Edition 115 Vol.3 week 10 November 7th , 2010

Continued on page 12

Destroyers of investor confi dence Barrow/Zinc Fence goes for the kill!

Over the last 33 months, the UDP government of Prime Minister Dean Barrow has successfully destroyed the investor confi dence in the coun-try. The once buoyant economic sec-tors are slowly coming to a grinding halt, allowing what was considered a strong economy prior to February 2008 to deteriorate to the ground. The business continues to bleed and is hurting badly causing the em-ployment rate to rise to 12.6% and beyond. Barrow does not care that

Drug Baron Story on page 6

Evan ‘Mose’ Hyde

Barrow Mortgages Belizeans Future !!Unions/Business separates votes concience, No!!! Belize City, Thurs. Nov 5

National perspective columnist Glenn Til-lett has written the Chairman of the Belize Social Security Board attorney Lois Young-Barrow demanding that the decision to in-vest BZ$50 million of SSB funds in Tele-media shares be reversed immediately. The letter is the fi rst public reaction to the decision carried last Tuesday by a major-ity of the SSB’s Board of Directors all of whom were appointed by the Barrow ad-ministration. The four members nominated by the Belize Chamber of Commerce, the Belize Business Bureau, and the National Trade Union Congress of Belize were all opposed to the purchase. In his letter printed in full on page 7 of this edition of the newspaper, Tillett pointed to two sections of the Social Security Act, which he interprets to show that the deci-sion made on a 5-4 vote was illegal because there were voting persons with clear confl ict on interests and argued that because BSSB s a public body, decisions of this body must

appear independent and impartial, and that this was not the case in this instance. As of news time today the Chairman had not replied. In an interview with the National Perspec-tive this evening Tillett said that if there was no reply or an unsatisfactory reply, he would then petition the courts to have his interpretation of the law tested. “I will be calling on as many like minded contributors to the Fund, to join in a mass appeal to the courts to protect what is essen-tially our money from the reckless behavior of the appointed stewards, by reversing this decision,” he said. Meanwhile the nay have coalesced what had been a fairly fi erce debate within the ranks of the social partners organizations, into a growing consensus that their leaders must express their dissatisfaction with the decision by the Barrow administration. In a rare show of unity the workers and employers representatives had consulted with each other before last Tuesday’s fate-

ful meeting and all reports are that they will move in coordination for-ward on this issue. In the case of the NTUCB, last Friday’s veiled threat by BSSB Chairman Lois Young to “fi x” them as a problem may yet prove to be the proverbial straw that breaks the back of a bad-ly strained relationship. The unions association is taking the threat seriously and are now preparing for a protracted period of tension with a dying administra-tion that is already on its way out, barely halfway through its term of offi ce. The unions, already stung by the administration’s fl at rejec-tion of their request for a wage in-

crease in the face of historic increases in infl ation, are now downright deter-mined to oppose its excesses. And for a business sector battered by a prolong economic downturn, and the gloomy forecast that recovery from the passage of Hurricane Rich-ard will also be protracted and slow, the only solution is beginning to look more like a change of administration, and the sooner the better. As one prominent businessman told the National Perspective this after-noon, “At this point they can’t leave fast enough. We thought it was a mar-riage made in heaven, but you know something, separation’s been granted – they don’t love us no more.”

Perdomo Knew of Chinese Visas Gob’s clumsy attempts to explain immigration scandalBelize City, Thurs. Nov. 4

A tepid press release received shortly before news time today is the only response so far to scorch-ing revelations by Channel 5 news this week that the Ministry of Na-tional Security/Defence and Im-migration basically knew all along how the latest human traffi cking ring exposed in Belize worked.

Minister of Defense Carlos Perdomo

Perhaps even more signifi -cantly it pointed a clear and accusatory fi gure at former Minister of National Secu-rity, turned Minister of De-fence and Immigration Car-los Perdomo. In a story broadcast last Tuesday night, Channel 5 attested that the six immi-gration offi cers charged in the recently discovered hu-man smuggling were only “the small fi sh in an inter-national ring that spans Cuba, Haiti, Ecuador, Sri Lanka and China” and that “The September and Octo-

ber chartered fl ights from Haiti are only the tip of the iceberg and the ring leaders of the complex opera-tion have not been named.” And it then went on to document its assertion that “the illegal issu-ance of visas has been going on long before the recent bust.” In

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November 7th , 2010Page 2

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ANY MEANS NECESSARY Those who have been fol-lowing the triangular fight be-tween Lord Michael Ashcroft, Kremandala (Zinc Fence) and Dean Barrow will readily agree that the Lord is losing the battle and losing badly. In sports the term “blow out” would be use to describe the level of the on-slaught that the combine tandem of Hyde and Barrow has un-leashed on Lord Ashcroft. Both the UDP govern-ment and the Zinc Fence is not shy in stating very clearly what their final intention is when it comes to Lord Ashcroft and his businesses and by extension those that are associated with him. The tag team goal is to an-nihilate the Peer. On the Krem Radio morning show on Wednes-day Mose Hyde hosted the Prime Minister of Belize and pledged his unwavering support for the UDP and made it clear that he wants the government to go to the full nine yards in destroying Lord Ashcroft and his invest-ments in Belize. In short he said winning against the Lord was the only thing. As in the words of Malcolm X, defeat the Lord “by any means necessary”. We emphasize the Wednesday talk show morning discussion on Krem Radio be-cause it is the first time that this callous and open declaration of war against a bonafide investor has been publicly presented and endorsed by the government and no less than the Prime Minister of Belize. This message should create a sonic boom in the camp of Lord Ashcroft, because if the BTL nationalization becomes an ideology then, the Belize Bank is next. If one stop to calculate how much the Zinc Fence and Dean Barrow has cost Lord Ash-croft, the amount is humongous. It started with Venezuelan grant of 20 million dollars, which was wrestled from the Belize Bank in 2008, then the claim on tax-es by both BTL and the Belize Bank which resulted in legisla-tive changes, the takeover of BTL and the possibility that the shareholder/s may never be paid, certainly not under a UDP gov-ernment, the voiding of a 45 mil-

lion dollar loan from BTL bal-ance sheet, which was given by the British Caribbean Bank an Ashcroft entity. The hot talk in Belmopan is encouragement for government to take over the BTL Employees Trust and eventually the nationalization of the Belize Bank. The advisors to the Prime Minister feel that the Belize Bank will be the entity the Lord will now use bring a multiple of litigations against the govern-ment. Our observation is that Lord Ashcroft is the victim of a skillful public relation attack that has been crafted by an entire political party and Zinc Fence to build hate in the minds of Beliz-eans against Lord Ashcroft and anyone around him and simul-taneously create opportunities to hustle while the Belizean people are blinded by this implanted hate. The Zinc Fence is receiving tons of advertisement courtesy of nationalization, while the BTL Board of Directors are stacked with friends and families of the Prime Minister all of them are laughing all the way to the bank by doing all sorts of hanky-pan-ky. The sad thing is these questionable activities are done with the full consent of BTL se-nior management as they are be-ing given perks to look the oth-er way. The latest gift was two brand new 2011 Land cruiser for the head honchos. BTL spent more than $600,000.00 on two vehicles at a time when the coun-try is in a depression. That could have been acceptable if the com-pany was privately owned, but it is owned by the people of Be-lize, who are starving because of the UDP, and they see that their monies are being spent on luxury

items that could have been use to build almost thirty homes to shelter 200 persons. While many agree Lord Ashcroft has to fight many of the battles legally he cannot neglect the public relation component. The legal battles have not been that successful as well because the deck is stacked. What is need-ed for more offensives to come at the government and the Zinc Fence exposing their hypocrisy and fork tongue? Guerrilla tactic, dirty tactics, skull doggery are being applied against Lord Ash-croft, and he is fighting sanitized. The Lord Ashcroft owns Chan-nel 5, the most sanitary television station, which is not being used to change the negative image of Lord Ashcroft and his holdings, which have been mortally affect-ed by Barrow and his cohorts. The UDP and Zinc fence has portrayed Lord Michael Ash-croft as a “virus”, that is heart-less and greedy. Their propagan-da has aligned him with People’s United Party, who also has been stigmatized as heartless and cor-

Our observation is that Lord Ashcroft is the victim of a skillful public relation attack that has been crafted by an entire political party and Zinc Fence to build hate in the minds of Beliz-eans against Lord Ashcroft and anyone around him and simultaneously create opportunities to hustle while the Belizean people are blinded by this implanted hate.

rupt. Rest assured that if an offen-sive is not launched against the government and their allies they will not rest until they embolden themselves enough to nationalize the Belize Bank in Hugo Chavez style without paying for it. Dean Barrow has dis-played that he has no regards for what the international communi-ty thinks of his domestic policies and actions, as long as the people of Belize continue to cheer him on. So anyone who believes that will be a deterrent that will dis-suade him from acting reckless-ly will end up being his victim. Importantly Lord Ashcroft has many friends and all he needs to do is fuel the fire because most Belizeans are tired of the fighting UDP that has brought hardship to the society. Many believe that Ash-croft and Barrow should be in dialogue to cease the bickering for the benefit of Belize. How-ever, pragmatically the ligation and fighting mean more money for the ex-wife lawyer, therefore why would Barrow mess up a good thing. A word to the wise Be-lizeans you are the jack@ass, Barrow and his cronies are pad-ding their accounts while you are cheering on your own demise. OPEN YOUR EYES THE PEO-PLE ARE AWAKE!!!

November 7th , 2010 Page 3

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Supreme Court makes ‘Landmark Ruling’!Awarded $2.5 Million to Mother of Child with Cerebral Palsy

Ten year old Janae Matute Attorney Fred LumorBy Rhenae NunezBelize City, Mon. Nov. 1, 2010Acting Chief Justice of Belize, Jus-tice Samuel Awich awarded a his-torically sizeable amount in a land-mark decision on Civil Action case number 2 of 2003, the case of Geor-gia Matute and her daughter Janae Matute versus Dr. Raju Meenavalli and the Attorney General of Be-lize. The hearing had concluded in March of this year, however, Justice

Awich had reserved his decision on the amount of the damage award pending “further written submis-sions about general damages,” he said at the time. Justice Awich also requested that counsels provide case law with ex-amples and any other material they may deem relevant for his consid-eration. Those materials were to be fi led by April 30, 2010. Those re-quirements were met and on Mon-

day the ruling was handed down. Georgia Matute had fi led action against Dr. Raju Meenavalli of Bel-mopan blaming him for her daugh-ter Janae Matute’s cerebral palsy, allegedly due to negligence on the doctor’s part. Georgia Matute and her daughter were represented by Senior Counsel Fred Lumor. Dr. Raju Meenavalli, well known as Dr. Raju, was represented by attorney Andrea McSweaney.

During proceedings, Mrs. Matute testifi ed that she visited the Western Regional Hospital in Belmopan, on June 13th, 2000, where she was at-tended by Dr. Raju Meenavalli, the resident gynaecologist and obstetr-cian employed there by the Govern-ment of Belize. Matute testifi ed that she told Dr. Raju that she was preg-nant and that he then examined her and determined that she was three months along. His conclusion sur-prised Matute who maintained that she had only missed one menstrua-tion which was the month prior.Dr. Raju Meenavalli also owns and operates a clinic at 7/9 Trinity Bou-levard in Belmopan. He asked Ma-tute to attend his private clinic for prenatal management. She attended fi ve times and was later asked by Dr. Raju to attend Western Regional Hospital for delivery.According to Court records, on Mrs. Matute’s sixth and fi nal visit to Dr. Raju’s private clinic on De-cember 17th, 2000, he noted that she was 37.3 weeks along. However, in court he said that she was only 17.4 weeks along at the time and in his report, he said that the baby was delivered at 37.6 weeks. Dr. Raju confi rmed with Mrs. Matute

November 7th , 2010Page 4

Notices of Application for Liquor LicensesNotice is hereby given that Li XIONG BIN is applying for a MALT and CIDER LIQUOR LICENSE to be operated at Sein Bight Game Room , Sein Bight, Stann Creek District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Ordinance, Revised Edition 1980.Notice is hereby given that PERLA MARINA VIRULAS is applying for a RESTAURANT AND BAR LIQUOR LI-CENSE to be operated at PEARL’S MINI RESTAURANT, Dangriga Town, Stann Creek District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Ordinance, Revised Edition 1980.Notice is hereby given that GRAISON PERRIOTT is ap-plying for a SHOP LIQUOR LICENSE to be operated at ALMA’S SHOP, Independence, Stann Creek District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Ordinance, Revised Edition 1980.Notice is hereby given that XILE CHEN & YEN SEN ZHEN is applying for a SHOP LIQUOR LICENSE to be oper-ated at SUPER SAVER SUPER MARKET, Dangriga Town, Stann Creek District under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Ordinance, Revised Edition 1980.

