star 123 a - belize newsbelizenews.com/thestar/cayostar123.pdf · 2007-10-13 · marvin geovannie...

Sunday, 12th August 2007 STAR Tel: 667-7827 Email: [email protected] Page 2 STAR Tel: 667-7827 Email: [email protected] Sunday, 29th July 2007

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No. 123 Sunday, 12th August 2007 Price $1.00

FREE DANCE

SANTA ELENA TOWN, CayoDistrict, Friday, 10th August, 2007: Another Santa Elena family is stillgrieving the loss of a loved one whowas shot down in the very prime ofhis life. The tragedy becomes even moreburdensome for the family whenthose close to the investigation areopenly saying that the evidencegathered so far is seriously leadinginvestigators to believe that the fatalshot that ended his life could havebeen fired by one of his own brothers. It was during the evening hours onSaturday, 4th August 2007, a merethree days before his 18th birthday,that Marvin Geovannie “Bip”Echeverria, 17, received a single

gunshot wound which ended hisyoung life. The youth was laid to rest onWednesday, 8th August, inside Santa

Elena’s Carmen Memorial Cemeteryafter a 3:00 p.m., funeral service atSt. Ignatius Church in Santa Elena. The legally required post mortemexamination has concluded thatMarvin “Bip” Echeverria died asa result of external and internalbleeding secondary to a single

incident with numerous stab woundsto various parts of the body. Theincident led to the arrest of oneHerson Chavez, 19, Belizeanelectrician of a #137 WesternHighway address in Santa Elena. Alsoarrested in connection with theincident was George Galindo, 20,Belizean laborer of a Perez Street,Santa Elena address. The substantivecase has been adjourned and is nowscheduled to be heard on Monday,22nd October 2007. It was reportedly on the basis ofthis “old beef” that Gregory Garciaaccompanied by the Echeverriabrothers and about 20 - 25 boys fromtheir neighborhood, believed to bemembers of the New Area Crew(NAC), made a move on the Galindobrothers at their Perez Streetresidence at around 5:30 p.m. onSaturday, 4th August. Reports reaching us indicate thatDennis Castillo, MayroEcheverria, Ruben “Bengue -T”Echeverria and Gregory Garcia,all members of the NAC, entered thewhite picket fenced yard enclosing the

The deceased,Marvin Geovannie “Bip”

Echeverria, 17

Brother of the deceased,Ruben “Bengue -T” Echeverria, 25

Scenes of Crime Technician,Filiberto Pott

SANTA ELENA TOWN, Cayo,Thursday, 9th August 2007: It has been on cable television inthe San Ignacio/Santa Elena area forover 15 years and yesterday marksthe second consecutive Wednesdaythat the weekly Pandy Show has beenoff the air. Many were the calls coming into ouroffice requesting that we write aboutthis development. “We want you towrite about the pulling of thePandy Show plug” said one callerthis Thursday morning. In order to satisfy our readersrequest we invited the host of theshow, Kent Pandy, to chat with us onthe matter. He visited our officeduring the evening hours thisThursday and confirmed that the plug

was indeed pull by the owners of theCayo Cable Company. Pandy alleges

Kent Pandy, Host of the PandyShow. On the air since 1992

Please Turn To Page 2:


gunshot woundto the left sideof the pelviswhich exitedthrough theright side of thebuttocks. Reportsreaching usindicate thatS a t u r d a y ’ sconfrontation resulted from a 24th

February 2007 incident in which oneGregory Garcia, 17, Belizeanbarber of a Zaiden Street address inSanta Elena was at the Galindoresidence on Perez Street when a fightbroke out. Garcia emerged from that

Justin “Jay”Gordon, stabbed in

the exchange

STAR Tel: 667-7827 Email: [email protected] Sunday, 12th August 2007

residence of David “Mr. Bone”Young, stepfather of the Galindobrothers. When Mr. Bone emerged at thefront door, he reportedly came faceto face with Dennis Castillo who wasstanding a few paces in front of theother three persons which includedGregory Garcia to the right, Ruben“Bengue-T” Echeverria in the middle,and the eldest of the three Echeverriabrothers, Mayro to the far left, allstanding in line behind Castillo andfacing the blue cement bungalowstructure. Garcia and the twoEcheverria brothers were reportedlyall standing with their hands behindtheir backs. Since they just stoodthere in a threatening manner and didnot say a word; Mr. Bone, fearing forhis safety, stepped back into the houseand slammed the front door shut. Just as Mr. Bone closed the door,David Galindo, 22, the eldest of thetwo Galindo brothers appearedwith a bag of garbage from thebackyard. He deposited the bagon a garbage heap near the frontgate of the fenced yard andreportedly told the Echeverriabrothers to “rest it” as the beef hadalready been settled between hisyounger brother George and GregoryGarcia. While this was taking place, GeorgeGalindo, 20, was reportedly playingvideo games inside an upstairsstructure attached to the mainbungalow building.

