International

Statements of solidarity are being received from the international community and friends of Belize on the devastation caused by Hurricane Dean in the northern Districts of Belize.

A French tourist on vacation in Caye Caulker visited Amandala to talk about a boat accident that resulted in the loss of three fingers on his right hand.

The Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU) Branch of the Belize Police Department had their hands tied this weekend with trying to apprehend American fugitives, Fred Donald Hornby, age 36, a resident of #4137 Jasmine Street in Belize City and Dusty Chandler, 34, a resident of San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. The men were wanted in connection with separate cases in the United States, but by today, had both been taken to court to face the charges brought against them.

After hearing the preliminary arguments from both sides for Mark Seawell’s extradition hearings, the Chief Magistrate, Margaret Gabb-McKenzie, in courtroom #1 today, scheduled the second appearance for Tuesday, April 3.

Amandala late this evening spoke with a very worried mother, Jenecia Cook, a resident of La Democracia village, in hopes that she had gotten a positive feedback from Miami police after she had her worst fears confirmed yesterday, that her estranged husband, Richard Daniel Cook, 63, an American, had spirited their daughter, Zoe, 6, to the United States of America over the weekend.

A team of officials from the United Kingdom office of the Department for International Development (DFID) will be making an official visit to the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre in Belmopan from January 10-16.

Amandala today spoke with a not-too-happy Matthew Smiling, proprietor of the famous “Smiling Meats,” located on New Road in Belize City, who is not only angry that his business is being used for nefarious purposes, but also wants to warn the general public, abroad and in Belize, about a con artist operating in the United States.

The Government of Belize today launched its biggest bond offering on the international market, in which it is trying to exchange the country’s outstanding commercial debt for the new U.S. dollar bonds. Belizean legislators approved the billion-dollar-bond offer (estimated at US$565 million) about a week ago.

Ernest James Thompson, 41, also known as James Ujaama and Bilal Ahmad, travelling under a Mexican passport in the name of Jose Luis Ramirez, was the fifteenth wanted United States fugitive to be apprehended in Belize.

Fertilizer and sediment runoff from sugarcane, banana and pineapple plantations are threatening tourism by damaging a coral reef stretching along the Caribbean coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, according to a report released on Tuesday.