Perdomo Knew of Chinese Visasthe report that followed reporter Jose Sanchez, “that between April 2009 and July 2010 over one hun-dred single entry visas were issued mainly to Chinese Nationals. On average, twelve to fourteen visas were issued per month.” He detailed the procedures that was used, and pointed out several instances of possibly forgery and the use of false documents. Per-haps most significantly, he report-ed that: “And the documents show that it was standard that Murillo would be directed from the Min-istry of National Security to ap-prove or verify visas on average of twelve to fourteen per month for Chinese Nationals. There were: twelve visas on August twelfth, 2009; thirteen visas on October thirtieth, 2009; fourteen visas on December sixteenth, 2009; six visas on December twenty-third, 2009, twelve visas on January eleventh, 2010, fourteen visas on February sixteenth, 2010; thirteen visas on April fourteenth, 2010; six visas on April twenty-ninth, 2010; fourteen visas on May fourteenth, 2010; twelve visas on June 2nd, 2010; four visas on July fourteenth and four more on July twenty-eighth, 2010. The docu-ments show during the period, over one hundred and twenty visas were issued to Chinese Nationals plus sixteen more to other nation-alities. There are still the thirty additional Chinese that arrived in Belize in the chartered flight from Haiti. If you do the math, there are about one hundred and sixty ille-gal visas issued.” In short the Ministry of National Security had to know of what was going on, and therefore the Minis-ter of National Security also had to know. On Wednesday night Channel five again exposed the fact that the Minister of National Security/De-fence and Immigration had denied knowledge of the process and the ring, be replaying his statement made at press conference on Oc-tober 12th: “I would like to say categorically that this minister is not involved and will never be involved with any type of illegal activity dealing with this type of immigration scandal that we have now.” And though six immigration of-ficers were subsequently charged with purposely aiding and facili-tating the commission of an of-fence under the Immigration Act and Forgery of an Official Docu-ment, it is clear that they could not have acted without the connivance of higher authority. The question is, where do the trail stop, and the answer from the Channel 5 news report is that it stops at the minis-ter’s desk. The officers’ attorney Arthur Saldivar had said when his clients were initially charged that the cor-ruption went to the highest levels of the government. Earlier to-day News Five spoke to Saldivar

about the leaked documents that show the Ministry not only knew about the visa approval to Chinese nationals, they also facilitated through the immigration depart-ment. Last night Saldivar elaborated further, and may have been speak-ing for many when he concluded his remarks by saying: “Well this is it again. It marks that corruption … this is more than a whiff; this is a cesspool of corruption. I would hope that he prime minister who, I believe, also has interest in na-tional security takes a firm look at this. It’s surprising that a man who proposes to have the impeccable integrity of the Prime Minister of Belize could allow a minister such as Carlos Perdomo to compromise all that he seeks to build in terms of the transparency, accountability and good governance of this pres-ent government.” This afternoon, the Ministry of Defence and Immigration sent out an unsigned press release it said was “In response to allegations surrounding the issuance of Visas to Chinese nationals which has been aired recently on Channel 5”. It claimed that there have always been a legitimate processes for the handling of visa applications and that visa applications from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), “are regularly processed through the Belize Embassy, Ha-vana, Cuba and British Overseas Foreign Missions in China who have been authorized by GOB.” It claims without any substantia-tion that when the Barrow admin-istration came to office in 2008 it “reviewed the processes inherited in order to improve transparency and reduce opportunities for im-proprieties, instituted a regimen where such applicants are inter-viewed by personnel at the mis-sion they applied. A report of the interview and a recommendation for or against visa issuance is for-warded to the Immigration and Nationality Department who in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence and Immigration then grants approval for or denies the visa. Such correspondences are copied to the Immigration Of-fice, Phillip Goldson International Airport, The Ministry of Defence and Immigration, the Head of the Special Branch Unit of the Police Department, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to encourage intra-ministerial information exchange and transparency. And, even af-ter a visa is approved and issued, on arrival, the individual holding such is subjected to further que-ries relating to other entry require-ments before being allowed into Belize.” The glaring problem with that is who ensures that these “process-es” are followed? The release goes on to accused Channel 5 of displaying “some stolen official correspondences

Continued from page 1

Continued on page 17

Secret amnesty proposal shocks Belizeans20,000 new voters by next JuneBelize City, Thurs. Nov. 4 The shockwaves from the rev-elation earlier this week of the ex-istence of a Cabinet Confidential Information Paper providing the details of the Barrow administra-tion’s secret plan to grant amnesty to as many as 20,000 illegal aliens, is still rippling across the strata of Belizean society, and all levels the condemnation has been swift. Though the National Perspective had revealed the existence of the plan back in late August, only a few had paid scant attention, and the story was ignored by the rest of the media. Today the story is still being ignored by the so-called ma-jor media, perhaps subsumed be-hind other immigration scandals, and the usual sensational mix of political mis-steps, violent crime and the aftermath of the passage of Hurricane Richard. Our reliable information is that Information Paper No. 119 of 2010 was presented to (and approved by) Cabinet on August 19, 2010. In its introduction it says that its purpose is “to apprise Cabinet that the Requirements for Permanent Residents through the Amnesty Program, the Application Form and the Work Plan has now been completed and that there is now a need for the approval of the re-quired budget requirements for the proposed Amnesty Program to be conducted by the Government of Belize in 2010-2011.” The paper then spells out the background: “In keeping with this government intent, an Amnesty Program will be held in Belize. This program in essence is aimed at illegal immigrants residing in Belize who upon meeting the set criteria will be forgiven their il-legal act and will be allowed to regularize their immigration sta-

tus with the granting of Permanent Residence upon paying the pre-scribed fee.” The paper then goes on to pro-vide the details - the opening of 9 centers and the hiring and training of 22 processing clerks, and spells out the diminished role the Immi-gration Department will play in the matter. The schedule had called for the preparatory work and coordina-tion with other relevant Govern-ment Departments to be done in September 2010, and a public information campaign, the iden-tification, hiring, training and de-ployment of the processing clerks, and the opening offices to be done by the end of this year. The offices are to begin accept-ing applications by January thru March 2011, and then final ap-provals, resident card prepara-tions, swearing-in ceremonies “with successful applicants and Area Representatives” are to be completed by June. The paper outlines that the “bud-get for the first five months of the program comes to a little less than $250,000” they figure that a mini-mum of 10,000 aliens will pay the $250 application fee, netting the program $2,500,000. Perplexingly the paper also rec-ommends: “It is also recommend-ed that to ensure the financial sus-tenance of this program over its life span, that the $25.00 postage stamp be channeled back into the Immigration Department Budget to meet the continued operational cost.” Even more inexplicably, rev-enue estimates presented in the paper counts on 10,000 adults (at $250.00 per adult above the age

Continued on page 17

November 7th , 2010

KREMANDALA $ELLOUT

“X” CAN’T CRITICIZE BARROW & THE UDP

Page 5

Wilfully ignores the Corrupt Practices of Barrow and the UDP

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The Disaster Was Here Before Hurricane RichardIt is interesting that of all the coverage I’ve heard of Hurri-cane Richard and its devastating aftermath as it pertains to Belize that none considered the desper-ate situation that the country was already in. How that has not been factored into the real disaster that is dai-ly unfolding is perplexing. Last year the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) declared on their website that 43% of Belize’s population is poor and 12.6% are unemployed. The previous fi gure I believe has been removed be-cause I have not been able to fi nd it on the site, however the damn-ing unemployment fi gure scrolls pass on the front page as a haunt-ing reminder of the diffi culty that much of the population is facing. For quite a few, they were forced there – and we will get into Be-lize’s corrupt job environment another time. I will say just this for now that – one has to be prop-erly aligned politically and with the right factions within the two major parties to secure a spot in the highly competitive job mar-ket. The disaster that resulted after Hurricane Richard was a long time in the making. What Rich-ard did was to expose the blatant neglect and degradation that our people have been forced to live in. For very long the streets of Belize City were in horrid con-ditions with less than mediocre patchwork jobs done to maintain them. When those patching were completed the ride or walk over those streets was a navigational

exercise. The local administration failed miserably at maintaining the streets and drains of the City and failed at cleaning the City. Every month there is City’s monthly meeting where councilors rattled off works that they supposedly had completed but never seemed to have alleviated the inconve-niences of residents who still have to navigate their way in and out of neighborhoods. In case the Belize City Council and the Government of Belize never noticed, Belize City was a cesspool ready to belch. So when Richard came along it only ex-posed the nastiness in which we were living in. I cringed hoping that Richard would have changed its course because I kept remembering those fi gures. As I listened to all the experts who spoke before and

At this moment, government should be contem-plating an urban renewal program and possible other areas to relocate people away from the congested and unsanitary conditions. Here is where government ought to step in and give our people a chance to live in dignity.

after the storm, I kept hoping that one of them would have stopped and acknowledge the confl uence that has come to the fore; a cess-pool of an environment, an econ-omy in shambles and people very disadvantaged. Why is it that the plight of the people seemed not to have been a focal point of the entire disaster?43%! That is almost half of our population that is poor. They have found it hard to provide their basic needs. How then were they supposed to stock up on can foods and other items, they would have needed to survive the storm? Unemployment, another huge problem at this point yet the Barrow administration has not been able to come up with one single strategy to stimulate em-ployment. Each day that fi gure grows as more and more employ-ers are fi nding it harder to keep

their doors open for business and spending power in the country continues to fall as cost of living rises. At this moment, government should be contemplating an ur-ban renewal program and possi-ble other areas to relocate people away from the congested and unsanitary conditions. Here is where government ought to step in and give our people a chance to live in dignity. However, Bar-row cannot do it because he has squandered our resources. From the looks of things, neither PM Barrow nor the poor people of Belize were in a position to deal with a hurricane. Things have been very bad for about a year prior. Barrow kept telling us that the US economy was showing signs of improvement. There-fore, we should feel encouraged that the Belizean economy will also improve. That improvement has not been felt, even though the PM announced improvements in the certain sectors of the econo-my, it has not trickled down to the people who were worse affect by the hurricane. It is useless to tell the people of Belize that exports have increased and so many more dollars have been brought into the economy. The people are not feeling the benefi t. The only thing we feel is the heavy hand of this mean ad-ministration pounding us and our will to survive with their heavy mall beating us down as the Bar-rows and a chosen few continue to live large.

Bought and paid for...Silent on issues a� ecting black South-side Belizeans while pretending to be theirguardian

November 7th , 2010Page 6

Knocked Down and Killed on his 10th Birthday

A boy identifi ed as Kevin Vil-lafranco from Hope Creek vil-lage that completed ten years last Saturday was knocked down and killed on his birthday. The tragic incident occurred around 5:00 pm between miles eight and nine on the Stann Creek Valley Road. Initial investigations reveal that young Kevin was riding his bicy-cle along the highway that evening waiting for his dad who was com-ing from Belmopan groceries to do a barbeque for his birthday. At the time of the incident Kevin was riding within the village from the direction of Dangriga towards Po-mona when he was impacted from behind by a pick-up truck purport-edly driven by a drunk driver. An eye witness told police that the child was fl ung onto the hood of the vehicle before he rolled off on to the highway while his bike was ran over and crushed by wheels of the vehicle. The driver wasted no time to stop and instead drove off without any effort to render aid or assistance to Kevin who seem-ingly died on the spot. Instead, the

pickup sped off and villagers and police had to chase after him for seven or eight miles before they fi nally caught up with the vehicle that had ran off the road into an orange orchard. The driver was identifi ed as 27 year old Josue Tellos of Camalote Village who was under the infl uence of alco-hol. Police have since arrested and charged him with: manslaughter by negligence, causing death by careless conduct, driving motor vehicle with due care and atten-tion, failure to stop and render aid, failure to report and accident and driving a motor vehicle with alco-hol concentration above the pre-scribed limit.

Turcios Marrouquin will stand trial in New York

Otoniel Turcios Marrouquin Belize Attorney Elston Kaseke

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Supreme Court Makes Landmark RulingContinued from page 3that she should check into the hospi-tal on the December 19th for delivery by Caesarean Section on December 20th, 2000.Matute delivered as had been planned by Caesarean Section on December 20th, 2000 and was at-tended by Dr. Raju and his wife, Dr. Sree, an anaesthesiologist, and two nurses of the Belmopan Hospital.During the course of her pregnancy, Mrs. Matute was concerned that Dr. Raju was not accepting April 27th, 2000 as the date of her last menstru-ation and so she visited the La Loma Luz Hospital in San Ignacio on Oc-tober 13th, 2000 where she was at-tended by Dr. Meza. An ultra sound was administered which revealed: “(a) the last menstrual period was on 27th April 2000; (b) expected date of confi nement is 1st February, 2001; (c) age of the fetus is 24 weeks; (d) the length and traverse position of the baby in the womb is on the right and left sides; and (e) the gender of the baby is female”.Prior to Mrs. Matute’s visit to La Loma Luz Hospital, Dr. Raju had assured her that, “she was misled by minor drops of menses as usually happened.” Upon her return to Dr. Raju’s clinic, with her report in hand which she shared with him, Matute testifi ed that the doctor became angry that she had sought another opinion and referred to the report by Dr. Meza as “nonsense”. He nevertheless again examined Mrs. Matute and wrote on her card the date of confi nement to be January 3rd, 2001 and that she

was then 26 weeks along. The size of the award has grabbed the attention of other medical prac-titioners who are encouraging the respondents to appeal the decision. There has never been such an award of damages arising from medical malpractice before in Belize. In ren-dering his decision, Justice Awich said that the question arises in the event of professional negligence as to whether the Government is vicar-iously liable to pay the entire award of damages since Dr. Raju in this case, works at the Government’s hospital in Belmopan and also oper-ates his own private practice where he encouraged Mrs. Matute to at-tend. Justice Awich in his opening re-marks stated that: “This joint claim exposes a practical legal and fi nan-cial problem that the Government of Belize could be faced with, arising from the administrative arrange-ment by which some medical doc-tors employed by the Government are allowed to run parallel personal private clinics of their own for their own fi nancial benefi t. The govern-ment could fi nd itself liable to pay damages for a negligent act of a doc-tor not wholly acting in the course of the employment of the Govern-ment.”“In this claim, some of the acts of Dr. Raju Meenavalli, the fi rst defen-dant, complained about were partlycarried out at a government hospital, and partly at a private clinic owned by Dr. Meenavalli. The claim is for negligence regarding a mishap or

