casa, cambiar impresiones y pasarlo lo mejor posible.

Puedes ganarte a la gente si despliegas encanto y simpatía. Si tienes que encontrar refugio es con los amigos donde lo debes buscar. En asuntos profesionales quizá tengas que aprender más de la planificación y de la estrategia. Vas a tener que tomar decisiones y hacer elecciones sobre personas con quien has tenido mucha relación.

Sagitario 22 Noviemre-21 Diciembre

Mercurio y Venus transitado por tu casa diez indican un periodo favorable para tu progreso profesional. Puedes vivir una pequeña racha que mejore tu situación. Quizá determinadas circunstancias te están pidiendo un cambio, por lo que tendrás que hacer un esfuerzo para reajustar tu escala de valores. Ahora tus proyectos se pueden materializar. Te aconseja que fuerces la concentración en tu trabajo. Puedes vivir circunstancias positivas y oportunidades de tipo laboral. Es el momento de invertir en tus propias ideas. Vas a dirigir tu energía hacia todo lo externo e igualmente vas a tener una fuerza especial para luchar por tus objetivos y superar las contrariedades que se te presenten.

Capricornio 22 Diciembre-19 Enero

El tránsito de Mercurio y Venus por tu casa nueve refleja un momento de apertura en tus ideas. Indica una época excelente para hacer cosas diferentes. Experiencias que generen un cambio en tu forma de ver las cosas. Es posible que te lleguen noticias que te ayuden a expandir tu visión de asuntos importantes, o que haya un cambio en tu forma de actuar. Entran nuevas propuestas a tu alrededor. Puedes profundizar en tu interior y reflexionar en cuanto a tus excesos y tus carencias. Es necesario que valores de otra manera las condiciones y las personas con las que te relacionas.

Acuario 20 Enero-18 Febrero

El tránsito de Mercurio y Venus por tu casa ocho te obliga a buscar un entendimiento, material, emocional y sexual con tu propia pareja. Ahora tus asuntos económicos compartidos tienen una importancia impensable hace solamente unas semanas, o quizá tus relaciones afectivas te obliguen a una reestructuración económica. Vas a tener que cumplir con tus objetivos, compromisos o responsabilidades adquiridas. La balanza o el equilibrio entre los gastos y los ingresos es uno de los objetivos que debes lograr. Un consejo; controla al máximo las cuentas del banco ya que durante esta etapa puedes sufrir errores ajenos.

Piscis 19 Febrero-20 Marzo

El tránsito de Mercurio y Venus por tu casa siete indica un periodo donde tendrás la oportunidad de crecer socialmente. Algo en tu interior puede decirte que estás cansando de la rutina. Vas a vivir momentos muy significativos en tu vida sentimental, así que aprovéchalo con un derroche de amor, ternura y pensamientos cálidos. Tienes que encontrar puntos en común con personas que busquen tus mismos ideales. Es el momento de actuar ya que puedes firmar acuerdos que más tarde te permitan ver la vida de otra forma.Tu capacidad de diálogo es mayor y en tus relaciones afectivas te vas amover con más confianza. Indica un periodo muy comunicativo pero no debes dejarte llevar por la primera impresión.

Editor: 605-4508 | osilva_56@yahoo.com 25 Nanche Street, Belmopan, Belize