Just as David Galindo was aboutto pass the intruders on his return tothe backyard after dumping thegarbage, they rushed towards him andthis was when David ran toward thebackyard. What actually transpired in thebackyard is rather sketchy becausethe Echeverria brothers are notsaying much as they continue to grievethe loss of their youngest brother. AllRueben could tell us is that we mustturn to the Bible and read Pslams 35where we will find any answer we mayneed. Our attempts to speak to theGalindo brothers were unsuccessfulas we were told that “they aregone”. They reportedly departed theneighborhood shortly after theirrelease from police custody. What we were able to ascertainhowever is that while David Galindoran toward the backyard, he waspursued by Castillo, Garcia and thetwo Echeverria brothers who by thistime were joined by their third brother,Marvin, as he had rushed in fromoutside where he initially was with thelarger group. The group that was gatheredoutside on the street then beganthrowing sticks and stones at theGalindo house and in the processmost of the glass louvers of a frontdouble window were broken. Shortly after David was chasedbehind the house, one witness saidthat two gunshots were heard –BAM- - - - -BAM - with about afive-second interval.

In the wake of the gunshots, thesituation intensified as quick wordbegan spreading that Marvin andBengue-T were hit. Marvin waspulled out of the yard and placed onthe side of Perez Street. Just as allthis was unfolding, Justin “Jay”Gordon, 18, was walking towards theGalindo residence when he wasspotted and identified as beingassociated with the Galindo brothers.Police are alleging that this was whenGregory Garcia reportedly handed aknife to Bengue-T who proceeded

to stab Gordon several times in theback. As Gordon fell to the groundthe attackers fled. Gordon thenmanaged to scramble to his feet andran into the Galindo yard for safety.He was then rushed to the San Ignaciohospital. The injured Marvin Echeverria alongwith Bengue-T was placed inside oneof the three vehicles that came on thescene earlier. Marvin accompanied byhis two brothers was rushed to theSan Ignacio Hospital with his sister

that he was not even given anopportunity of a last show to informhis many viewers of this development. “The show”, he said, “has beenairing on Channel 6. Thischannel was operates, on rentfrom the cable company, by theSilva family from Cahal PechVillage Resort. However, whenthe Silva’s family gave up thechannel on Tuesday, 31st July andI went in the following day to domy weekly Wednesday eveningshow, I was told by the owners ofthe cable company that therewould be no Pandy Show today.Cold like that.” The show which is uniquelypopular among children, and someadults, has been running since 1992.It started off when the cable companywas first owned by Ainslie Leslie; itcontinued when the company changedhands to Daniel Silva Jr. It evencontinued when the new owners, thePedro Lizarraga family took over. The show ran for over 13 years onChannel 3 but changed over to chan-nel 6 when the operators of BelizeTVChannel 3 began demanding to runtheir ads during the show. The hostsaid that he had no problems with therequest provided that he receives astipend for the use of his equipment.This arrangement did not go downwell with the private operators ofBelizeTV Channel 3 and so the PandyShow was booted off the channel. The show did not miss a beat as itmoved right over when the SilvaFamily rented Channel 6. Since thenBelizeTV has gone off the air and

might have relocated to Belmopanbut the Pandy show remained onChannel 6, that is, until the end of Julywhen the Silva family gave up thechannel. We tried to make contact with theprincipals from the Cayo CableCompany and were directed to“Adrian”, a member of theLizarraga family. Adrian told usthat the current disruption of thePandy show is nothing more than atemporary inconvenience as the cablecompany is in the process of rentingchannel 6 to another privateoperator. He said that the transactionshould be completed in about twoweeks after which the show shouldresume transmission. “The challenge” said Adrian is that“the cable company is currentlygoing through major changesgeared toward improving thequality of the service we provideand at the moment we have veryexpensive equipment in area.Since the operators of Channel 6are gone, and with no oneactually responsible at this time,we believe that it would not be awise decision on our part to leaveall these equipment unsecured.It’s not that we do not trust Pandywith the keys” said Adrian “Theproblem is that he often receivesvisitors in the area with all theseexpensive equipment around. Wehope to get this situation rectified.All we are asking is for Pandy tohave a little bit of patience andhopefully his show should be backon the air pretty soon.” concludedAdrian.

Continued From Front Page:

Continued From Front Page:

-The Scene Of The Crime -The Galindo Residence On Perez Street In Santa Elena, Cayo


Sunday, 12th August 2007 STAR Tel: 667-7827 Email: [email protected]

“The Newspaper that cares anddares to bring out the truth”