Continued on page 11

Belize City, Thurs. Nov. 4

The long running saga of alleged Guatemalan drug traffi cker Oton-iel Turcios Marroquin, 49, opened a new chapter in the United States Federal Court in New York this week, when he appeared for ar-raignment on charges that he con-spired and smuggled 1,200 lbs (1,600 kilos) of cocaine into the United States in 2003.He is one of several persons, all Guatemalans and including his brother, who were charged in the case, three of whom are also in the United States. Five persons, Byron Berganza, Marco Antonio Lara, Isaias Turcios, Myva Orellana and Jorge Mario Paredes Cordova, were charged after US and Guatemalan authorities claimed they had wire-tap evidence, a recording of a phone call conversation between Otoniel Turcios and a Mexican traffi cker apparently in New York, discussing the distribution of 100 kilos from the shipment on the streets of New York.On May 31, 2004, Isaiah “Kane” Turcios, Otoniel’s brother, was captured in Chicago, Illinois in the middle of an undercover operation called “Crash,” which later became the basis for a movie. He is present-ly awaiting sentencing after being convicted last year.At the time of the original roundup, for reasons still not made clear, Otoniel Marroquin was not arrested and charged. A warrant was sworn out for his arrest and he disap-peared.At the time Otoniel Marroquin was considered a rich man. He listed as owning 6 homes in Mexico, and homes in Zone 6, Zone 18 and Car-rizo Grande, Morazán. He owns transportation companies and gas stations located on the Atlantic Highway. He was born on May 3, 1961, in Morazan, El Progreso and is a devoted farmer.No one who knows will say when Marrroquin moved to Belize, and started living with his family, that is his wife and children, in San Ig-nacio. What has been broadcast is that he was picked up while driving with his family, by Belize Police offi cers on October 25th, an order

for his expulsion from the country was signed the following day by the Minister of Defence and Immigra-tion Carlos Perdomo, and on Octo-ber 28th he was put on board a white jet and fl own to Fort Lauderdale, Florida by American DEA offi cials.By the time his lawyers, Elston Kaseke and Oswald Twist got to the Belize Supreme Court with to apply for a writ of habeas corpus on Thursday, October 28th, Marro-quin was reportedly already in New York.But Channel Seven News reported that “Justice Lucas made the dis-missal after Assistant Superinten-dent of Police Lincoln Hemsley, the commanding offi cer for the anti-drug unit, testifi ed that around 3 on the afternoon of Thursday, October 28, he took Marroquin to the PGIA and escorted him to a small white airplane.”During his time in Belizean custo-dy, the Belize Police hid Marroquin by moving him to several different police stations’ holding cells. He had in effect been disappeared. In the Supreme Court on Mon-day, Channel Seven reported that “Hemsley produced a copy of the departure record, signed by Mar-roquin and an affi davit, dated No-vember 1, that was signed by him (Hemsley).”Marroquin is believed to have had ties with the Zetas Cartel in Mexico, described by media reports as that nation’s most murderous drug traf-fi ckers. The group was founded by a group of Mexican Army Special Forces deserters and now includes corrupt former federal, state, and local police offi cers, as well as ex-Kaibiles from Guatemala. Many of the ex-soldiers in their ranks were trained in the United States, by the United States military. They are believed to have murdered over 10,000 people over the past decade.Belizeans have to wonder who knew, who facilitated and who pro-tected Otoniel Turcios Marroquin after he decided to live openly in Belize and how come he was able to go back and forth between Belize and Guatemala without any inter-ference.

November 7th , 2010 Page 7

Self Defence & Safety for Women Protecting Yourself from Crime is Important

know what’s happening to them. Keeping quiet about being abused simply means that the abuse will continue until the woman gains the strength to leave or until her abuser kills her. On the other hand, women who report abuse to the police often stop being victims. On the street among strangers too, people who run and scream get at-tention, and very often get help. Self-defence trainers often say that teaching women techniques to kick, grab, punch the testicles or to claw the eyes of an attacker is all very well, but when it push comes to shove, some crime vic-tims freeze and can’t use the ag-gressive fi ghting techniques cov-ered in their programs. Something in the way women are trained from childhood sometimes prevents us from fi ghting back as affectively as we can, even when our bodies and our lives are at stake. Over-coming the urge to remain still is a large part of becoming effective at self-defence, and part of the in-formation female students receive in personal safety training involves confronting the confl icting emo-tions we feel when under attack.Even if you’ve had self-defence training tips in courses or seminars, it helps to have added advantages in the form of self-defence products such as a stun gun or pepper spray key chain or defence spray pen. Sometimes just knowing you have a useful weapon in your purse can give you an air of confi dence that warns bad guys away. When you’re walking alone in the dark or going to your car in an unfamiliar or un-safe place, keeping your hand on your pepper spray (go here to learn more about pepper spray ingredi-ents) is one good tip for crime pre-vention. Even a hardened attacker can’t fi ght the vicious stinging of a pepper spray, and every woman, young or old, fragile or strong, can gain the benefi t of time to run away and scream for help.

Paying attention to your personal safety keeps you beautiful—face and body intact and serene—and there can be more in your purse than lipstick to help you fi ght back if you’re attacked by a mugger. Protecting the purse itself is more a matter of prevention than any-thing else. If your purse is clutched to you rather than dangling from a strap, you’ll be less likely to have someone try to take it from you. If someone does either grab or de-mand your purse, give it to him; it’s not worth risking yourself for whatever’s in there! If your purse is large or heavy, you may be able to belt someone with it if you need to, but if you hit someone with your purse, don’t be a sissy about it: pack a wallop that will hopefully knock the guy down and preferably out. Women are often at risk for street crime and sexual assault on a date, partly because muggers don’t know how strong and fast women can be, and largely because too many women don’t know it either. If you’ve ever taken a self-defence class, you’ve probably been sur-prised at just how competently you can defend yourself once you have some encouragement and little bit of training. If you haven’t ever taken self-defence, try it: even if you never need to use what you learn, you will gain confi dence and strength; two things would-be bad guys want to avoid in their victims whenever possible!Most self-defence classes start by teaching students that screaming loudly and running away is often the best device in stopping an at-tack. Attackers count on the fact that, in the face of an attack, many people are overcome by a weird sense of shame, which makes them quiet and acquiescent. Bat-tered women (and even abused wives) are the ultimate example of people who are attacked and re-spond with shame and self-blame, so that they don’t want anyone to

know what’s happening to them. Paying attention to your personal

3 November 2010Lois Young BarrowChairpersonBelize Social Security BoardBelmopan CityCayo District, Belize

Dear Ms. Young Barrow,

Re – Unlawful Decision of Belize Social Security Board to purchase shares in Belize Telemedia Ltd.

I am a contributor to the Belize Social Security Board (BSSB) Fund and an in-sured person under the provisions of the Social Security Act (the Act). Yesterday, November 2nd 2010, the BSSB by a vote of 5 to 4 took a decision to purchase 20% of the shares in Belize Telemedia Limited (Telemedia) at a price of $50 million. The two trade union members and the two private sector members on the BSSB voted against the Board’s purchasing shares in Telemedia. The fi ve members appointed by the Minister of Finance voted in favour of making the investment. As Chairman of the BSSB you presided over that meeting and voted in favour of decision to purchase shares in Telemedia while being the company secretary for Telemedia.As company secretary of Telemedia you had and have an interest in the matter of promoting the sale of shares in Telemedia and as Chairman of the BSSB you presided over and participated in the discussion and voting on the question of purchasing shares in Telemedia in breach of Section 10 of the schedule to the Act. We also note that your son is a director of the board of Telemedia and also has an interest in the sale of shares in Telemedia.Further, on or around 21 September 2010 Mr. Net Vasquez, as Chairman of In-vestment Committee of BSSB, voted in favour of recommending that the BSSB purchase shares in Telemedia, a company of which he is the Chairman. The situation is further compounded by the fact that the unions and the private sector organizations which sit on the Board as independent, non-government ap-pointees, have serious questions about the investment decision. As a result of your actions and clear confl ict of interest in this matter, I have been advised that the decisions of the Investment Committee and the BSSB yesterday are unlawful and void for the following reasons:First, section 10 of the Second Schedule to the Social Security Act provides that“If any member of the Board or other person present at a meeting of the Board is directly or indirectly interested in any contract or proposed contract or other matters he shall, at the meeting and as soon as is practicable after the commence-ment of the meeting disclose the fact of his interest and shall not take part in the discussion, consideration or voting on such a contract or other matter.” (underlin-ing supplied)Second, section 50 of the Interpretation Act of Belize prohibits any member of any board or committee who may have a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any matter under consideration by such board or committee from participating in any vote on such matter.Third, BSSB is a public body and decisions of this body must appear independent and impartiality, which they did not in this instance. In light of all this, I am respectfully requesting that you immediately bring this matter to the attention of the BSSB and my request that this illegal decision to invest $50 million of contributors’ money into acquiring shares in Telemedia be formally reversed immediately.Grateful for your urgent attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Glenn Tillett

Glenn Tillett writes Lois Young

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14 Hondurans Killed on a football fi eld

At least 14 people have been shot dead on a football pitch in the city of San Pedro Sula in northern Hon-duras. Reports said gunmen who drove by in a car approached the group as they gathered to play foot-ball and opened fi re on them with assault rifl es. The motive for the

At least 14 people have been shot attack is not clear, but one offi cial suggested it may have been a set-tling of accounts between criminal gangs. Last month 18 people were killed in a similar attack on a shoe factory in San Pedro Sula.Seriously injured :Armando Cali-donio, vice-minister of security,

was quoted by Associated Press news agency as saying the gunmen had fi red from close range with assault rifl es. The attackers num-bered about fi ve, but police did not have any suspects. “We still do not know the motive of this tragedy,” Calidonio told reporters.Ten people died at the scene, in the Colonia Felipe Zelaya district, and a further four on the way to hospital. A number of others were injured, some seriously. Honduras has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with much of the kill-ing blamed on violent gangs known as Maras. The biggest gangs have thousands of members and a pres-ence throughout Central America as well as in the US. Police has blamed the attack on the shoe factory that killed 18 persons in September on street gangs with links to Mexican drugs cartels.

Rousseff wins Brazil’s presidential election race

Dilma Rousseff has been elected president of Brazil, succeeding Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, electoral offi cials have confi rmed. Ms Rous-seff, 62, who had never before held elected offi ce, becomes the coun-try’s fi rst woman president. She has enjoyed the full support of Presi-dent Lula, who is leaving after two terms with record popularity.Ms Rousseff has promised to con-tinue policies that have fostered years of strong economic growth. The Superior Electoral Court de-clared her the winner with 92% of the votes counted.She has won 55% of those votes, with her main rival Jose Serra tak-ing 46%.This second round of voting was forced after Ms Rousseff fell short of the 50% needed in the 3 Octo-ber fi rst round. She won 47% to Mr Serra’s 33%. More than 130 million voters were due to take part in the polls.‘New phase’:The career civil ser-vant is expected to broadly con-tinue Mr Lula’s left-leaning poli-cies, with an emphasis on raising government effi ciency, expanding the role of the state in some sectors such as mining, and upgrading the country’s decrepit infrastructure. A bill aimed at reforming Brazil’s Byzantine tax system is likely to be Ms Rousseff’s fi rst major legis-lative effort after taking over from President Lula on 1 January. She can count on strengthened majori-ties for the ruling coalition in both houses of Congress to help ease the task of pushing her legislative agenda.Ms Rousseff fl ashed a victory sign and gave a big smile to photogra-phers after casting her vote in the southern city of Porto Alegre. “To-morrow we begin a new phase in our democracy”, she said. “I will govern for everyone, speak for all Brazilians, without exceptions”.After casting his vote in Sao Paulo, Mr Serra of the Social Democratic Party said that after eight years of

Dilma Rousseff has been elected government by the Workers Party, Brazil needed change.But he said he had faced an “uneven battle”, in apparent reference to the booming economy that has boosted the popularity of President Lula and his preferred successor. Jose Serra, 68, is a former governor of Sao Pau-lo, Brazil’s most populous state, and a former health minister.Mr Lula has been active and highly visible in Ms Rousseff’s election campaign. He has to step down after completing the maximum allowed two consecutive terms.

Brazil fi nds massive oil fi eld

Outgoing president Lula says oil will help Brazil eradicate povertyA newly-tapped oil fi eld off the coast of Brazil could contain up to 15 billion barrels of oil, offi -cials say. Brazil’s national petro-leum agency said the Libra fi eld most probably held around 8 billion barrels.That matches the size of the giant Tupi oil fi eld, whose discovery in 2007 drew attention to Brazil’s potential as a major oil producer.If the 15 billion barrel fi gure were confi rmed it would double Brazil’s known oil reserves.It would also be the biggest oil fi eld discovered in the Americas since 1976, when Mexico found the giant Cantarell fi eld in the Gulf of Mexico.The Libra exploratory well is located 183km (114 miles) off-shore from Rio de Janeiro.“The volume of recoverable oil

belonging to the nation could vary from 3.7 billion to 15 billion barrels, with the most likely esti-mate being 7.9 billion barrels,” the national petroleum agency (ANP) said in a statement.Brazil has discovered billions of barrels of oil in the last few years, mostly in deep, pre salt fi elds off its south-eastern coast. The dis-coveries should make Brazil one of the world’s top 10 oil produc-ers. Outgoing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said fu-ture oil revenues will be used to eradicate poverty and invest in education and technology.In September the Brazilian oil company Petrobras, which is partly owned by the state, raised $70bn (£44.7bn) to develop the new fi elds in the world’s largest ever public share offering.

November 7th , 2010 Page 9

US-bound explosives seized

WASHINGTON – Authorities on three continents thwarted multiple terrorist attacks aimed at the Unit-ed States from Yemen on Friday, seizing two explosive packages addressed to Chicago-area syna-gogues and packed aboard cargo jets. The plot triggered worldwide fears that al-Qaida was launching a

major new terror campaign.President Barack Obama called the coordinated attacks a “credible terrorist threat,” and U.S. offi cials said they were increasingly confi -dent that al-Qaida’s Yemen branch, the group responsible for the failed Detroit airliner bombing last Christ-mas, was responsible.

