Ministry of National Security defends “special treatment” given to Mexican soldiers: they were released pronto, and without charge! Four soldiers in the Mexican army, Wilbert Mena, 35; Eliazar Neal, 33; Juan Luis Cruz, 28; and Jose Luis Vidal, 26, were traveling on the Northern Highway in a white Mazda with Yucatan province registration. Upon reaching the checkpoint at the junction with the Burrell Boom-Hattieville Road at Mile 13 around 9:50 p.m. on Monday night, October 13, Ladyville police stopped them and a search was conducted, first on the vehicle, and then on the soldiers themselves.

Two sisters who are registered in the Collet electoral division stopped by Amandala newsroom this afternoon to complain that they have received termination letters from their jobs as school wardens. They claim that their termination came about because of their support for Mayor Zenaida Moya at Sunday’s UDP convention at the Belize City Center.

Yesterday, the Belize City Center was the staging ground for a historic municipal election convention, unlike any other convention that Belize City has seen in recent times, as a divided ruling United Democratic Party (UDP) marched out its supporters across the city to elect a mayoral candidate and ten city council candidates for the March 2009, Belize City Council elections. Thousands of Belize City residents descended on the City Center as the incumbent Mayor, Zenaida Moya, faced off with her deputy, Anthony Michael.

As we go to press today, Belize City is abuzz with red-shirted campaigners pounding the pavement and trekking house to house, trying to convince registered Belize City voters to come out to the Belize City Center on Sunday, October 5 – when the big question will be decided: will the popular incumbent mayor, Zenaida Moya – under a tsunami of charges of wild spending, nepotism and corruption, from opponents right in her own party – survive the storm to contest the 2009 municipals? Or will her challenger, Anthony Michael, become the UDP’s new mayoral candidate in the City?

Last Friday morning a precision jacking occurred on the Northside of Belize City. When shots were fired on Freetown Road, in the vicinity of Cellular Plus store, two security guards from J&B Security took cover inside the Toyota Camry in which they were travelling from the Alliance Bank on Princess Margaret Drive heading for the National Fishermen Cooperative Society. The cooperative is located at Angel Lane, just off North Front Street and west of City Hall.

Gomez is alleged to have robbed, and raped or attempted to rape six women in a month in Lake Independence and Collet constituencies.. The police manhunt for suspected serial rapist, Leroy “Nuts” Gomez, 22, of Oleander Street, ended today when he turned himself in to police at Eastern Division Headquarters, Queen Street, in the company of his mother, Beverly Patterson.

The Belize Customs Department, attempting to control and punish corruption within its ranks, says it is under a serious threat of bodily harm from a notorious international drug cartel that has been using Belize as a transshipment point for its drugs. A 40-foot container containing 67 cases, or 10 million pseudo-ephedrine tablets, was stolen right off the Customs’ compound late Tuesday evening, September 16. Presently there are three Customs officers in police custody, and the indications are that they will face criminal charges.

This weekend, the clear and present danger for Belize security forces manning the borders to protect the Jewel from illegal activity by Guatemalans was evident at the Rio Blanco post of the Chiquibul Forest Reserve in Cayo. Two men, assumed to be xateros – harvesters of the high-profit xate palm - launched a savage machete attack on Belize Defence Force (BDF) soldier, Marvin Teul, 21. BDF Commander Dario Tapia said that the incident happened only about 250 meters from Belize’s border with Guatemala.

The Government of Taiwan has requested a special investigation by the Government of Belize regarding the immigration status of at least 10 Taiwanese, one of whom is Huang Jui-ching, the daughter-in-law of the ex-president of Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian, who was the family figurehead for the transfer of over US$31 million in foreign accounts in several countries – now the subject of an intensive multinational money laundering probe. Also central to the investigations are Chen’s wife - Wu Shu-chen, his son - Chen Chih-chung, and his brother-in-law - Wu Ching-mao.

According to police, it was a plastic bag that saved scores, possibly hundreds of Belizeans from grisly death and crippling, life-threatening injuries on Saturday evening when the bag, tightly wound about an “attack” grenade, prevented the lever from activating when the pin was removed and the grenade thrown near a car parked on the grounds of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. This took place while the annual Carnival Road March was passing along Princess Margaret Drive. Police, when called to the scene, found the grenade on the parking lot of the KHMH.

The conservation of rich, natural areas is central to our way of life in Belize. We have a well developed national system of protected areas that characterizes who we are as a nation and ensures quality of life and a healthy environment for future generations. Organizations such as Ya’axché Conservation Trust help guarantee our conservation values by managing the protection of these brilliant natural areas. This past Friday afternoon, August 29, our “conservation values” came under direct violent assault from illegal loggers and xateros in the form of a gunfight. A multi-agency team of 16 members from the Belize Defence Force (BDF), Bladen Nature Reserve and Ya’axché Conservation Trust conducted a five-day patrol in the scenic Colombia River Forest Reserve.

The first day of primary school is usually full of excitement for our children. But late this morning, the kind of excitement that was visited upon a few persons at St. John’s Primary School is the kind of excitement that most people would rather live without. Robbers hit the school, and at least one of them was armed with a handgun. The school’s principal, Mrs. Patricia Johnson, was in her office along with one of her male teachers, Rashid Murillo. They had just finished collecting some registration fees and were taking a few minutes break before they rang the bell to let their children out for the lunch break.

Belize City Mayor, Zenaida Moya, is once again in the center of a political maelstrom, only five weeks away from the United Democratic Party’s mayoral convention, for elections slated for March next year. The political storm winds gusting in the old capital have already claimed one victim, in the person of WAVE Radio morning talk show host and Senator, Juliet Thimbriel, and may soon claim another, Councilor Mark King, who appears to be a bitter opponent of Mayor Moya

The Belize Bank and First Caribbean will not stand trial for a string of charges under the Money Laundering (Prevention) Act, following a Government-sanctioned decision by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for the charges to be abruptly dropped, allegedly under pressure from banks abroad.