[email protected]: Alberto August

Editor: Nyani Azueta-AugustCirculation: Errol Gonzalez

STAR Newspaper,42A Western Highway Santa Elena Town,

Cayo District, Belize,Central America

Tel: 667-7827

STAR

NEWSPAPER

We AMS To Please

There is hardly any denying that,in terms of the crime and violencesituation, we are living in critical timesand critical times call for criticalaction. The prevailing crime situation hasgotten so much out of control that wehave now reached the point whereeven the ordinary man and woman onthe street is repeatedly calling for areturn of the death penalty. There is also a sense of frustrationon the part of senior political leadersas they continue to advocate for theabolition of the Privy Council. Infact just this past week, readerswere treated to none other than theMinister of Tourism, in his weeklywritings, referring to the PrivyCouncil as “The last vestige ofcolonialism”. There is hardly any denying also thatour small nation is blessed with anabundance of intelligent minds. It istherefore amazing how we have thusfar been unable to harness thesebrilliant minds with a view of finding alasting solution to the crime situationthat currently plagues our nation. Over the past several months wehave been hearing of one suchbrilliant mind in the person of Dr. ArliePetters. A mathematical scientist byprofession we are told, Dr. Petters isengaged in some undertakinginvolving a mathematical formula tomeasure the speed of light as ittravels through the universe and withsomething having to do with a blackhole. Mathematical formulas, weare also told, can be implemented tofind solutions to a wide arrange ofproblems and challenges. Why is it we ask, that we arenot tapping into Dr. Petters’mathematical expertise to assist usin coming up with a possiblemathematical solution to address thepressing challenge of lawlessnessplaguing our nation. Bringingcomputers and computer knowledgeto the children is by all meansimportant especially in light of the longterm benefit that can be derived fromthis undertaking but if the crime trendcontinues, the lives of these very samechildren will remain in danger. To the good Dr. we say, use yourexpertise to assist us with finding asolution to the crime and violencesituation in our country. Quite franklywe can hardly care if the solution ismathematical or non-mathematical innature. After we have addressed thispressing challenge we can then safelygo into computers and there mighteven be some of us who would besafe and comfortable to the pointwhere we might just have time to learnhow light travels through the universeand the black hole. In the current absence of expertassistance, we are duty bound to startfinding ways on our own to addressthis challenge. It is in this light that we

start off by asking: Why have we sofar been unable to make true thefamiliar saying that crime does notpay? This should be the point ofdeparture especially given theprevailing perception that crime payseven in some of those cases when thecriminal is caught; it pays even morewhen it goes undetected. Any police officer will tell you thatthey regularly see the trend of pettycriminals “graduating” as theyroutinely call it, from the commissionof petty offences to committingcapital crimes. The youth usually starts off byengaging in a little fist fight. He isarrested, convicted and ordered topay a fine. He is then released on thecourt’s order that the fine be paidwithin a specified period of time. Heignores the order and with thepassage of time it gets lost in thesystem. The same youth eventuallygraduates into using a knife in his nextviolent encounter. He is taken tocourt and by this time everyone hasforgotten about the previous courtorder and so he ends up with anotherfine, on top of the previous unpaidone. He does not honor the secondorder and by this time he begins tofeel like he is bigger than the courtitself. On his next encounter hegraduates into using a gun and BANGsomeone loses their life in theexchange. It is at this juncture wherewe now find ourselves calling for thereinstatement of the death penalty andthe abolition of the Privy Council aswe grapple to deal with cultivatedcriminal like these. There is hardly any denying thatin any business or relationship,chaos and confusion breedscorruption. There is a generalfeeling that the current system for therecording and collection of courtordered fines is in disarray with chaosand confusion reigning supreme,hence the reason why we are yet tosee a consorted and aggressive effortgeared towards collecting all thosetens, it not hundreds, of millions ofdollars in outstanding court fines. We might have not yet reached thestage of other developed countrieswhere our law enforcement officerscan walk to their patrol cars and puncha name into a computer therebyproducing a reading of unpaid courts

fines attached to that name. Why is ithowever that, in the absence of suchtechnology, we are not seeing our lawenforcement officers, instead ofpatrolling aimlessly, actually movingaround with a weekly printout of allthose persons with outstanding courtfines. Why are we so content in acceptingthe notion that like the customsand immigration branches of lawenforcement, our police cannot beequally converted into an income

By: godsman ellis, San Igancio,Wednesday, 8th August 2007: In the last National EnvironmentalAppraisal Committee, (NEAC)‘reshuffle’, BACONGO and wasnot included among the membershipof NEAC. This is an interesting developmentin view of the track record ofBACONGO on the Committee. Members of NEAC will attest thatthe BACONGO representativeshave always brought to theCommittee meetings very insightfulconcerns based on soundenvironmenta knowledge andresearch, which had enriched theimpact assessment process.However, in many instances this hasbeen perceived as unwarranteddissent, especially by the Governmentmajority members. Here is the ‘backlash’. TheNGO that was appointed toreplace BACONGO has writtenback to Department of theEnvironment to say, “No Thankyou.” They admit that theresponsibility is too much forthem. The NEAC has the responsibilityto do an in-depth study of alldevelopment proposals that mayimpact the Environmental ProtectionAct (EPA). The application forapproval of a development projectmust have an Environmental ImpactAssessment (EIA) study addressingthe physical, social and economicaspects of the proposed project as itaffects the local environment. Also, ifany damage is likely, what mitigationmeasures are proposed? It is this document which is broughtto the NEAC table. There is no limitto the size of the document, which mayrun up to more than a hundred pages.In addition, NEAC must do a sitevisit to the area of the proposedproject as an integral part of theappraisal process. NEAC may meet

more than one time in ensuring athorough study of a project proposal. At the end of the exercise NEACmakes a recommendation to theMinister of the Environment sayingwhy the proposal does or doesnot meet the EPA requirements.Sometimes a positive recommenda-tion may include an EnvironmentalCompliance Plan which the developermust abide by as a condition forapproval. Thirteen members comprise NEACof which eight are Government. It isnoted that in the ‘reshuffle’ one ofthe two appointees was not appointedrepresenting an NGO although thatindividual is an NGO member. Thisaction is in contravention of theRegulation (25 (2) (l) whichspecifically states otherwise. It is agreat concern that Government holdsa large majority, thus making it almostpredictable how the representativeswould vote on controversial projects.The EIA on Chalillo and that on AraMacao were examples. But the NGO’s and the public havenot been all quiet about the NEACprocess. BELPO has filed a SupremeCourt application charging theDepartment of Environment (DoE) forneglect of due diligence in carrying outits functions; the West Landivar Groupare pursuing a similar path against theDoE. It is clear that the DoE carries aheavy responsibility in the selection ofthe non-government members ofNEAC especially that they haveminority voting power. The argumentthat NEAC “needs new blood”cannot compensate for the loss ofmuch needed environmental-basedcontributions to the Committeemeetings. As one member says, “theterm is two years and it takes oneyear for a new member to find outwhat is going on”. BACONGOwill be watching what goes on inNEAC.