Parts of the plot might remain unde-tected, Obama’s counterterror chief warned. “The United States is not assuming that the attacks were dis-rupted and is remaining vigilant,” John Brennan said at the White House.One of the packages was found aboard a cargo plane in Dubai, the other in England. Preliminary tests indicated the packages contained the powerful industrial explosive PETN, the same chemical used in the Christmas attack, U.S. offi cials said. The tests had not been con-fi rmed.In the U.S., cargo planes were searched up and down the Eastern Seaboard, and an Emirates Airlines passenger jet was escorted down the coast to New York by American fi ghter jets.No explosives were found aboard those planes, though the investiga-tion was continuing on at least two. Obama’s assessment was delivered from the White House podium four days before national elections in which discussion of terrorism has played almost no role. The presi-dent went ahead with weekend campaign appearances.The terrorist efforts “underscore the necessity of remaining vigilant against terrorism,” the president said. While he said both packages that contained explosives originat-ed in Yemen, he did not explicitly assign blame to al-Qaida, which is active in that Arab country and long has made clear its goal of launching new attacks on the United States.Authorities in Dubai intercepted one explosive device. The sec-ond package was aboard a plane searched in East Midlands, north of London, and offi cials said it con-tained a printer toner cartridge with wires and powder. Brennan said the devices were in packages about the size of a breadbox.While Obama didn’t specifi cally accuse Yemen’s al-Qaida branch, Brennan called it the most active al-Qaida franchise and said anyone as-sociated with the group was a sub-ject of concern.The radical U.S.-born Muslim cler-ic Anwar al-Awlaki, who now is in hiding in Yemen, is believed to have helped inspire recent attacks includ-ing the Fort Hood shooting, the

Times Square bombing attempt and the failed Detroit airliner bombing last Christmas Day. Another Ameri-can hiding in Yemen, Samir Khan, has declared himself a traitor and has helped produce al-Qaida propa-ganda. Most of the offi cials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the ongoing investigation.Brennan later told reporters that the explosives “were in a form that was designed to try to carry out some type of attack,” but he provided no further details.“The forensic analysis is under way,” he said, adding, “Clearly from the initial observation, the ini-tial analysis that was done, the ma-terials that were found in the device that was uncovered was intended to do harm.”Intelligence personnel had been monitoring a suspected plot for days, offi cials said. The packages in England and Dubai were dis-covered after Saudi Arabian intel-ligence picked up information re-lated to Yemen and passed it on to the U.S., one offi cial said.U.S. intelligence offi cials warned last month that terrorists hoped to mail chemical and biological mate-rials as part of an attack on America and other Western countries using the mail. The alert came in a Sept. 23 bulletin from the Homeland Se-curity Department and obtained by The Associated Press.In the hours following the discover-ies, Yemeni offi cials and Scotland Yard were investigating and the U.S. issued a 72-hour ban on all cargo from Yemen.“As a precaution, DHS has taken a number of steps to enhance securi-ty,” the agency said in a statement. “Some of these security measures will be visible while others will not.” U.S. authorities conducted searches of aircraft in Philadelphia, Newark, N.J., and New York City. Since the failed Christmas bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner, Yemen has been a focus for U.S. counterter-rorism offi cials. Before that attack, the U.S. regarded al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen as primarily a threat in the region, not to the United States. The Yemen branch known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has since become a leading source of terrorist propaganda and recruiting. Authorities believe about 300 al-Qaida members or cells operate in Yemen. The Yemeni government has stepped up counterterrorism opera-tions, with help from the U.S. mili-tary and intelligence offi cials. Mo-hammed Shayba, general-director of the state airline’s cargo depart-ment, said the government is con-ducting an investigation.

Suicide bomber wounds 32 in Istanbul

The scene after an explosion near police vehicles in central Istanbul

October 31, 2010. A suspected suicide …Istanbul (Reuters) – A suicide bomber wounded 32 people in an attack targeting Turkish police in Istanbul’s main square Sunday, an area teaming with tourists and shoppers.No organization has claimed re-sponsibility, offi cials said, though the city has been targeted in the past by Kurdish separatist militants and al Qaeda, as well as militants from Turkey’s far-left.Istanbul police Chief Huseyin Cap-kin said a man had approached police stationed at the square be-fore blowing himself up. Televi-sionfootage immediately after the explosion appeared to show police fi ring warning shots and people fl eeing in panic.Fifteen policemen and 17 civil-ians were wounded in the attack at 10.40 a.m. in Taksim Square, but only nine, mostly police, were kept in hospital, Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu told report-ers. Taksim Square is a tourist and transport hub surrounded by restau-

rants, shops and hotels, at the heart of modern Istanbul. The bomber struck near police buses parked close to a monument commemo-rating Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, and victory in the war of independence in 1923. The police presence in Taksim is raised around national holidays like Republic Day, which was celebrated Friday.Mobile phone footage taken just after the explosion showed a wom-an lying close to the monument bleeding heavily from her leg, and a policeman also lying with blood streaming from his head.A taxi driver told CNN Turk news channel he saw a 30 to 33-year-old man approach the police to ask di-rections, at which point the bomb detonated. Another witness said he saw two men.According to the governor, police seized plastic explosives found with a detonator at the scene, though it was unclear whether they had been part of a second bomb.

November 7th , 2010

Public Views & OpinionsPage 10

Where is the Bastion of Justice? Barrow Tailor-cutting the rule of law to fi t his Grand EgoEver since the Barrow Administra-tion came to power in February of 2008, he has been ruling accord-ing to The Barrow Doctrine, and our social and public institutions have been deteriorating before our very eyes. It is now the consensus of the wider public opinion that at this point, Prime Minister Dean Barrow has been slashing and burning his way through, as if he knows this will be the only term in offi ce he will ever get. It has become evident that he is tailor-cutting the rule of law in Belize to fi t his ego and his despotic style of governing. He has spent the greater part of two years in offi ce witch hunting and fabricating charges to persecute his political rivals even while the cost of living keeps climbing, and life is haada out ya!. Like Henry VIII who manipulated England’s highest courts Dean Barrow too is perceived as doing the same, in-terfering and infl uencing the Judi-ciary in what looks like an attempt to road block the traditional fl ow of justice and have his way with the string of litigations he faces with the Michael Ashcroft group of companies. Where is the bastion of Justice? In-quiring minds want to know!First he began by tampering with the constitution, consistently in-troducing amendments to the constitution. As if that was not suffi cient, he named his brother “Denys Brotha B Barrow” to be a Justice in the Belize Court of Ap-peal. It has been argued with much success that to shoehorn Brotha B onto the bench, he had to give Justice Boyd Carey his marching orders.Undaunted and undeterred by the cries of horror from his legal col-leagues he then turned the axe on the Chief Justice, Dr. Abdulai Conteh, a man who many believe brought stability and integrity to the Belize judiciary. Not satis-fi ed with having assailed the CJ’s judgement in full public view on the very steps of the Supreme Court nonetheless, his Attorney General attacked within the Chief Justice’s chambers, accusing him of serving “injustice.” This aerial attack having prepared

the ground, the decision long bruited about was made public, the Chief Justice must retire at the age of 65 – his tenure would not be renewed. He must leave post haste, his pending cases to be tossed aside, regardless of terms of completion.And of course last month now Doctor Elliot Mottley, the now ex-President of the Belize Court of Appeal, Then he changed the con-stitution with the perceived view of muscling his way within the Belize Court of Appeal, and his fellow Justice Dennis Morrison, having served with distinction for eleven years, were visited by the new Attorney General and told your days on the bench have been found wanting, your contracts ex-pires in another seven months.The President said quietly but proudly: “Once I became aware of this I determined that I will resign my position as president of this court” and resign he has. This only leaves Justices Morrison, Sosa and Barrow, but despite the resigna-tions and departures, the confl icts and controversies remain. Justice Sosa, you could recall was appointed Chief Justice by the then UDP Government, and liter-ally sworn in just hours before the 1998 General Elections. His ap-pointment did not survive the en-suring fi restorm. As for Justice Denis Barrow, he is asked to recuse himself more than he gets to hear arguments, ever since he presided as an Appellate Judge on a case between BEL and PUC, and his fellow justice agreed that it had all the appearance of a confl ict of interest.Even Justice Morrison’s fi tness was questioned when he sat for a case (RBTT vs. Cedric Flow-ers) where it was disclosed that his wife sat on a board affi liated to RBTT.The last session of the Belize Court of Appeal had to be all but aban-doned. No one seems able to say which cases have been traversed or otherwise adjourned. The Be-lize jurisdiction, once the proud jewel of the Commonwealth Ca-ribbean, is now its laughing stock, or so it seems, and so it goes.

This aerial attack having prepared This aerial attack having prepared

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By: Rhenae NunezWednesday, October 3rd, 2010 will be the one year anniversary of the passing of Captain Charlie Good (retired). The saga that preceded his passing has been well docu-mented in the Belizean media.One year later, the matter that forced Charlie Good to take the stance he did against the Govern-ment of Belize has still not been resolved. His wife, Mrs. Hirian Good continues to struggle on her own to see her four children through high school. One year lat-er, the government of Belize has shown no remorse for what has happened. Hirian Good was fi red from her job as a school warden at the Trin-ity Methodist School in the Kings Park because she was branded a PUP. Hirian’s termination came after she had received a number of commendations for the excellent work that she had done in looking after the children at Trinity Meth-odist. Besides doing her duties ensur-ing the children’s safety at school, she assisted with cooking for the children and serving them warm hot meals daily. She took pride in doing so and was happy spending time with the children and they loved her back. She had developed a bond with the children as well as the staff at Trinity Methodist. All she had done without extra pay however, meant nothing be-cause she was a PUP in the eyes of those higher up in the Ministry of Education, therefore she was fi red. Soon after her termination and failed attempts to get an audi-ence with Minister Patrick Faber, Hirian along with her husband Captain Charles Good took to picketing in front of the Supreme Court in downtown Belize. They did not get the support of the greater society. On days they were jeered at by supporters of the UDP and on two occasions I witnessed Captain Good being roughed up and was ordered to move from in front of the Supreme Court building. They were treated with contempt. But Charlie Good was not the type one could easily ma-

Remembering Captain Charlie Goodnipulate or intimidate therefore he stood his ground, resolute in his position that his wife had been vic-timized. Charlie was determined to teach the government a lesson and get compensation for his wife. It is shameful that the country that Captain Good served with such loyalty treated him with such contempt in his last days. Charlie Good had risked his life trampling through Guatemala on spy mis-sions for Belize. My friend Yas-min Shoman and I sat with him one night as he told us of his trip into enemy territory disguised as a tourists doing bird watching. For that Charlie Good was grabbed, kicked, and shoved to the ground by police! Charlie also served in the Police Department after leav-ing the military. We are so far behind in our po-litical development in Belize that everything is seen through red and blue lenses. What party or faction of a party that you may or may not belong to literally determines whether or not you can eat Belize. I will dare say that the UDP has and continues to practice political victimization with blatancy. Never have I seen Belizeans so polarized like is evident now because of the stupidity of our politics. Our leaders see nothing wrong with this therefore the practice continues in spite of the guarantees set in our Constitution. The justifi -cation that the previous adminis-tration did the same does not do anything to stop political victim-ization. With former Chief Justice Dr. Abdulai Conteh, forced out on a lame excuse and himself perhaps a political victim also, there is not telling when and if Mrs. Hirian Good will get the vindication that she deserves. With the constant meddling in the Judiciary by this UDP administration I am inclined to think that that vindication may never come. I hope that I am prov-en wrong on that but I am not the only one who feels that way these days. Charlie Good set a good example and in my own way I want to pay tribute to him and his example. Rest in Peace Captain Charles Good.

November 7th , 2010 Page 11

REID BETWEEN THE LINES

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to them their own.-- Benjamin Disraeli

I don’t want nobody to give me nothing, open up the door I’ll get it myself ~ James Brown

Initial assessment of damages from Hurricane Richard seemed to suggest that Belize had fared off much better than had been expect-ed. Albeit a minor one, Richard was a full-fl edged hurricane with winds gusting to well over a hun-dred miles per hour. Fortunately, with today’s advance technology and keen attention to these yearly storms as soon as they form, we are no longer caught by surprise and are given ample time to prepare. Forty nine years earlier, Belize had been practically annihilated by Hurricane Hattie that had made landfall in pretty much the same area. Hattie caught us by surprise however and packed a signifi cantly more potent wallop than Richard. Hattie’s winds were sustained at 160 and gusted at well over two hundred mile per hour. Over two hundred lives were lost and over 70% of the houses were either to-tally demolished or damaged be-yond repair. At the end of the day, you might say that Richard was in-fi nitely kinder to Belize than Hattie was.Having had time to analyze the overall effect of Hurricane Rich-ard, it might be safe to assume that the area most signifi cantly affected was that area of Southside Belize now called Yabra. Comprised of roughly seventy lots and spanning that area south of the Yabra Bridge and reaching to the Esso Terminal and from Ceasar Ridge Road to the sea, those residents of what was formerly Queen Charlotte Town seemed to have received the brunt of the storm. It did not help that most of the homes in that area are “knock and stand up” shanties with weak foundations and patchwork construction. What Hurricane Richard did, more than in damage to this area, was to expose the de-plorable and pathetic condition in which these people have been liv-ing. The same can be said for a number of the other small commu-nities that received damage from

the storm.Since a few days after the storm, politicians and publicity hunt-ers have been busy jumping in front of cameras and pretending to care. Nevertheless, kudos must be given to any and all who have come forth, for whatever reason, to render aid and assistance to those who suffered from the storm. The problem is however, as is usual in cases such as these that this aid and concern will probably only last for

as long as the cameras are present. What happens after that? During the past PUP administra-tion, Albert Representative Mark Espat developed an area from the Yabra Football Field to the Yabra Bridge and built a number of small houses that were made available to people in his constituency. While those houses were similarly ex-posed and equal victims to the brunt of the storm, the residents easily weathered and many had no need to even evacuate. Boot’s Martinez, in whose division this area sits, has had access to millions of dollars for exactly this type of project. Where has this money been going? About a year ago, questions were raised about huge amounts of cash being deposited by this same minister into private bank accounts. The story died or was killed but many questions yet remain unanswered.Interestingly enough, in the wake of this direct hit from a hurricane and with many unresolved issues on the forefront, Prime Minister Barrow saw it more important to be gallivanting in Miami and areas of the Caribbean. To make mat-ters worse, a number of his other senior cabinet members, including Deputy Prime Minister Vega, Pat-rick Faber and Sedi Elrington have all been away and far removed from the problems of our people. Acting as Prime Minister has been the demonstratively inept Carlos Perdomo, who in just said short period, has been the subject of a number of implicative dubiosities. It would seem that if at any time when the people elected to lead and represent should be present, it would be during times of crisis. Like rats deserting a sinking ship, they jump on planes and assess the damage from a window seat in fi rst class. Imagine the possibilities!!!!In his editorial of last week, Evan Hyde blamed Luke Espat for the problems now facing the people of Yabra. I have heard some ri-diculous theories and accusations from this man before but this one takes the cake. How blatantly mis-leading, disingenuous and slander-

ous! Luke Espat has never been involved in the politics of that area and as far as I know has never even lived in that area. Fact of the mat-ter is that it was Luke Espat who was willing to invest millions of dollars in a dream to eliminate the very poverty that assails that com-munity today. Had the Carnival Cruise Port Project been allowed to proceed, many of those affected would have been fi rst in line for jobs and might have already been

