On April 30, 2025, Dr. Richard Rosado took over as Commissioner of the Police Department; and on May 6, 2025, just a week after he took the reins of the department and its 2,400 officers (2024 numbers), the government announced a limited State of Emergency (SOE) in parts of the Belize and Cayo Districts. Commissioner Rosado had been advocating for an SOE in the weeks leading up to his taking over, because of an escalation of gang-related violence.
Belize has seen a significant drop in murders in the last two years, 2023 and 2024, the murder rate falling from over 35 per 100,000 in 2018 to a little over 21 per 100,000 in 2023 and 2024. The present government can attribute the welcomed reduction in murders to some new initiatives to complement old ones, and to the fact that it hasn’t been restrained about implementing SOEs. Like it or noh like it, SOEs work. In both 2022 and 2023 we had at least one SOE, and in 2024 we had two, one in March and one in June. The new Commissioner, while waiting to take command, announced that the SOE is a tool he is going to deploy for those periods when criminal elements get out of line. He and his Minister, Hon. Kareem Musa, have their gallery. Thousands of Belizeans call for a Bukele-like solution when things get out of control.
In the present limited SOE, hot spots are under increased surveillance. Individuals who are believed to be involved in violent activities have been taken in for interrogation, and some are held for a period to cool off.
Because we are in the middle of the corridor through which cocaine from South America flows north, mainly to the United States, elements within the country, many of them impoverished, have been drawn into the dangerous, illegal occupation. The violence has become so bad that in 2023, a year in which 83 persons died violently, mostly young men, we were upbeat about the work of our internal security forces. How far has a country that boasts in its National Anthem that it is a tranquil haven, fallen? But, we can be excused for boasting about having 60 less than the traumatic 143 murders in 2018!
The SOE remains a feature, a big stick to pull out whenever violence displaces order, and the new Police Commissioner didn’t hesitate to reach for it immediately after taking office. However, one ruling of two from the court recently put the totalitarian tool in a bit of jeopardy. In respect to the SOE back in 2020, the ruling says the government violated the rights of citizens, and we owe damages.
There’s no dearth of lawyers in Belize who are eager to challenge the brutal SOE which, in its broad sweep, also rounds up innocents, some in the interest of protecting them. But the government isn’t about giving up the use of its indispensable instrument. On Monday, PM Briceño introduced a Bill with retroactive reach, the 13th amendment, which 7News aptly, succinctly said, makes “it easier for government to declare states of emergency without losing any constitutional CASES.”
As outlined in the 7News transcript of the House proceedings on Monday, PM Briceño explained that the conflicting rulings (one ruling supported SOEs) “create difficulties for the government” as it goes about its “responsibility to uphold the rule of law.” Briceño said the proposed amendments to the Constitution, which are “separate from the current SOE provision in the Constitution”, include “a new section 18 empowering the Governor General on the advice of the National Security Council to make an order on reasonable grounds and in the interest of public safety, public order, and for the purpose of preventing, detecting and controlling crime: that a designated area is a special area and limit the rights of citizens within this area for a specific period.” The initiative also calls for the establishment of a Gun and Gang court.
Government, well-off Belizeans, all of us have to do better to end SOE
Our economic system, capitalism, can be a cold thing; and the colder the form of capitalism, the more dependent a country is on a strong police presence, jails, and the SOE to maintain order. Sober Belizeans recognize that the SOE, like a tourniquet, should be used only in critical situations, and not for prolonged periods. The new Commissioner of Police gives the impression that it is a tool he’ll want to keep at the ready, and in one of his interviews with the press he announced that he considered an SOE of six months duration to be adequate in certain situations.
In his presentation in the House of Representatives on Monday, PM Briceño stated that poverty, hopelessness, is at the root of the problem, and noted all that his government is doing/has done to improve conditions in deprived areas. The government will have to do better. And we, while holding government accountable – it’s our money and resources our political leaders are managing — must also look at what we can do as individuals to make our country better.
Everyone has a role to play. Those who don’t have disposable cash have to contribute in kind, with their time, in areas where they have the capacity to make a contribution. In respect to Belizeans with the cash to invest in deprived areas to make a difference, they are two groups: one that wholesale supports the SOE, and one that talks about the problem and the solutions.
Belizeans who like the Bukele solution in El Salvador, who would like for our leaders to “grow up” to be like him, support the US embargo on Cuba, condemned the Bolivarian Republic under Hugo Chavez, and endorse the Zionists’ genocide in Gaza. Capitalism can be cold, and that is a cold fact. Whatever contribution such Belizeans make must be appreciated, even though they don’t exhibit much sympathy for the less well off in our country. In regard to people who pay income tax, or make enough to pay income tax, what they can afford to give/invest should be doing the bulk of their talking. They should be spending money in deprived communities, spending it with a good heart.
We need government to be competent, responsible, and accountable. But the solution calls for more than that. Those who make it in the system need to have a heart. Only when we combine good governance and a people who invest their time and wealth to help uplift deprived neighborhoods, will we end our dependence on the SOE.
Agric Show 2025 is on this weekend
Like the budget, the National Agriculture and Trade Show 2025 is late this year, but better late than never—all roads lead to the grounds on the banks of Roaring Creek this weekend. It kicks off with a horse parade (cavalcade), the traditional speeches, and then the presentation of the stars of the show: the male farmer of the year, Gregorio Esquivel; female farmer of the year, Naomi Requena; and junior farmer of the year, Juan Carrillo. Thousands will make their way to the grounds over the weekend, and those thousands who can’t make it will tune in to their favorite television or radio station to see/hear about what is going on at the show.
The show is a celebration of Belizean talent and hard work, and the products that are the result. Our farmers and other entrepreneurs deserve the recognition for all they do for our country. Congratulations, and thank you! To all, have a safe, enjoyable, profitable Agric Show 2025.