generating government departmentinstead of bordering on the side ofbeing a burdensome expense on thenation’s already scarce financialresources. Why is it for example, as anincentive for the police, we are notseeing the implementation ofsomething like an automatic 10%commission paid to policemen for thecollection of outstanding court fines.If this is not being done for fear that



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Continues From Page 3:government might lose revenue in theprocess, could there not then be aninstant incorporation of the 10%commission on all court fines inanticipation of a default in payment.Could not this 10% also be passedon all those persons who promptlypay their court fines? Yes, police officers will want tocollect the extra cash and so thiscomes with the accompanyinglikelihood of them being accused to“harassing” those individuals whoowe the court. This should take usright back to the original point “if youcan’t pay the fine, then don’t dothe crime” it’s as simple as that. An aggressive collection of courtfines could result in many of thoseconvicted criminals with unpaid courtbills going into hiding for fear of beingcaught and incarcerated therebyreducing the number of them roaming

the streets looking for trouble. Thiscould therefore serve as a selfimposed curfew on convictedcriminals. Furthermore, why is it today that wecontinuously hear of the policepicking up people and profiling them?Profiling them for what? The answerthat is readily given is that they arebeing profiled in the event that theyMIGHT commit a crime. Why onearth are we not profiling them todetermine if they owe court fines?Could it be that we are unable to doso because the court fine collectionsystem is saturated with chaos,confusion and corruption. Why is it for example that somepolice officers and even court officialsare having such a hard time in gettingthe court to write up and issue acommitment warrant for the detentionof these individuals who they knoware not paying their court fines? Couldit probably be that some of theseindividuals are in fact paying their finesbut these payments are not findingtheir way into government coffers.Could it be that those on the corruptside fear that the detention of theseindividuals could result in theproverbial s - - t hitting the fan? Oh yes, as the situation now stands,we do see policemen, especially at theincreasing number of check points onour highways, primarily engaged in thechecking for vehicular insurance.Who pays these policemen to performthis task? Every single one of uspays their salaries. We foot the billwhenever we pay income andproperty taxes. We pay themwhenever we buy at the grocery storeand the GST is added to all ourpurchases. We pay whenever we puteven that $5 worth of fuel in our tanks. Then we ask: Who benefits directlyfrom law enforcement officerschecking for insurance stickers?Simply put, the insurance companiesdo, hence the reason why today we

can see insurance companiesconstructing 3, 4 and even 5 storeyoffice complexes especially in andaround Belize City. Could this be thereason why insurance companies areblooming while the crime situationgets worse with every passing dayas our police officers continue tolook after the interest of insurancecompanies while neglecting their coreresponsibilities? Let’s not get confused here; ofcourse the possession of a validvehicular insurance is important andnecessary. However, we are living inserious times and serious timesdemand serious action. How difficult will it be, for example,to let every vehicle owner fullyunderstand that, for their personalbenefit, their vehicle insurance mustbe current at all times. And in the eventthat their uninsured vehicle becomesinvolved in a traffic accident for whichthey are found, by a competent courtof law, to be at fault, then the guiltyparty will be remanded to prison untilfull compensation is paid to theaggrieved party.

If the guilty party is unable toforthwith pay the compensationordered by the court, the court’s firstaction should be to order theimmediate sale of the vehicleregardless if it was not the actualowner driving at the time of theaccident The bottom line is that thevehicle should have never been on theroad in an uninsured state. Then inthe event that the sale of the vehicle,as a first resort, is not enough tocompensate for damages caused, thecourt should then be empowered toorder the sale of whatever propertythat individual may hold. The best bet is that few will be thosepersons who would want to drive anuninsured vehicle or loan theiruninsured vehicles to anyone for fearthat they could instantly end up losingtheir vehicle and any other possessionthey might have if they are unable tocompensate the victim due to theirirresponsible actions. These are but a few suggestionsdesigned to stimulate critical thinkingin these serious times in which we areliving.