Instead of jacking our social security money to bail out BTL, I believe that Belizeans would be far more agreeable to using those funds to pro-vide proper housing for our people.The model al-ready exist, just look across the bridge.

able to elevate their standard of living. The project was designed to compliment the so far nugatory and ineffective Southside Pov-erty Alleviation Project and pro-vide much upliftment to that area. Much of the area would have ben-efi tted from landfi ll and included in the plan was a project to resurface many of the streets and build a few others. Many will remember the large number of truckers and other workers who protested in front of Mister Barrow’s offi ce following

his ill advised halt to that project. Get real Jack, and place the blame where it rightly belongs.What Hurricane Richard has done is to wash away the veneer and ex-pose the incompetent, uncaring and disconnected nature of this Dean Barrow administration. Some high UDP offi cials were heard suggest-ing that government should take away all that land and sell it for what it is worth. It is prime sea-front and many of the residents have hardly the subsistence to stay alive much less invest in storm re-sistant residences. I have a better idea. Instead of jacking our social security money to bail out BTL, I believe that Belizeans would be far more agreeable to using those funds to provide proper housing for our people. The model already exist, just look across the bridge. There has been genuine concern and admirable offers for assistance from some people and organiza-tions following Hurricane Richard. We must be careful however that we do not simply throw fi sh that will feed these people for a day but instead provide fi shing poles, instruction and direction that they may learn to fi sh and provide sus-tenance for well into the future. Our people deserve no less.

mistake in medical treatment and surgery which resulted in grave handicap to a baby,” Justice Awich explained. Baby Janae experienced a number of diffi culties which caused her to be hospitalized a few times in her fi rst year. Her mother testifi ed that when she became alert the following day, she saw her newborn in an incubator with tubes down her mouth and she was gasping for breath. Dr, Javier Magana was attending the baby and when asked about the baby’s condi-tion, Dr. Magana was not forthcom-ing except to say that the baby was born premature. Baby Janae’s problems did not al-leviate and Mrs. Matute had to take her back to the hospital where she was once again admitted and treat-ed. Eventually she opted to take her daughter to Clinica Carranza in Chetumal, Mexico and even after a number of trips, baby Janae’s prob-lems still persisted. It was not until she was one year old and her mother noted that she was not developing normally that she learnt the truth on one of her visits to the Belmopan Hospital where she was told by Dr. Magana that he suspected that baby Janae was brain damaged due to in-suffi cient oxygen at birth. Mrs. Matute later travelled to the United States with her daughter with a report from Dr. Magana in hand which stated that: “(1) the baby was, ‘preterm of 36 weeks’; (2) the baby suffered, ‘moderate asphyxia’; (3) the baby had, “hyaline membrane

Supreme Court Makes Landmark RulingContinue from page 6 disease’; (4) the baby had, ‘hyper-

bilirubinemia due to ABO confl ict’; and (5) the baby had ‘neonatal, sep-sis’.”Georgia Matute as a consequence has had to quit her job as a secretary to a CEO to care for her daughter who is disabled and needs assis-tance to do everything and who will not be able to attend school. In his defense, Dr. Raju testifi ed that Mrs. Matute had a caesarean before and that she had large babies weigh-ing up to nine pounds. He said that Matute displayed signs of going into premature labor. He also testi-fi ed that it was obvious to him that Mrs. Matute wanted to deliver the baby before Christmas so she could go home for Christmas. He said that the baby was born well and that she weighed 6 pounds and 4 ounces at birth. He contended that the baby experienced complications after de-livery and not at the time of deliv-ery. The court found that the Govern-ment liable but attorney for Dr. Raju, Andrea McSweaney, submit-ted that the claim was time-barred. McSweaney submitted that accord-ing to Section 27 of the Limitation Act, Chapter 170 of the Laws of Be-lize, the claim should be dismissed since the claimants failed to bring a claim before the expiration of one year from the date on which the cause of action accrued. Justice Awich sharply criticized a report by then Director of Health Services, Dr. Errol Vanzie, calling

Continued on page 12

November 7th , 2010Page 12

the report “very disappointing and deliberately scanty”. He said that it was Dr. Vanzie’s “duty to prepare and submit a responsible report about this grave mishap to the Chief Executive Offi cer of the Ministry of Health. The report was expected to contain suffi cient scientifi c information and objective assessment, so that higher authorities could take a fair decision on the matter.” Justice Awich chastised Dr. Vanzie saying that he did not bother to look at the “reports and notes of the an-aesthesiologist, the report and notes of the paediatrician, and the outpa-tient card issued to Mrs. Matute. He did not refer to them at all. He did not bother to invite Mrs. Matute for a fact-fi nding interview, and did not bother to see baby Janae.”The case sets a precedent that has sent shockwaves through Belize’s medical

community since a victorious claim and a award for damages is virtually unheard of. On many levels the mat-ter is unusual to Belize and Belizeans although advertisements are com-monly seen on US television urging potential clients to seek certain at-torneys who claim to be specialized in fi ghting cases such as that of the Matutes. Their attorney Fred Lumor may have just set himself on a higher round for having successfully fought this one. Although the hearing was concluded in March of this year, it was only on Monday that Acting Chief Justice awarded the Matutes $2.5 million in damage - $2 million is to go toward the care of Janae Matute who is now ten years old, and half million goes to her mother Georgia Matute, for loss of wages. Dr. Raju Meenavalli is ex-pected to appeal the decision.

Supreme Court Makes Landmark RulingContinued from page 11

As a PUP, I am thrilled, ex-cited and enthusiastic ever since the Unity Convention a couple of weeks ago. The multitude that turned out at the convention is clearly am indication that they have had enough from this incom-petent and vindictive UDP gov-ernment. The tremendous show of support is an encouragement for the PUP, and it proves that the blue is the only ray of hope and alterna-tive to the chaos we are subjected to under this government. The masses at the convention helped shaped the momentum to move forward politically and while our political base is excited by it, the so-called independent media con-tinue to tow-the- line with the Bar-row administration. Their bias report on the PUP convention made it more ob-vious, as they intentionally under estimated the huge crowds that at-tended the convention. You must be asking yourself, why the hell am I talking about the convention, when there are far more immedi-ate and pertinent things to discuss? The reason is for the past two and a half years the P.U.P. were divid-ed and our greatest show of unity since was Sunday October the 17th but things may change nega-tively again when we go to the Standard Bearer Conventions that are scheduled within the next few months. It is my opinion that cau-tion must be given to people who are aspiring or will aspire to offer themselves as a candidate for this party. I want to ask these aspir-ing leaders to consider the plight of the Belizean people, the suf-fering the people have been going through, the intimidation and vic-timization under this U.D.P. gov-ernment, the increasing rate of un-employment, the high number of people who are living on or below the poverty level and the overall living conditions of the people before they think only about their personal agendas. In other words, I am asking these aspiring leaders put people and country fi rst, then our party, then themselves. If our ambition to become leaders is to serve the people as was reminded at the convention by the Father of the Nation and Leader Emeritus Rt. Hon. George Price then we must be willing to give a lot more of ourselves and seek to address the needs of the greater majority of Belizeans. As I said earlier, we are not capitalizing and maximizing on the momentum that the mass-es helped us to shape at the con-vention. The U.D.P. continues in their pompous style committing blunders after blunders yet I don’t

think that we are taking a politi-cal offensive in order to ensure the maximum political benefi ts and rally the militancy in our party. Corruption and mismanagement are the order of the day and the list of UDP blunders is long and getting longer. The U.D.P. in op-position built a solid propaganda platform against the PUP and built on their momentum right up to the election. Just some things that come to mind really quickly, one (1) Just days after hurricane Rich-ard devastated areas across the center of the country. The Prime Minister found absolutely impor-tant to leave the country for over one week to attend one meeting and a funeral that he never at-tended. Two (2) The members of the Social Security Board voted to buy fi fty million dollars of shares in B.T.L. against the will of the working man represented by the Unions and against the criteria of the business sector yet we are si-lent. The point is that the union and the business sector represent the Belizean people, and the fi ve cronies represent the UDP. This simply means that the UDP will have their way, even if it is against the wishes of the Belizean peo-ple yet we are taking it all sitting down. Three (3) Channel fi ve pro-duce a letter where the Minister of Immigration seems to be involved in the procurement of visas for the Chinese. These are just some of the things that are happening to involve this government, which does not include the recent blun-ders having to do with the resto-ration process regarding the dam-ages from hurricane Richard.We are not collectively putting an offensive as a party; the PUP needs to start attacking these issues in a coordinated way in order to maxi-mize our political momentum. In my mind, I think that some people are more concerns about trying to get their names on the ballot, which of course is necessary and important, but we are ignoring thetrue enemy and allowing the U.D.P. to get away with issues. The UDP is now contemplating an immigration amnesty giving permanent residency to illegal im-migrants. We understand that it is twenty thousand adults and at an average of fi ve people per family, we are looking at a thousand ille-gal immigrants becoming Beliz-eans. So aspiring leaders, we love our party so much and our country that we are ignoring these major issues because we are so taken up with wanting to become Standard Bearers? The equation should be this simple, country, party then self. Just my impartial view.

Police have charged the owner of Sirenita Bar located on Regent-Street West in Belize City with hu-man Traffi cking. She was identifi ed as Yolanda Garcia, a Honduran with permanent status in Belize. Police sources say they acted upon a com-

Bar-owner Charged with human tra� cking

plaint that Garcia allegedly har-boured a 17 year old female at her Regent Street West residence for the purpose of prostitution between June 29th and July 6th of 2010. She was es-corted in Magistrate’s Court on Fri-day where she pleaded not guilty to the charge. Garcia was offered bail in the sum of $4,000 plus a surety of the same. Other conditions to the bail was that she surrenders all her travel documents, that she reports to the Clerk of Court every Tuesday and that she does not interfere with the prosecution witness. Ms. Garcia met bail and she was ordered to re-turn to court on December 29. Garcia was represented in court by attorney Simeon Sampson.

Barrow/Zinc Fence goes for the kill!Continued from page 143% of Belizeans that are hurting and existing below the poverty level. His objective is to bring Belizeans to their knees. He is living large and playing out his grand ego; he manipulates to rule of law to achieve his goals, even if he is to rule as a despot. Barrow appeared on the Zinc Fence’s WUB morning show on Wednesday and both, he and Mose Hyde reiterated their position and agreed to continue their mali-cious vendetta against Michael Ash-croft and his group of companies that have opened up the doors of prosper-ity and provided jobs to thousands of Belizeans. We must at this point mention that Dean Barrow himself and the Zinc fence have been living large because of Ashcroft’s money. In the case of the Zinc Fence, Evan ran to Ashcroft’s when he needed money saved the Kremandala Empire from crumbling to the ground. Simi-larly, while Dean Barrow continues his outrage demonizing his former boss and political benefactor, his law

fi rm continues to rake in huge sums of monies proceeds from Ashcroft’s Belize Bank. Isn’t this the height of hypocrisy?While they are deceiving the Beliz-ean people and instigating that the people look at Ashcroft as the enemy, both at some point have milk the (Ashcroft) cash cow for everything they could get. Dean Barrow and the Zinc fence con-tinue with their double talk and using guerrilla tactics to fool the people. Belizeans must realize that neither has succeeded in attracting solid for-eign to Belize as a means of job cre-ation. At this point, we need all the foreign investment we could get be-cause it is benefi cial to our individual livelihoods. We must recognize the beasts by their deeds, they fi nd it easier to tear down and destroy what is already standing and establish than to be visionaries that bring benefi t to the Belizean people. They defi nitely portray a good picture of what we know as the ‘Blue Konkas’.

November 7th , 2010 Page 13

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GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT!

By: Nuri MuhammadA few months ago Deputy Mayor

of Belize City, Phillip Willoughby, in an interview with Channel 7’s Jules Vasquez made the statement that ar-rested persons in Belize should be considered “guilty until proven inno-cent”. The comment brought a snide remark from the interviewer and lat-er became the subject of ridicule by several commentators and writers. Willoughby’s statement was in fact the opposite of a principle em-bedded in our constitution which makes an assumption of innocence of the accused. Drawing on a long established tradition in British com-mon law the accused in Belize was always considered innocent until proven guilty but Willoughby’s com-ment, while appearing ludicrous on the surface, may have been a ‘reality check’ on how this Barrow admin-istration now views the role of the state in the judicial system of Belize. In the larger global scheme of things the Barrow government is fol-lowing a precedent set by the United States in their “fi ght against terror-ism”. This argument maintains that ‘the rule of law’ and ‘constitutional rights’ can get in the way of foiling terrorist threats and therefore must be curtailed and even denied in order to stop the threat of terrorism. This assumption of “imminent danger” has given justifi cation to the state to override constitutional protection or even internationally recognized pro-tocols such as the Geneva Conven-tion in order to protect society from the “greater evil”. Today, in its fi ght against terrorism, and by extension crime, the state now adopts the ratio-nale of guilty until proven innocent. There are a number of examples of this trend in the thinking of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet. In his fi rst few months in power Mr. Barrow at-tempted to pass through the legisla-ture a number of amendments to the constitution one of which would have allowed the state the right to arrest and detain persons under the guise of ‘Preventive Detention’ . This act, if passed, would have allowed the state the right to literally pick up citizens off the street and detain them for an inordinate amount of time without a specifi c charge. In other words, on mere suspicion, a person could have been detained until the state gathered the necessary evidence to bring a charge against them. Months later Mr. Barrow also fl oated the idea of eavesdropping on the public, again in the name of “public safety” but quickly withdrew the provision because of the public outcry. Not to be deterred from his “Big Brother” complex the Prime Minister last month returned to the legislature with a reconfi gured ver-sion of the same provision, this time succeeding in passing this draconi-

an Act that gives the state the right to listen in on conversations, read electronic communications through internet and phones and read hard copy mails passing through the Post Offi ce.

