At the same time, commerce was at a near standstill in downtown Belize City, with many stores closed today after looters swarmed the town last night and looted at least five stores.

Some Chinese grocers across the city, and particularly on the Southside, are not open as usual, but are serving their customers through their gates, not permitting them to enter their stores.

Then, Belizeans who are normally free to mill around downtown Belize City, and even congregate in small groups, were told today by police that they do not have that right, and must keep walking and make their way to their homes. Police officers even stopped people from congregating in Battlefield Park, in front of the Supreme Court.

This evening, about fifty police, including riot squad members, were guarding the downtown area and succeeded in cordoning it off and clearing it of a crowd of about 350 that had gathered in the area after 5:00 this evening.

The congregation began this afternoon with a group of teachers and workers of the Belize Telecommunications Limited (BTL) and others who were protesting in the area of Independence Hall on Queen Street, the headquarters of the ruling People?s United Party. Reports were that some protestors were agitating for the release of University of Belize student body president, Moses Sulph, who, they wrongly thought, had been arrested by police. They later learned that that was not the case.

At the same time, another group of teachers was peacefully congregating near the Prime Minister?s home, but police harassed them until they eventually left the area. One officer told the media that they could not pass up ?E? Street, where the Prime Minister lives. One man, Charles Sawyers, was reportedly beaten and detained by police.

At about 3:00 p.m. today, two detachments of about 15 riot squad officers advanced on the protestors near the Swing Bridge and gradually pushed them backward, forcing them over the Swing Bridge to the Southside of Belize City, and then all the way down Albert Street.

The police laid out a number of rules to the crowd, not all of whom were protestors. Some were, in fact, people who were walking to their homes on the other side of the bridge and they were told that they had to use another way to get home. The only other exits from this side of town are about 15 to 20 minutes away by foot.

One woman stood in front of Hofius waiting for a bus and police told her that she had to move and find another way to get home. In response, the woman asked the officer if he would give her $10 to pay her taxi fare, but he did not.

Then, the police insisted that people could not remain stationary in the downtown area, Albert Street, that they had to keep moving and, for the most part, people complied with the orders of the police. A few people in the area began throwing stones at the police, and some officers chased them with their guns ready to shoot, but in the end no one suffered harm.

Police threatened to lock people up if they did not move from the area, and ordered that no one could walk behind them. While they enforced that rule for one media person, they completely ignored another media person who was conducting an interview behind them.

A number of people in the crowd commented that we no longer have rights here in Belize ? you cannot stand downtown without being told to move, and in fact, the officers were ordering people to ?go home.?

Police press officer, G. Michael Reid, told Amandala this evening that the heavy police presence will be maintained throughout the night.

He also told us that a couple of people had been arrested for ?illegal gathering? and ?illegal procession? today.

General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB), George Frazer, told Amandala late this evening that police had detained four of his people during the course of the day, among them two female teachers from Gwen Lizarraga High School – Cathleen Flowers and Coral Lord, and two males ?one of them Sawyers, whom we had mentioned earlier.

When we checked with Reid afterwards, he could not say who exactly was arrested, and he could not give us an up-to-date figure of the total arrests made today. The official number of arrests in connection with last night?s looting was 98, Reid told us.

As we go to press tonight, there is word that school would resume on Monday. This morning most students in the old capital city were sent home, as their teachers met at the Belize National Teachers? Union?s (BNTU) office in Belize City, reportedly to reaffirm their solidarity with their colleagues at BTL, as well as to strategize.

Frazer told us that he is asking teachers of BNTU, especially in Belize City, to report to the BNTU tomorrow morning. He said that a public announcement would be made later on the resumption of classes.

Meanwhile, the city remains under a virtual state of martial law, even though none has been officially declared, and the Prime Minister said that he does not think that it would be declared.