SAN IGNACIO TOWN, Cayo,Monday, 6th August 2007: San Ignacio’s youth, CharlesMclean, is hitting the music scene ashe promotes his first positive messageCD entitled “Believe In The MostHigh - Peace Maker” which ispresently available at Venus Photo &Records on Hudson Street and BackTo My Roots Variety Store on BurnsAvenue in San Ignacio Town. The CD features 17 tracks bustingwith positive lyrics. According to thisyoung artist, the composition isintended to instill a sense of positivereality into the minds of everyone,including the young and the not soyoung, who listens to the message. “There is so much violence onthe streets of our cities, towns,villages and even in our veryhomes” says Mclean “Having usedmy talent for so many years in thepast to spread the worldly

message, I have come to therealization that the time is now forme to do my part in contributingtowards the effort at improving

the condition in my community,my country and maybe even theworld, and hopefully in theprocess making it a better andsafer place for all of us to live,work and play”. The music was composed,arranged and engineered by the artisthimself inside his personal studiolocated at his home on FlamingoAvenue in San Ignacio, Cayo. Theimpressive label was also createdsingle-handedly by the artist. The CD is currently on promotion

for $15 each at Venus Photo &Records and at Back To My Roots.It is also available from the artisthimself by calling 624-2569 or804-0238. If there are any other outlets thatwould like to carry the CD, pleasedo not hesitate to contact the artist atanytime. We encourage you to pick up acopy of “Believe In The MostHigh” as we show appreciation tothis young artist who, in thesechallenging times, is utilizing his talentsand youthful energies in a positiveway.


All Belizean Musicians are invited to enter this year’s Patriotic Song Competition in conjunction with the 26th Anniversary of Belize’s Independence and the 209th Anniversary of the Battle of St. George’s Caye song competition. The winning song will be

featured throughout the September Celebrations activities.

Rules & Regulations:• Contestants must be nationals of Belize.• The organizers, judges and their families are not eligible to enter the contest.• Topics can focus on St. George’s Caye day and/or Belize’s Independence.• Songs must be new and original pieces, created to instill patriotism and a sense of national pride. • Songs can be in any language but each entry must be

accompanied by its English translation.• Entry packages must include a lyrics sheet and an audio

recording for each song.• Professional recording are not required; tapes, CDs and

the lyrics sheets will not be returned to contestants.• All contestants selected by the panel of judges will be

required to perform a live rendition at the Finals.

Entries will be judged based on:

• Audience Appeal • Lyrical Content

• Musical Arrangement • Stage Presence

• Vocal Quality

P.O. Box 325, Belize City, Belize • Tel: 227-2420 Ext. 255 • Fax: 227-2423 • Website: http://www.septembercelebrations.com • Email: [email protected]

Announces its

Winner will receive:1st Place - $3000 and a Trophy2nd Place - $2000 and a Trophy3rd Place - $1000 and a Trophy

Entries should be submitted by August 25th to:

Chairman September Celebrations Committee P.O. Box 325

Belize City

Patriotic Song Competition

september celebrationsc o m m i t t e e

Tele: # 607-2277or 606-0058

Offering you qualityused clothing and shoes

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George Price Avenue,Santa Elena, Cayo.

Last Monday morning, a team ofSpecial Branch Talent Spotters wereat the Police Training Academy inBelmopan interviewing the top fiverecruits for possible posting to PoliceSpecial Branch. As each interview session came toan end, each recruits was given asealed envelope with instructions totake it over to the Office of the PrimeMinister. Four out of the five recruits walkedbriskly over to the Prime Minister’sOffice and delivered the packagesmartly. There was only one of the recruitswho, on his way over to the Prime

bathroom in the market area andopened the package. Inside the package he found amessage “You’ve got the job. Youare the kind of person thatSpecial Branch needs, abortthe mission to the PrimeMinister’s Office and report toSpecial Branch Headquartersimmediately.”

#6 Hudson Street, San Ignacio, CayoTelephone: 824-2102

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Ray Auxillou Wrote: In chatting with some NRPknowledgeable people, I’m told all thesecrecy of the intentions of the NRPare based on the strategy of waitingfor the incumbent PUP government,a disaster they claim of ten yearsstanding, to call the next elections. They feel the taxpaying votingcitizens of Belize are waiting for achange in the way we govern.

Dear Ray; Your writings, as usual, areinteresting and thought provoking andsometimes maybe even inspirational.Being in the writing business, we thankyou for committing your thoughts towritten form. We tend to agree with several ofthe points raised in this your latestwriting. However the matter ofsecrecy within the NRP seems tobe somewhat unusual and weirdparticularly when buzz wordslike TRANSPARENCY andACCOUNTABILITY have, for thepast many years, dominated thepolitical campaign platform. However,when a political party is shrouded inso much secrecy as is the NRP, itbreeds skepticism in the minds ofvoters. As very few are the voterswho would want to regress into thosedark days of uncertainty. With campaign financing aside,victory at the polls is still, to a largeextent, dependent on the popularityof the candidate. And therefore theargument that the NRP is keepingsecret the identity of their candidates,until the 11th hour, for fear of PUPvictimization and mudslinging, is notholding water. If we are understanding correctly,some of the NRP candidates areaffiliated with the PUP maybe asgovernment employees or even asfriends and cronies of the PUP. Theseindividuals are therefore currentlylined up and sucking at the PUP breastand, as the NRP admits, will only letgo at the 11th hour, as they continueextracting benefits right up to thebitter end. Bringing out these individuals will notbode well with voters and it could bea recipe for devastating defeat for anypolitical party that brings them out asthese individuals will be seen for whatthey actually are, nothing more thanPUP parasites, and in the very unlikelyevent that any of them should bevictorious at the polls, they will morethan likely revert to their originalplaces at the PUP feeding trough. If these NRP candidates are tohave any semblance of credibility thebest bet would be for them to comeout early and let the people get toknow them. Coming out a month beforeelection is hardly enough time tocampaign as there is still a largenumber of voters who will not votefor a candidate who did not come to