Again, under the guise of be-ing tough on gun crimes the gov-ernment of Belize went further than the infamous Jamaica Gun Court of the 1970’s by instituting a law that presumes guilt of anyone connected in anyway to an illegal fi rearm. If such a weapon is found in a vehicle or home, for example, not only is the person with the fi rearm arrested but everyone remotely connected with that weapon such as the owner of the vehicle or property, any pas-sengers in that vehicle or visitors to that home. In other words, the law provides a gill net approach to arrest suspects then releases persons from that net as they prove that they are innocent of the charge. Even our children have not es-caped this dragnet approach of criminality under this Barrow gov-ernment. A new law recently passed gives the state the right to remove children from the home if offi cers of the state believe that the child is showing “anti-social behavior ten-dencies”, and therefore, in the public

A new law recently passed gives the state the right to remove children from the home if offi -cers of the state believe that the child is showing “anti-social behavior tendencies”, and there-fore, in the public interest, that child can be in-stitutionalized.

interest, that child can be institution-alized. This law allows the state to criminalize youths especially those black boys on the south side of Be-lize City who displays or “acts in a manner that caused or was likely to

cause harm, distress or alarm to the public”. The state is now empowered to institutionalize children as guilty even before they commit a crime. While it would be alarmist to say that we have a “police state” in Belize one can see characteristics of a police state gradually creeping into the criminal justice system and the laws are in place to make it hap-pen. Already our police can stop, search and detain any person that they suspect. Already they can use lethal force to shoot suspects. They can cordon off areas of the city and control the movement of citizens in and out. They can arrest persons on suspicion and gather the evidence af-terwards. They can rush the accused through a “quick trial court” without them having access to legal repre-sentation. They can remand a pris-oner for over a year without bringing him to trial. They can sentence the convicted to long sentences of fi fteen to twenty years without them having access to legal representation. These are the characteristics we associate

with draconian police state control where the innocent have to prove they are innocent or they could be hauled away to detention. There is one other aspect of this “guilty till proven innocent” scenario that needs our attention in Belize and that is the role of the media when an arrest is made. It’s not uncommon to see arrested persons covering their face when taken to court because the stigma of the arrest last longer than the actual guilt or innocence of the charge itself. In fact, being found not guilty means nothing in such a sce-nario. When “if da noh soh, da nealy soh” kicks in it is assumed that there would not have been an arrest in the fi rst place if there wasn’t cause to be-lieve there was guilt. There is a campaign currently be-ing waged in the US called the “In-nocence Project” where persons who had been found guilty and convicted, some to death, have been found in-nocent through new DNA evidence. Some of these innocent persons have spent as much as 30 years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit are now being released. This campaign to free the innocent is gradually tak-ing on a great interest in the US as Americans become increasing aware that the state is not always right in its presentation of evidence to convict arrested persons. Many of these laws that the Bar-row government has implemented which violate the basic precept of in-nocence until proof of guilt will have to be amended when a new more hu-man rights conscious government re-turns to Belmopan. (Comments wel-comed at nuribze@gmail.com).

Sarteneja fi sherman sentenced to 20 years

In the Supreme Court last Friday, Justice Adolph Lucas sentenced 33 year old Marcos Moh to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter regarding the shooting death of Kirk Smith on October 10th 2008. Smith was shot multiple times with an AK-47 at the hands of the accused at a fi sh-ing camp operated by Moh located about two to three miles out of Turneff Island. Moh, a fi sherman from Sarteneja, surprized Smith and his two companions diving down into his camp to steal the lobsters from his traps. Moh then gave the police a caution statement and took police to a location near his camp where he showed police the AK-47 fi rearm he used to kill

Smith. He was originally charged with murder but on October 14th he plead guilty to the charge of manslaughter and sentencing was fi nally handed down last Friday. Yohhanseh Cave, Senior Crown Counsel, represented the prosecu-tion, while Moh was defended by Senior Counsel Simeon Sampson. Emmanuel Depaz, a fi sherman from Sarteneja, and Ramon Reyes of Caye Caulker were called in as character witnesses and both told the court that Moh had never got-ten into previous problems noting that they knew him as a hardwork-ing and respectable person, with a family to feed. Defence Attorney Sampson had asked for a sentence of between 10 and 15 years, but Justice Lucas handed down a twenty years sen-tence instead.

In related news, in the Court of Justice Herbert Lord, thirty four year old Ted Armstrong was sen-tenced to twelve years in prison apart from the four years he has already served after he was found guilty of manslaughter regard-ing the stabbing-death of Jerome Longsworth which occurred on July 14th 2006 in the area of Hat-tieville. Ted Armstrong and his sis-ter Rosita Armstrong had an argu-ment and altercation at their home and Longsworth intervened. Ted Armstrong stabbed Longsworth in the left side of his neck with the scissors. Armstong who was tried for mur-der in this case was found not-guilty but guilty of manslaughter instead. The sentence takes effect from October 20th the date when Armstrong was convicted.

November 7th , 2010Page 14

SCA girls blow away Canaan High girls 57-15 in CSSSA basketball

Belize City, November 2, 2010

The St Catherine’s Academy girls blew away the Canaan 7th Day Adventist High School girls 57-15 when the Central Secondary Schools Sports Association CSSSA basketball competition began at the Belize City Center on Tuesday, November 2.SCA’s Kursha Pollard scored the fi rst lay-up over easy and tossed in 3 more buckets in the 1st quarter, while Gilda Estrada added another 7pts, Chelsi Noralez chipped in 3pts and Kafi ra Gill added a bucket. Canaan High’s Jehaud Broaster led her squad with 5pts and Nicole Diego added a bucket, but the SCA girls were up 20-7 at the end of the 1st quarter. Kursha added 8pts more in the 2nd quarter, Gilda added tossed in another bucket, while

the SCA girls chopping and stealing the ball forced the Canaan high girls to commit so many turnovers that they were completely shut-down, while the SCA girls romped to a 30-7 lead at the half time break.Chelsi Noralez scored 3pts more in the 3rd quarter, Kursha added 6pts more, and Gilda and Kafi ra each tossed in a bucket each to lead 43-9 the end of the 3rd quarter when only Nicole Diego scored a bucket for the Canaan girls.The SCA bench players got some court time in the 4th quarter, and Renata Samuels and Sahar Vasquez scored a bucket each, while Kursha, Gilda, and Kafi ra each added a bucket for the 57-15 beat down. Nicole Diego and Rochelle Garcia scored the Canaan High girls’ last 2 buckets. Kursha Pollard top-scored the game with 24pts, while Gilda Estrada scored 13pts and Kafi ra Gill and Chelsi No-ralez scored 6pts each.

San Felipe Barcelona drills San Pedro Seadogs 3-2 win in BPFL footballOrange Walk, October 31, 2010

San Felipe Barcelona now rank 3rd in the Belize Premier Foot-ball League after they posted their 3rd win 3-2 against the cel-lar dwellers, the San Pedro Sea Dogs, in Week 7 of the BPFL competition at the People’s Sta-dium in Orange Walk on Sunday.Oscar Acevedo and Everardo Cruz led the San Felipe attacks with the help of Jaziz Wicab and Eduardo Morales on the wings, and the Sea Dogs defenders San Pedro’s Jason Sutherland, Melvin Jonse, and Thomas Baptist tried to keep them in check. But when the ball rebounded back out to Hon-duran import Erick Rodriguez, he wasted no time in blasting it back in and the Sea Dogs’ goalie Richard Mckoy had no chance as the San Felipe squad led 1-zip in the 2nd minute of the ball game.The Sea Dogs counterattacked, with Kenny “Maestro” Witzil Leoli Jurado, Francisco No-ralez and Hector Hernandez making little impression on the San Felipe defenders led by team captain Jose Luis Ca-wich, and Hipolito Andrade,

Joel Padron and Luis Acevedo. The Sea Dogs’ dogged persis-tence fi nally paid off in the 18th minute when Leoli Jurado blasted in a shot that defl ected off Hi-polito Andrade and into goal to tie the ball game at 1-1. Angel Cantun replaced entered the ball game to relieve Jurado and the fi re went out of the Sea Dogs’ at-tack. Hipolito Andrade gave the San Felipe squad a 2-1 lead when he connected with an aerial pass from Oscar Acevedo to embarrass goalie Mckoy for a 2nd time as

the San Felipe squad secured their 2-1 lead up to the half time break.The Sea Dogs pressed for the equalizer in the 2nd half, and the pressure of midfi elders Kent Gabourel, Melvin Almendarez and Demar Valladarez’s attacks caused Jose Cawich to goof with a foul that got him sent off the pitch.This left the San Felipe squad play-ing with only 10 men but they wer still dangerous as Oscar Acevedo proved when he razzle-dazzled his way through the Sea dogs’ de-fenders to embarrass Mckoy a 3rd tiem to lead 3-1 in the 49th minute.Sea Dogs’ coach Hugo Pineda in-troduced Abimael “Chino” Trejo and Christian Rivero to the ball game, relieving Melvin Alm-endarez and Francisco Noralez, and Kenny Witzil penetrated the San Felipe defnse to blast a 2nd goal past goalie Bryan Hernan-dez in the 65th minute of play.The Sea Dogs now sought to equalize and salvage a draw out of the jaws of defeat, but it was not to be, Hernandez stopped 3 shots on goal in quick fi re succes-sion to shut them out and secure the 3-2 win at the long whistle.The undefeated Belize Defence

Force continue to lead the com-petition with 19pts, after posting their 6th win: 2-1 against FC Be-lize at the Norman Broaster Sta-dium on Sunday. David Trapp scored the BDF’s fi rst goal in the 31st minute of play to lead 1-0 at the half time break, but FC Be-lize’s Nigerian import Christian Okonkwo delivered the equal-izer in the 80th minute. It fell to Danny Jimenez to scored the game winner in the 93rd min-ute. FC Belize remains in the No.2 spot in the league rankings with 14 pts from 4 wins and 2 draws.The Belmopan Blaze posted their 2nd win to move up to No.5 with 8pts above Toledo Ambassadors after Leon “Lem” Jones drilled Hankook Verdes 2-0 in the 26th and 32nd minutes at the Isidoro Beaton Stadium in Belmopan on Saturday night. This weekend Verdes host Toledo Ambassadors at the Marshalleck “Cancha” on Saturday night, FC Belize visits the Sea Dogs at the Ambergris Stadium, San Felipe hosts Belmopan Blaze at the Peo-ple’s Stadium and the BDF will host the Griga United at the Nor-man Broaster Stadium.

November 7th , 2010 Page 15

November 7th , 2010Page 16

Dead man walking...I was not surprised that Dean Bar-row had hurried back to town two days before he had planned to, be-cause to paraphrase the old coun-try and western song, he had just learned a few cold hard facts of life. Barrow, I suppose, had gotten uncomfortable with the Barbadian media asking him what the heck he was doing there when his country had just been hit by a hurricane. He no doubt also wished to avoid the discomfi ture of having to explain to the Barbadians why he had in ef-fect given native son ex-President of the Belize Court of Appeals, but now Dr. Elliot Mottley, the order of the boot from the Belize bench.Barrow I am told, claimed that he returned to Belize because Hurri-cane Tomas’ passage near Barba-dos had made living in his hotel room uncomfortable. (I won’t even comment on the ironies that arise from that!)Meanwhile back home, all hell was again breaking loose. The relief ef-fort had been effectively stalled by the UDP’s penchant for political tribalism and characteristic incom-petence, and the unions and busi-ness community had just served him their separation papers.His efforts at relief fundraising was hardly as effective as he had imag-ined, and whatever sympathy curve that had been there for Belize, and had not been fl attened by compas-sion fatigue due to the all out effort for Haiti, had trended downwards by the low-ball damage estimates, and was just about extinguished by the wayward passage of Tomas across the Windward’s.I had wondered why Barrow had decided to abscond from Belize for a full week of seven days in a time when political posturing opportu-nities abounded. Then there was the deduction that his deputy prime minister and deputy party leader Gaspar “Don Gapi” Vega and his party chairman Patrick Faber were also out of the country without explanation, since the eminently bumbling Carlos Perdomo was act-ing Prime Minister. WTF?!? (And yes, I don’t mean Wednesday, Thursday, Friday ei-ther). But then the balls started to drop one by one.First we learned that the tooth-less Belize Police Department had detained and handed over to the US DEA, a high level Zeta Cartel leader who had been quietly living, with his family, in western Belize for over a year. Obviously some-body knew that this guy was here, and they were prepared to let him enjoy the Jewel, even though right across the border in the Peten, the Zeta cartel is wreaking fear and death into the authorities there.And then we learned that Carlos

had “bravely” signed an expulsion order which had resulted in the rendition of Ottoniel Turcuis Mar-roquin to New York to face drug traffi cking charges. I bet that if Carlos had had time to think about it, he would’ve much preferred that the brave Mr. Barrow, or better yet, the honourable deputy prime min-ister had signed that order. If I am to judge by the Zeta’s rep-utation as one of the most mur-derous outfi ts in hemisphere one cannot help but wonder if Carlos didn’t just put himself on the en-dangered species list courtesy of his signature.But then we learned that Carlos’ political career was also being ex-tinguished. Biff, biff, bap, a quick three punch combination has been delivered with admirable precision and in less than a week.First early Monday morning a leaked Cabinet Confi dential In-formation Paper details a plan prepared by Carlos’ Ministry of Defence and Immigration for an amnesty that is guaranteed to en-rage Belizeans of all ethnicity. It is breath-taking in its audacity since it proposes to produce what are 20,000 new voters in a mere three months. Now, now, you know that only Cabinet members can leak Cabinet papers.Then despite a deal with upstart city councilor Roger Espejo that he would not challenge him, we learned on Tuesday night that Es-pejo had beat the October 31st

deadline and signed up to do ex-actly that.An obviously hurt and bewildered Carlos complained to Channel Sev-en News: “I mean I’ve been around a long time and we welcome the challenge but we are a little disap-pointed because he had promised that he wouldn’t, and then all of a sudden he did. So again I go back to motive you know?”The motive, Carlos, was play-ing out at almost the same time on Channel Five News where you were being nailed via leaked docu-ments as chief facilitator on the latest immigration scam/scandal. Somebody wants you out and those “somebodys” are the people who run things in the United Democrat-ic Party.You should know these things well, senor, after all you were part of the conspiracy that put the knife in Os-car Ayuso’s back. And in the fi nal set piece you don’t have to wonder who and why: se-lective UDP’s are talking about the tensions in your family company, the houses being built, the trips with your Buttonwood Bay driver to Roses …Yes, Carlos just remember, this isthe UDP, not the PUP, we know who you are.

Mexican narcos gain foot-hold in Guatemalan junglePublished on October 29, 2010

Soldiers guard along the streets of Flores, Guatemala, October 23, 2010. They have reason to wonder who is better armed: Soldiers or narcos?

Soldiers guard along the streets of Flores, Guatemala, October 23,

EL REMATE, Guatemala-- The Pe-ten jungle, once known for its jaguars and Mayan ruins, has fallen prey to a notorious Mexican drug gang that operates from remote jungle ranches and has begun openly challenging Guatemalan security forces for con-trol of the roads. The struggle that’s under way in this remote region could help determine the fate of Guatemala, a fragile democracy south of Mexico that’s already under enormous pres-sure from narcotics gangs. It’s certain to affect Mexico, which is struggling to maintain order against powerful armed gangs on its northern borders.In a fi erce clash that began south of the famous Tikal ruins, the drug gang known as Los Zetas, based in Mexi-co’s north-eastern border area and the Yucatan Peninsula, was able to outgun local police by deploying armoured-vehicles, bigger guns and far more ammunition. Then it fought a large army patrol to a draw, losing vehicles and taking wounded but apparently getting away with a stash of cocaine.The transformation of the once-pris-tine jungle into a no man’s land is the latest calamity to befall Guatemala, which has had a history of military domination; Guatemala’s newest dra-ma is getting little high-level attention in Washington. The recent confronta-tion between Los Zetas and the au-thorities began with a shouted warn-ing from a bullhorn and a wrong turn.Around midday on Oct. 5, when po-lice stopped a convoy of 16 or so big double-cabin pickups and other ve-hicles a short drive south of the Ti-kal National Park, an amplifi ed voice from one vehicle barked a warning:“We are Los Zetas! Let us pass. We don’t want problems.”To make their point, several men car-rying assault rifl es got out of the ve-hicles and fi red hundreds of rounds into the air in a deafening display of fi repower. To describe the police as alarmed is an understatement. “If you have an M16 rifl e, and all I have is a 9 mm pistol, and you have 10 other guys behind you, I won’t mess with you,” said local police Sub-Inspector Oscar Bertruin, who was at the scene.The police let the convoy pass, then called for help from the army, accord-ing to the accounts of several offi cers, nearly all of whom declined to give their names for fear of retaliation.

Los Zetas, a mercenary group found-ed by Mexican former special- forces troops who broke off early this year from the Gulf Cartel in northeast Mex-ico, is at the top of the criminal heap. As the two groups wage a turf war in their home region, the Zetas have con-tinued pushing into the eastern side of Central America, strengthening a cocaine pipeline from Colombia.A larger rival Mexican cartel, the Sinaloa Federation, report-edly focuses on a corridor along Central America’s Pacifi c coast.The State Department’s internation-al narcotics and law enforcement chief, David T. Johnson, said in a speech Oct. 5 that 275 tons of co-caine transited Guatemala each year, nearly all of it destined for the United States. Mexico is wary of the grow-ing trouble on its southern frontier.“If Guatemala goes down the drink, then Mexico is dealing with its north-ern and its southern borders. A major failure of democracy in Guatemala is going to directly impact Mexico City — resources, political capital, time, energy, human resources, ev-erything — and that negatively af-fects the United States,” said Samuel Logan, the regional manager for the Americas at iJet Intelligent Risk Systems. From a stronghold in the city of Coban, the mountain capital of Alto Verapaz a little to the south, the Zetas have been pushing into the Peten, appearing sometimes in sizable numbers, maneuvering at ease and with military discipline.The Zetas, striking up alliances with local drug clans, use a string of “narco-ranches” scattered deep in the Peten that are home to hundreds of dirt landing strips. In the remote Laguna del Tigre region, U.S. drug agents have spotted a “cemetery” where narcos abandon and torched aircraft after unloading cocaine from the Andes. Sometimes rival gangs battle for the cocaine or underlings steal from their bosses. A 43-year-old ranch owner, Giovanni Espana, reportedly stung the Zetas that way back in June. A commando squad executed him June 26, but the missing shipment never turned up.In early October, a Zetas contingent of some 80 to 90 heavily armed

Continued on page 17

November 7th , 2010 Page 17

men arrived at the Espana ranch near El Naranjo, where the slain rancher’s widow still resided, and used earth-moving machinery to dig for the dope. Later events in-dicate they might have found it. The Zetas convoy started traveling west toward Mexico on Oct. 5, when it bullied its way past the police. Then bad luck hit. The Mexicans got lost. At the eastern end of Pe-ten Itza Lake, they turned up a road toward the Mayan ruins of Tikal. It was after nightfall. They turned around, and were heading down a hill at the hamlet of El Capulinar when they ran into military units backed up by police, who’d been lent army assault rifles. For 10 to 15 minutes, a full-bore battle unfolded.

Some Zetas gunmen sprayed heavy fire at the soldiers, while others launched grenades. Still others shot flares into the sky so the Zetas could see soldiers using their vehicles as parapets. As the firefight ebbed, the Zetas caravan broke through the roadblock, with vehicles peel-ing off two by two, some of them with tires shot out, to leave pas-sage for key vehicles in the middle. At least five Zetas vehicles, all apparently armored, pierced the roadblock. Police now sus-pect that the vehicles trans-ported the recovered cocaine. The soldiers managed to immobi-lize 11 of the Zeta vehicles. Three people are known to have died. A soldier was among the wounded.

Mexican narcos gain foothold in Guatemalan jungle Continued from page 16

Was It a Case of Battered Child Syndrome? Mother of Deceased Says – “No”

Four Year Old Hidalia Maldonado Mother; Ysey MaldonadoRoaring Creek, Thurs. Nov. 4, 2010

There are conflicting reports re-garding the circumstances that lead to the death of four year old Hida-lia Jomany Maldonado of Roaring Creek Village in the Cayo District. The child, who her mother reports, fell from their upstairs house on Thursday is said to have died from battered child syndrome – after she was severely beaten over a period of time, at least that was the findings of police forensic examiner Dr. Mario Estradabran following his post mor-tem examination. Little Hidalia died around ten on Friday morning. Unconfirmed re-ports are that the child was severely beaten by her step-father only days before her untimely death. Police have not been able to corrobo-rate the report reportedly made by neighbors. Police forensic examiner, Dr. Ma-rio Estradabran, stated in his report that baby Hidalia died from “acute thrombosis of the heart due to sep-sis, chest and abdominal trauma due to battered child syndrome.” “After she fell everything was ok, she say that she didn’t have any pain. She only said that part of her face hurts and I saw that it was a little red, so I say that maybe it’s nothing,” Ysey Maldonado, the child’s mother said in a broadcast interview, disputing Dr. Estradab-ran’s findings.Hidalia’s mother claims that her

daughter fell down the stairs of the upstairs house on Thursday, and that later that night she started to vomit repeatedly. Still not alarmed by her daughter’s condition, Yesy Maldo-nado said that she decided would take the child to the hospital in Bel-mopan on Friday.Friday morning while she was giv-ing her baby a bath before taking her to the hospital, Hidalia fainted and her mother said that she called the police, pleading for help, because her daughter was “dying”. The po-lice took a long time to arrive there-fore she called a cab. By the time the cab arrived little Hidalia had succumbed. Her mother said that her daughter asked her to hug her as her life was slipping away. Maldonado vehemently denies that her daughter was beaten to death. She said that her boyfriend had dis-ciplined her on occasions by whip-ping her on her feet but had never severely beaten her. Still, one won-ders what would warrant a child that age to be beaten with a whip on her feet.Maldonado also claimed that baby Hidalia, her firstborn, was well be-haved and gave “no trouble”. Police say that a file on the matter has been delivered to the DPP and they’re awaiting instructions from her. So far there has been no reaction from the child protective agencies and services in Belize.

showing legitimate visa approv-als is an attempt to confuse the Belizean public” but the fact is they have already admitted that there have been illegal entries into Belize, and they have failed to prove that any of those that Channel 5 has put on the record are legitimate. Proof is simple. Where are these people? The attempt to distract from the real issue continues in the release conclusion which notes incon-gruously that “The Ministry of Defence and Immigration notes that it was reliably informed since Tuesday, November 2, 2010, that

Continued from page 4

Perdomo Knew of Chinese Visasan opposition political aspirant would be making a statement regarding the contents of the stolen official correspondences. Noteworthy is the fact that that person, Arthur Saldivar, is the lawyer representing some of the six Immigration Officers facing criminal charges. The Ministry views Channel 5’s reports as being twisted and mali-cious and condemns the attempt to confuse the Belizean public in an attempt to gain political mile-age.” As noted earlier in this article, Arthur Saldivar had already has his say the on October 12th and the last night. Obviously the Ministry is stumbling as it tries to head off this burgeoning scandal.

Secret amnesty proposal shocks BelizeansContinued from page 4

of 16) and only 3,000 children (at $100.00 per child). It would be much more reasonable to count at least the same number of children if not more. But what is even more glaring absent in the paper is the lack of justification for holding an am-nesty. There is no mention of any survey, any study, not even the still on-going census being con-ducted by the Statistical Institute. Belizeans are questioning the need for an amnesty, especially since the nationalization process has been accelerated under the current administration, and there are no provisions for those al-ready legally system, much less to fast-track their applications. Even more worrisome is the

relaxing of the requirements for residency, again without even an attempt at justification. Ap-plicants only need to “prove” to a temporarily hired “clerk” that they have been in Belize for two years, has a valid police record, is “endorsed” by almost anyone with a position or qualification (the proverbial lawyer, doctor, po-liceman, cook) and is able to pay the application fee (and stamp duty). Considering Belize’s already abysmal human trafficking re-cord, combined with the manifest nefarious intention of this regime to cling to power come what may, this is a scheme that flings to caution to the wind, and is wide open for abuse and all forms of perfidy. The cost could in the end be Belizean sovereignty.

No touch Miss OliveBelize City, Thurs. Nov. 4Zi Zohng Ming, 50, a Chinese business man and nationalized Belizean, appeared in court today to answer charges of indecent as-sault.Our reports are that the charges arose out of an incident at his busi-ness, Tommy’s Wholesale situated on Central American Boulevard, yesterday November 3rd, when it is alleged that Ming groped popular restaurateur Olive Leslie, 58. Through his interpreter Lee Mark Chang, Ming pleaded not guilty and was released on bail of $3000, plus one surety and on the con-ditions that he not does interfere with the prosecution’s witnesses.The trial date was set for Decem-ber16th.

Flight Attendant Murdered

Maria Plaza, the thirty-seven year old Spanish flight attendant that was reported missing in San Pedro Town last Sunday was found around 3:00 pm on Tuesday. Her bruised, half-nude body was dis-covered in yard in the busy down town area less than a mile from her hotel, Corona Del Mar. Police say they are still trying to deter-mine the motive behind her death. According to police sources, they have taken two persons into custody for questioning but are no closer to solving the murder. Plaza was alive up til about mid day on Sunday when she confirmed her flight out of the island. A witness say she was seen with a caucasion man walking not too far from where here body was discovered.Plaza was a flight attendant with Maya Island Air Regional and she

came into Belize City last Friday and decided to spend the weekend in San Pedro,Ambergris Caye. Colleagues got worried when she did not turn up Saunday after-noon to catch her flight out of the island. Police and employees of Maya Islad Air launched a search throughout the island.