their house and personally ask for theirvote because although they mightknow the candidate’s name, they willgenerally feel disrespected by anycandidate that did not take time outto personally visit them at their home. And what are these NRP candidatesafraid of? If they are truly fit togovern the nation, then they must beprepared and able to withstandscrutiny and criticism from any andevery political party, organization andindividual, not only the PUP. By keeping secret the identity ofits candidates, is the leadership of theNRP admitting that some of theircandidates are harboring troublesomeskeletons in their closets? As evil, as corrupt and as vindictiveas the PUP might be, in mostcases they try to steer clear of theperception of utilizing the securityforces to intimidate politicalopponents. And, as the NRPprofesses to have recruited these“squeeky clean” candidates anymove by the security forces toirresponsibly target them will beinstantly seen for what it is and thiswill be bad publicity for the PUP, badpublicity which the PUP can ill affordto have at this time.

I’m puzzled by this politicalstrategy, but am assured they areready to contest the next nationalelections and provide a much betterform of government than previouslyheld under either the UDP or the PUP. Apparently, they have all theelection divisions throughout thenation covered with candidates andhave a solid party equal to thatoffered by the UDP, if not better?

They would not give me candidatenames, because they claim the PUPconduct dirty politics and they areafraid that their candidates would bepersecuted and intimidated by thepower inherent of a patronagepolitical party machine holding thereins of the police, the governmentjobs, the court dates and justicesystem controls and the BelizeDefense Force. They don’t want theircandidates beaten up by police, orhomes raided by the Belize Defense

Force military on trumped up charges,with ransacking of their belongingsNor do they have a newspaper,radio station, or television station toget into a lying, insulting competition. The NRP attitude seems to be theywant to provide good, honestgovernment based on logicaldevelopment, through consensualviews arrived at through debate. Theydo not want anything to do withcharacter assassination, trumped upcharges in court cases, insults andslander, which is the way the PUPoperate in an election campaignusing the successful politicalpatronage model of electioncampaigning.I’m not sure waiting for the last thirtydays until election time is a goodpolitical strategy, particularly if theyare not getting any publicity of theirmission goals, vision and ideas beforehand. It was pointed out to me, thatthe UDP suffer the same victimization,at the hands of the PUP, in that thePUP will steal their ideas if theyannounce them, and do their best todestroy their candidates reputationand characters should they announceto early, their candidates names.

Therefore this thing about fear ofbeing intimidated by the PUP appearsto be just another excuse that is notholding much water. There are many who believe thatthe leadership of the NRP is startingoff on the wrong foot in its apparentattempts to deceive the people as itpertains to the number of candidatesthat the party has in place. There is nothing wrong with a newpolitical party coming on the scenewith less than a full slate of candidates.In fact NO new political party hasever appeared on the political scenewith a full line up of candidates. Thereare some political parties that havebeen around for 10 maybe even 15years and they still have only very fewcandidates contesting the generalelections on their ticket. Why then is the leadership of theNRP insisting on starting offwith “all the election divisionsthroughout the nation coveredwith candidates” when this mightvery well prove to be the party’sbiggest stumbling block. It certainly looks like the NRPleader might have painted himself intoa corner several months ago when hemade that first commitment of having

The Very good rebuttal Albert!You raise some good points. Thepoint of my own articles are mainly tomake people think and debate. Ithink such debate clears the air andsolidifies opinions and findsconsensus. I'm not pushing any agenda here,though I am subtly trying to get thePUP to lower the Debt to GDP ratioand putting pressure accordingly. Thesame with trying to get a BalancedBudget debate going. The Belize City based media arenotoriously slack in discussing thefuture and the choices we have for thecountry. They like to come in after

the fact, after things fall apart andcriticize, but they never seem to helpin creating development, or a bettercountry and governing model. Theyare all money orientated and want thatgovernment newspaper advertising. I will admit I'm feeling a bit queasyabout the NRP myself. For differentreasons and some of those in a dif-ferent viewpoint that you mentioned.I'm hoping to put pressure to clearthings up, to decide. The thing is the PUP can do so muchin a reform mode while they are stillin office, but how to get them to doit? Then the UDP still are not offer-ing any reforms with meat.

They did put out a few good ones,but there is so much to do and theUDP are not doing it. Maybe for thesame reasons the NRP say? I guess the idea game is likeplaying cards, each party is holdingtheir cards close to their chest to hidetheir hand. Trouble is right now theUDP seem to have a nearly emptyhand. While the NRP are not readyis my thought. take anything I writewith a grain of salt, I'm trying toprovoke a debate and clear the air!

#85 Benque Viejo Road, San Ignacio, CayoTel.#:824-2959 Cell#: 610-4391

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all candidates in place in time for thenext round of general elections andnow any backing off from thisoriginal stance could be viewed as aweakening of his infant political party. It is widely suspected thatwhatever wind there is in the NRP’ssail, will be knocked out whenever thedate for general elections is announcedand the party finds itself unable to fieldcandidates in all 31 electoral divisions. The NRP therefore stands to lose aHUGE chunk of credibility unless itsleader steps forward now and set therecord straight before it gets toolate.

Notice is hereby give that, under theIntoxicationg Liquor LicenseOrdinance Chaper 150 of the Lawsof Belize Revised Edition 2000,LUVIA ELIZABETH GUERRAis applying for a RESTAURANT& BAR LIQUOR LICENSE forthe year 2007 to operate JUNGLARESTAURANT & BAR locatedon Blue Bird Street, San IgnacioTown in the Cayo District.


BEL’s CORPORATE HEAD-QUARTERS, Belize City,Tuesday, 7th August 2007:BY: Vonetta Burrell, PublicRelations Officer For the seventh consecutive year,Belize Electricity Limited (BEL)presented tution scholarships tostudents pursuing studies at theUniversity of Belize (UB). To date, 54 students have benefitedfrom the program. Selections werebased on academic merit, financialneed and level of communityinvolvement. Scholarships arerenewable for 2 years. This year’s seven awardees wereannounced during a ceremony heldthis morning in Belize City. The sevenAwardees are:Associate Degree Level:1. Renita Pop of San Miguel, ToledoDistrict – Certificate, Practical NursingBachelor Degree Level:2. Mitylene Bailey of Hattieville,Belize District – Biology3. Ulyses Augustine of OrangeWalk Town, Orange Walk District –English Education4. Veronica Rivas of IndependenceVillage, Stann Creek District –Primary Education5. Yamani Rodriguez of San IgnacioTown, Cayo District – InformationTechnology6. Mildred Larios of Orange WalkTown, Orange Walk District –Business Administration

7. KeshaPeyrefitte ofC a m a l o t eVillage, CayoDistrict –English The sevena w a r d e e s

were presented with scholarshipsduringa ceremony this morning at theRadisson Fort George Hotel. BEL’s President & CEO LynnYoung presented the scholarshipssaying “Programs of study chosenby this year’s awardees reflect thediverse fields that continue tocontribute to the ongoingdevelo ment of Belize. Thesestudents were selected from ahighly competitive field ofapplicants from across thecountry.” He also took the opportunity toannounce that, commencing 2008, theCompany will be expanding itsScholarship Program to studentsinterested in pursuing a BachelorDegree in Engineering fromthe Memorial University ofNewfoundland, Canada. This full scholarship, valued atapproximately BZ$40,000 peracademic year, is aimed at developingthe pool of engineers and technicalprofessionals currently in the country. Interested applications can lookout for details in the media later this

year. The awardee must complete a fouryear program to obtain the degree.This scholarship will be offeredbiennially. BEL’s Scholarship Program is one

of several donations under theCompany’s Community Initiativewhich aims, throughout the year, tosupport as many individuals andorganizations that are in need offinancial assistance.


Yolanda following behind in a smallwhite car. The medical team beganworking on the injured patient but hepassed away while undergoingemergency treatment. San Ignacio police arrived at thehospital while Marvin Echeverria wasin the emergency room and weredirected to Justin “Jay” Gordon,who had sustained several stabwounds to the back. Gordon’scondition was stabilized and he wastransported to Belmopan’s WesternRegional hospital. Mayro and Bengue-T Echeverriawere still at the hospital when thepolice arrived. They were instantlydetained and transported to the SanIgnacio police station. The police also took charge of threevehicles reportedly connected to theEcheverria group. The vehiclesincluded a maroon Isuzu Trooper withlicense plates CY-C-21798; amaroon Jeep Cherokee with licenseplates CY-C-25211 and a small whiteGeo Metro car with license platesCY-C-23183. All three vehicles weresubsequently released. Immediately after leaving thehospital, a team of police officersvisited the Galindo residence wherethey took David and George Galindointo custody and transported them tothe San Ignacio police station. It took the police a few hoursto activate its Forensic and CrimeInvestigation Team and by the time theteam was located and readied, almostfour hours had elapsed since theinitial two gunshots were fired. It was at around 10:30 p.m.,that Saturday night when thethree- member Forensic and CrimesInvestigation Team, all in civilianclothing, were “dumped” on thescene by a police mobile patrolwhich continued on its merry wayafter dropping them off. The team headed by ChiefInvestigator, Sgt. #1 Enrique Aldanaincluded Scenes of Crime Technician,Filiberto Pott and Police Constable#292 Roland Augustine. They had hardly begun surveyingthe area when they came underattack as bullets began flying from theother side of a back zinc/chain linkfence. In the hail of bullets, Scenes ofCrime Technician, Filiberto Pottemerged with a bullet wound to the