November 7th , 2010Page 18 November 7th , 2010

BirthsJakim Vance to Kirkland Henry Smith andCandice Smith nee SoutarEllis Jane to Jonathan Wesley Bjorgen and Mellisa Lynn Bjorgen nee WilsonJayla Alexandria to Jason Alexander Reneau and Sheila Camile Reneau nee CainAshanee Rebecca to Deshaun Richard and Tanya Therese Sosa nee PollardColton to George and Katharina Friesen nee KlassenGabrielle to Darrell and Julie Bradley nee EllisRaneera Clara to Rafael Alexander and Annette Ann Caliz nee RamirezZahara Alexandria to Maynor Alexander and Vicky Stephany Paz nee Cawich

MarriagesNoel Francisco Alamina, 41 to Yanet Juarez, 26 both of Caye Caulker, BelizeElvis Felipe Garcia to Leonela Estrella Perez both of Guinea Grass, Orange WalkJoselito Karel Garcia to Brenda Massiel Garcia both of Guinea Grass, Orange WalkAntonio Benigno Copo to Nely Elizabeth Montalban both of Fireburn, Orange WalkMiguel Angel Perez Jr. to Emelda Veronica Yah both of Belmopan, CayoWayne Phillip Francis to Una Ann Mary Fitzgibbon both of Belize CityRennon Linberth Pandy to Samantha Leticia Moody both of Northern Highway, Belize William Jose Estrada Alvarado to marla Lucille Pratt both of Belize CitySteven Melarao David to Vera Michele Lock both of Phoenic, Arizona, USAXiyuan He to Yan Qin Lin both of Corozal Town, CorozalMartin Segura of Santa Elena, Cayo to Azalee Kinberly Warrior of San Ignacio, CayoPhilip Henry Tate of Belmopan, Cayo to Marcene Yvonne Coleman of Belize CityJenaro Roman Reyes to Dianery Damary Santoya both of Ladyville, BelizeRafael Auriano Ramos of Belmopan, Cayo to Lendy Lizzanie Cowo of Santa Clara, CorozalJoel Neftali Cruz of Corozal Town, Corozal to Dilcia Damiri Bonilla of San Narciso, CorozalStephen George Ladd of pacifi c Washington, USA to Virginia Elizabeth Phelan of Los Angeles, California, USAEverildo Amani Reyes to Taniery Tamara Flores both of Sarteneja, CorozalJoel Evaristo Casanove of Chunox, Corozal to Lorena Melissa Flores of Copper Bank, CorozalRoland John Flath to Vilma Florildma Ramirez Vasquez both of Copper Bank, CorozalJian Chang Chen to Zong Rong Huang both of Corozal Town, CorozalPeter Michael Iwaskiewych of Corozal Town, Corozal to Helen Carolina Martinez of Trial farm, orange WalkBenito Castaneda to Rocilli Arleni Keme both of San Narciso, CorozalKirk Monima to Delmy Indiany Bey both of Xaibe, CorozalRene Villanueva to Iris Yiselle Yah both of San Narciso, CorozalDoyle Lee Wesley Jr. to Maria Teresa Lopez Leguizamo both of Corozal Town, CorozalOrlando Silvester William to Hilaria Canabas both of Lord’s Bank, BelizeBryan Michael Sears of Sarteneja, Corozal to Lucilla Hilaria Teck of Copper Bank, CorozalMiguel pan to Abrelia Chun both of Dolores, ToledoCalistro Saki to Ihiginia Cal both of Punta Gorda, ToledoJuan Choc of Indian Creek, Toledo to Rymonda Ack of Laguna, ToledoHerberto Jaime Shol of San Pedro Columbia, Toledo to Diana Cho of Maya Mopan, Stann CreekEdward Alexander Bochub to Rhoda Henra Flores both of HOpeville, ToledoSebanias Reyes Choc to Carolina Elisa Choc both of Corazon Creek, ToledoJuan Pop to Olivia Chun-Asig both of San Vicente, ToledoRoberto Luis Vairez of Cattle Landing Toledo to Fedelis Crescencia San-chez of Punta Gorda, Toledo

Deaths

Mariw Anette Gabourel, 68Keith Stanley Nichoolas, 29Mark Anthony Vernon, 44Mariana Bennet, 87Christopher Nahum Galvez, 23

Loice Leonie Martinez, 77Alton Rudolph Bradley, 66Diana Flores, 31Albert Hamid Musa, 74Gwendolyn Wilhelmina Lindo, 77

Aries-If you’re accused of selfi shness at some point in the fi rst half of the week -- or if it suddenly dawns on you that you’re being selfi sh -- the easiest fi x is to turn the glow of your attention onto someone else. Think about them. Do them a favour they didn’t ask for. Be charming. By Thursday, you register your own growth as a person. It’s a slow process, a lifelong process.

Taurus-There isn’t anything particularly unusual about Monday, Tues-day or Wednesday, but something wonderful is defi nitely afoot. It’s a feeling. The everyday stuff seems fascinating. Your friends are funnier than ever. Your attachment to them is so strong that on Thursday, when you have coffee or dinner with one friend, another may become jealous. This kind of jealousy is ridiculous, but it speaks to how much you adore one another.

Gemini-Communication, usually your strong suit, fails you somewhat this week -- but mostly with people you know well. If you’re dating, you might not even notice the change, but if you’re serious with someone, expect a bit of confusion until you can get it all settled. By Thursday, your good energy should be back in full force, and you ought to be able to have a good time doing almost anything. Cancer-The fi rst few days of the week lend themselves well to com-munication of all types, from asking out new people to hashing out bathroom rights with long-term partners. You know what you want and how to ask for it -- and you also know how and when to compromise. Your home is especially important to you on Thursday and Friday, and this could make you a bit defensive if the wrong issue pops up at the wrong time. You’ve got plenty of good energy this weekend.

Leo-’You plus friends’ is a winning combination this week whether it’s you or them or something in the air that none of you has anything to do with, you seem almost psychically connected this week. Your romantic life is active, too. Your needs are being met in just about every realm. It’s only natural that on Thursday you begin to think deeply about this state of happiness, such as where it comes from and how to maintain it.. Virgo-If you’re going to the store at the start of the week, bring a friend. Your shopping is best done with a partner right now. You may need some advice, or you may go in on a big purchase together. The benefi ts of the shopping excursion also may have nothing to do with the shopping itself. A conversation on about the difference between the things you want and the things you need haunts you. Libra-You’ll blush so many times this week that someone may ask you (jokingly) if you’re having an allergic reaction to something. What is it that makes everyone want to fl irt with you right now? Is it your sly smile? Your shoes? Your social life is in tip-top shape until around Thursday, when work woes weigh you down. Business matters fi gure strongly on Friday as well. Maybe you’re making up for all that time you spent in coffee shops earlier in the week. Scorpio-A secret that means a lot to you makes the fi rst few days of the week a little extra special for you and one other person. It could be that you need to share it to gain the maximum benefi t, though! You fi nd decision-making a bit more diffi cult than usual Thursday and Friday, but it’s not like you’ll be expected to make any big, dramatic calls any time soon. Your intense energy makes the weekend a blast for you. Sagittarius-A boss or teacher, or maybe even a parent, is going to get be-tween you and your love life this week, but there’s no use fi ghting it quite yet. Sometimes you just have to accept setbacks as part of the give-and-take of love. While your feelings simmer, it might be a good time to prepare yourself for a date or encounter you’re looking forward to -- this is one of those situations when thinking ahead really will help! By the weekend, your emotional energy starts to fl ood back, and your dreams almost certainly bring clues about what to do next.

Capricorn- You’re well aware of what everyone else thinks. The pressing question this week is: What do you think? There couldn’t be a better period of time to initiate new projects than Tuesday and Wednesday. But if you’re unclear on what you want, how will you get it? What should the shape of your next project be? Friends might help you with this. Pay someone a visit on Thursday - go for a walk or possibly bowling - and talk it through.

Aquarius-Your new ally may come in a funny disguise at the start of the week. It may be a zombie outfi t or a pumpkin costume. Halloween may be over, but everyone’s still wearing some kind of mask right now. Go outside of your comfort zone and try to connect with someone you almost assuredly have noth-ing in common with; you may be surprised how wrong you are. The energy you get from this burgeoning friendship will have you buzzing because you’re required to say something in front of a group, which has you completely nervous.

Pisces- You’re all about your relationships early this week, and that includes more than just romance. Of course, you may want to pay a little extra attention to your date or sweetie, because you should get the clue you’ve been waiting for regarding what to do next. If you’ve been seeing someone for a while, small problems might pop up on Thurs-day or Friday that seem considerably worse than they really are.

November 7th , 2010 Page 19

HEAlTHY LIVING

Gestational Diabetes - Overview What is gestational diabetes?If your blood sugar level fi rst be-comes too high when you are preg-nant, you have gestational diabetes. It usually goes back to normal after the baby is born. High blood sugar can cause problems for you and your baby. Your baby may grow too large, which can cause problems during de-livery. Your baby may also be born with low blood sugar. But with treat-ment, most women who have ges-tational diabetes are able to control their blood sugar and give birth to healthy babies. Women who have had gestational diabetes are more likely than other women to develop type 2 diabetes later on. You may be able to prevent or reduce the severity of type 2 diabetes by staying at a healthy weight, eating healthy foods, and in-creasing your physical activity.What causes gesta-tional diabetes?The pancreas makes a hormone called insulin. Insulin helps your body properly use and store the sugar from the food you eat. This keeps your blood sugar level in at-arget range. When you are preg-nant, the placenta makes hormones that can make it harder for insulin to work. This is called insulin resis-tance. A pregnant woman can get dia-betes when her pancreas cannot make enough insulin to keep her blood sug-ar levels within a target range.

What are the symp-toms?Because gestational diabetes may not cause symptoms, you need to be tested for the condition. This is usually done between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy.1You may be surprised if your test shows a high blood sugar. It is important for you to be tested for gestational diabetes, because high blood sugar can cause problems for both you and your baby. Sometimes a pregnant woman who has symp-toms has been living with another type of diabetes without knowing it. If you have symptoms from another type of diabetes, they may include: ncreased thirst, Increased urination, Increased hunger, Blurred vision.Pregnancy causes most women to urinate more often and to feel more hungry. So having these symptoms does not always mean that a woman has diabetes. Talk with your doctor

if you have these symptoms, so that you can be tested for diabetes at any time during pregnancy.

How is gestational diabetes diagnosed?Almost all women are tested for ges-tational diabetes between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy. If your doctor thinks you are more likely to get gestational diabetes, you may be tested earlier. Gestational diabetes is diagnosed with two blood tests. In the fi rst test, your blood sugar level is tested 1 hour after you drink a small cup of a sweet liquid. If your blood sugar is too high, you will need to do a longer, 3-hour glucose test. If your blood sugar goes above a certain lev-el, you have gestational diabetes.

How is it treated?Some women with gestational dia-betes can control their blood sugar level by changing the way they eat and by exercising regularly. These healthy choices can also help prevent gestational diabetes in future preg-nancies and type 2 diabetes later in life. Treatment for gestational dia-betes also includes checking your blood sugar level at home and seeing your doctor regularly. You may need to give yourself insulin shots to help control your blood sugar. This man-made insulin adds to the insulin that your body makes.Home TreatmentYou are the most important person in determining whether you will have a healthy pregnancy. Gestational diabetes, like any form of diabetes, cannot be successfully treated with medicines alone. Your doctor, diabe-tes nurse educator, registered dieti-tian, and other health professionals

can help you learn how to care for yourself and protect your baby from problems. If you learn as much as you can about gestational diabetes, you will have the knowledge you need to have a healthy pregnancy. As you understand how food and exer-cise affect your blood sugar, you can better control your blood sugar level and help prevent problems from ges-tational diabetes. Home treatment for gestational diabetes includes chang-ing the way you eat, exercising regu-larly, and checking your blood sugar.

Eating healthy foodsChanging what, when, and how much you eat can help keep your blood sugar level within a target range. After you are diagnosed with gesta-tional diabetes, you will meet with a registered dietitian to decide on an individualized healthy eating plan. Your dietitian may ask you to write down everything you eat and to keep track of your weight. He or she will also teach you how to count carbohy-drate in order to spread carbohydrate throughout the day. For more infor-mation, see:

Getting regular exerciseRegular, moderate exercise during pregnancy helps your body use insu-lin better, which helps control your blood sugar level. Often, exercising and eating well can treat gestational diabetes. Try to do at least 2½ hours a week of moderate exercise.4, 5 One way to do this is to be active 30 min-utes a day, at least 5 days a week. It’s fi ne to be active in blocks of 10 min-utes or more throughout your day and week. If you have never exercised regularly or were not exercising be-fore you became pregnant, talk with your doctor before you start exercis-ing. Exercise that does not place too

much stress on your lower body-such as using an arm ergometer, a machine that just works your arm muscles; or riding a recumbent bicycle, a type of bike with a seat that looks like a chair-are especially good for preg-nant women. You may also want to try special exercise classes for preg-nant women or other low-impact ac-tivities such as swimming or walk-ing. If exercise and changing the way you eat keep your blood sugar within a target range, you will not need to take insulin. If you do need to take insulin, make sure you have a quick-sugar food with you when you ex-ercise in case you have symptoms of low blood sugar. If you think that your blood sugar is low, stop exercis-ing, check your blood sugar level, and eat the snack.

Checking your blood sugarAn important part of treating gesta-tional diabetes is checking your blood sugar level at home. Every day, you will do a home blood sugar test one or more times. It may be overwhelm-ing to test your blood sugar so often. But knowing that your level is within a target range can help put your mind at ease. Talk to your doctor about how often to test your blood sugar.

Other aspects of your careIf changing the way you eat and exer-cising do not control your blood sug-ar level, you may need to take daily insulin shots.If you were overweight before you became pregnant, do not try to lose weight while you are pregnant. Ask your doctor how much weight you should gain during your pregnancy.Your doctor may have you check kick counts and let him or her know if you think your baby has been moving less than usual. Most pregnant women can feel their baby move after the 18th week of pregnancy. Normally, a baby moves several times during the day. If you don’t feel movement for what seems like a long time, lie on your left side for 30 minutes or longer. If you don’t feel movement within 2 hours, call your doctor. If you take insulin, it can cause your blood sugar to drop below the target range. Even though very low blood sugar is rare in wom-en who have gestational diabetes, it is important to know the symptoms of low blood sugar and have quick-sugar foods with you at all times. Got News, call us628-3215

November 7th , 2010Page 20

SSB Mortgages Belizeans Future !!

VOTED ALONG POLITICAL LINES WHY THE RUSH??

THEY VOWED TO HAVE THEIR WAY

It’s your Money... Your Retirement!

SSB Chairman Lois Young Barrow Ariel Mitchell, Political Appointee

Dennis Jones, Political Appointee Paul Jones, Political Appointee

POLITICAL CRONIES

Risky $50 Million dollars Investment

Risky $50 Million dollars Investment

Unions: What’s � e Rush Business: No Trust this investment

Voted to protect your money

Protecting the Belizean Worker

Dylan Reneau Mark Lizarraga

Ms Elena Smith Ms Lourdes Smith

Is Barrow’s Agenda the People’s Agenda?Where is the Transparency and Accountability?