left side of the chest which exited inthe area of the lower back and in theprocess injuring his lungs. With an injured colleague on theground, Sgt. Aldana reportedly tookcover behind a small woodenstructure in the backyard. He drewhis service pistol but only managed tosqueeze off a single shot when thepistol experienced a stoppage. In the hail of gunfire, Sgt. Aldanaand PC Augustine sustained a singlelead burn each in the region of theirfeet. With a seriously injured colleagueon the ground and a jammed firearm,Sgt. Aldana and the team soughtrefuge inside the Galindo residencewhere they waited for about 15minutes after the last shot was firedthereby ensuring that the coast wasclear and that it was safe to emerge. With no police vehicle on hand, theinjured Scenes of Crime Technicianwas placed inside Mr. Bones’ smallpickup truck and, with Mr. Bone inthe driver’s seat; the technician wasrushed to the San Ignacio hospital. Upon arrival at the hospital, policeencountered Bengue-T receivingtreatment for a gunshot wound to atoe of the right foot. He said that hereceived the injury during the earlierincident in which his youngest brotherwas fatally shot. A police pressrelease informs that the police areinvestigating the possibility that, in theheat of things, Bengue-T might haveaccidentally shot himself. Bengue-T, under police guard, wasremoved from the emergency roomto make way for the more pressingemergency. He was told to sit on abench in the corridor while themedical team went to work on themore seriously injured Scenes ofCrime Technician. The technician’s condition wasstabilized and like Justin Gordon, hetoo was transported by ambulance toBelmopan’s Western Regionalhospital. Today, six days after the incident,the technician’s condition, as well asthat of Justin “Jay” Gordon, isreported to be gradually improving. Subsequent to the incident, a seriesof rather interesting events unfolded. Firstly, by the time Ruben“Bengue-T” Echeverria, who isemployed as a driver for formerSolicitor General – now attorney inprivate practice – Elston Kaseke,was formally arrested and charged onMonday evening, San Ignacio’smagistrate, Kathlene Lewis, hadalready left for the day. It was after4:00 p.m., when the accused, hisattorney and San Ignacio’s civilianprosecutor George Gomez were alltransported to Belmopan where thecourt book was lodged and the casewas heard before Belmopan’smagistrate Richard Swift. The singlecharge of attempt murder for thestabbing of Justin Gordon was readto the accused by magistrate Swift.With the charge being an indicable

offence, no plea was entertained.When the issue of bail came up,prosecutor Gomez rose and stronglyobjected to the granting of bail citingthe Crime Control and Justice Act #25of 2003 section 16 subsection 1 (a)which expressly limits anymagistrate’s authority to grant bailto anyone accused of committingmurder, attempt murder andconspiracy to commit murder.Notwithstanding prosector Gomez’objection to bail, Magistrate Swiftproceeded with granting bail in thesum of $6,000 with the facility of twosureties each for $3,000. The accusedwas ordered to reappear in court onThursday, 13th September 2007. Secondly, and probably not asprivileged as Ruben Echeverria;Gregory Garcia had to wait until thefollowing day, Tuesday, 7th Augustwhen he appeared before San IgnacioMagistrate Kathlene Lewis along withthe same Elston Kaseke whorepresented Bengue-T the previousevening in Belmopan. The singlecharge of abetment to commit attemptmurder was read to him. Again no pleawas entertained on this indictablematter. Citing the very same sectionof the Crimes Control and Justice Act,prosecutor Gomez rose and objectedto bail. Magistrate Lewis readilyagreed with the prosecution. Theaccused was denied bail andremanded to the Hattieville CentralPrison to reappear in court onTuesday, 22nd August 2007. Also appearing in court onTuesday, 7th August was MayroEcheverria, the eldest of the threeEcheverria brothers. The 29 year oldBelizean driver of a Peter AugustStreet address in Santa Elenaappeared before Magistrate KathleneLewis to answer to the charge ofcausing harm to David Galindo. Thecharge stems from allegations byGalindo that when he ran behind thehouse that Saturday evening, he wasbeaten by the accused. Galindo wascomplaining of pain in the back andother parts of the body. Theattending medical officer classifiedthe injuries he sustained as harm.

Mayro Echeverria pleaded not guiltyto the charge and was released on a$1,000.00 bail to reappear in courton Tuesday, 25th September 2007. Dennis Castillo, 29, also appearedbefore Magistrate Kathlene Lewis onTuesday to answer to the charge ofdamage to property in connectionwith a number of glass louvers thatwere broken from the Galindo’sresidence. Castillo pleaded not guiltyto the charge and was released on a$1,000.00 bail to reappear in courton Tuesday, 2nd October 2007. The fifth related court hearing forthe day was that of George Galindowho returned to court for a secondhearing on the charge of dangerousharm in connection with the February24th incident in which Gregory Garciasustained several stab wounds tovarious parts of his body. Galindoremains on bail as the matter wasadjourned until Monday, 22nd

October 2007. The police strongly suspect that theywere not the intended targets ofSaturday night’s shooting as they areof the opinion that the dark conditionat the scene, might have contributedto the gunman actually believing thathe was opening fire on the Galindobrothers. Investigation neverthelesscontinues. As we go to press this Thursdaynight, more people are being detained,interrogated and released as thesearch continues for the gunmanresponsible for shooting thepolicemen and more importantly, thepolice are determined to find outwho is responsible for the injuriescaused their colleague, FilibertoPott, from their Scenes of CrimeUnit. The deceased, Marvin Geovannie“Bip” Echeverria who waspreparing to enter 4th form atBenque’s Mopan Technical HighSchool is survived by his parentsYolanda and Gerardo Echeverria;Five sisters, Esmeralda Castellanos,Olivia Vernon as well as Marina,Miriam and Yolanda Echeverria. Heis also survived by two brothers,Mayro and Ruben Echeverria.

Continued From Page 2:

Western Highway,Santa Elena Town, Cayo

824-2061 or 610-4391

The Isuzu Trooper, one of the 3 vehicles temporarily held by the police

Sunday, 12th August 2007 STAR Tel: 667-7827 Email: [email protected] 12

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