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Wednesday, October 28,
2009 Belize's Daily- 7 Days a Week |
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National draft for repeat offenders
and “at risk” youth? Adele Ramos
With even more incidences of
violent crime reported over the weekend, there continues to be public
outcry for the Government of Belize to put effective measures into
place to quell the rising crimson tide that only yesterday claimed the
life of Mario Chi, 30, a taxi operator of Santa Elena Town—shot to
death by an intruder while at home with his common-law wife.
In June 2008, Wayne A. Uter, a journalist formerly of the Broadcasting Corporation of Belize (now defunct), made a formal proposal to Prime Minister Dean Barrow, suggesting that conscription or national draft—involuntary labor, especially military service, demanded by some established authority—would immediately drive down the crime rate. Uter had suggested that the government should especially target “repeat offenders and youth at risk of becoming offenders.” The government, he added, should “single out the target group for active duty, through mandatory service for 3 to 4 years,” and “identify any trades and/skills that the targeted candidates have so that they may be placed in the public service…where their skills will benefit the country the most.” At the same time, however, the government should have systems in place to ensure that those individuals drafted are properly monitored to deter further criminal involvement. With the recent upsurge in violent crime, Uter wrote our newspaper again reiterating his position – that the national draft should be implemented speedily. Amandala spoke with Prime Minister Dean Barrow on Thursday, and we asked him to state his position on the issue. Even though Barrow said that he did not recollect the proposal—which Uter had forwarded both via e-mail and post—the Prime Minister indicated to our newspaper that the national draft is definitely something the government would have to look at, though he is not sure how such a draft would work constitutionally. He noted that C.B. Hyde, an exemplary retired public servant after whom the Barrow administration had named the Government’s main office complex in Belize City, had also been pushing the conscription idea. Barrow told Amandala that he would look at it. He also told us that at his next quarterly press conference—long overdue but slated for either late October or early November—he would address the issue of crime. Amandala Belize strategically positioned to
benefit from Merida Initiative
In Belmopan, one of the more important
topics of the media
discussion with Ambassador Thummalapally is the Merida Initiative. It
is a partnership of the United States with governments in Central
America and the Caribbean to combat crime and the free flow of
narco-traffickers in the region. Four hundred million U.S. dollars was
set aside for Mexico, sixty five million U.S. dollars for Central
America with one point five million dollars set aside for Belize.
Though it’s a small amount for the Jewel, Thummalapally says that
Belize’s role is heightened because of its strategic location in the
region.
Vinai Thummalapally “The role of the embassy is to orchestrate and coordinate in many areas, specifically in the area of policing, prison management, the Central American finger printing system that Merida is orchestrating—coordinating if you will. These are various areas of efforts that Belize is very much partner to and has shown very strong interest, understanding the risks of what we are trying to fight and very much on board. So the U.S. government, the post here in the embassy, is continuing to work in various aspects of Merida.” Jose Sanchez “When it comes to investment in our own military infrastructure such as the B.D.F. and the Coastguard, how important is the U.S. investment in regards to fighting the drug trade?” Vinai Thummalapally “It’s critical. It’s very much part of—it is encompassing in that we’re working with B.D.F., Customs and so on, Port Authority, all the various departments and divisions of the Belizean government and infrastructure. We will continue to engage all those departments as we go forward with the Merida Initiative. We believe the importance of Belize has already been heightened because of this what they call a balloon effect and there's pressure on Mexico that some of the channels if you will, paths could be oozing out and Belize is right there bordering with Mexico and Guatemala. So I think it’s strategic importance is the location, not the size of the country. Three hundred thousand people, one might say oh it’s a small country. That has nothing to do with the risks. The risks are huge and they are being noted and the efforts will only increase not decrease.” CH5 WORLD DRUG PROBLEM ADDRESSED BY
BELIZE AND REGIONAL PARTNERS
This past weekend representatives from the
Embassy of Belize
to
Mexico attended a meeting in Mexico City to address the World Drug
Problem. The meeting was titled “Regional Meeting of Ministers on the
World Drug Problem: Security and Cooperation” included 16 countries
from Latin America and the Caribbean. The purpose of the meeting was to
reinforce the fight against the world drug problem in a coordinated
manner and with a comprehensive and balanced approach. Marcelino
Miranda is the Head of the Press and Border Section at the Mexican
Embassy.
Marcelino Miranda; Head of the Press and Border Section, Mexican Embassy “The importance of this event was that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have agreed to make a number of commitments. Some of them agreed to exchange information of information about new rules and new modalities of drug trafficking. They are going to explore some possibilities that some actions liked to elicit drug activity. It is going to be used for strengthening the institutions that are fighting drug trafficking. They are also going to emphasize the treatment and the prevention of drug dependency. They are also going to strengthen their investigation activities, security and law enforcement in the region.” Highlights from the meeting include the signing of a Final Declaration affirming the need to address the world drug problem and Mexico providing access to information from its crime database. Marcelino Miranda; Head of the Press and Border Section, Mexican Embassy “Gradually they are going to establish the interconnection with Plataforma Mexico, which is Mexico platform. This is a criminal database of the Government of Mexico. In general this meeting was very important for the region in order to fight drug trafficking. This meeting was very important that the region in order to fight drug trafficking. This meeting was attended by the ministers of some countries in the region. It was a very important step for the countries of the region in order to fight drug trafficking and to establish a better coordination and sharing of information between the agencies involved in fighting drug trafficking.” Belize was represented by Ambassador Rosendo Urbina and Minister-Counsellor Maximiliano Ruiz of the Embassy of Belize to Mexico. Love FM US AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH BELIZEAN
MEDIA
The one hour session with the U.S. diplomat
gave ambassador
Vinai
Thummalapally a chance to share his views on a range of issues ranging
from U.S. assistance to Belize to the more mundane topic of which team
he is hoping will win the American baseball world series.
Ambassador
Thummalapally told reporters that his government remains committed to
the friendship and partnership that have developed between Belize and
the United States over the years.
Vinai Thummalapally; U.S. Ambassador to Belize “The answer is a big yes. In fact, it is fresh in my mind this year’s class of forty volunteers just graduated last week. The Governor General was so gracious in hosting the graduation ceremony; it was a huge success. You should have seen the enthusiasm on their races. These young faces they finished a few weeks program and they graduated; they received their diplomas and they started their wonderful work this week. The medret program is continuing where the military assists in increasing the capacity of Belizeans to service in the medical area. It is a two way street like many of the thing the US does here in Belize. It is also benefiting the military to get the practice with people in the field and so on.” The top U.S. diplomat in Belize says his country will continue to offer assistance to Belize particularly in the area of capacity building to fight the scourge of trafficking in persons and with Belize’s fight against drugs trafficking. Vinai Thummalapally; U.S. Ambassador to Belize “All such matters are not handled by the Department of State. These matters are handled by Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs enforcement division of the US Government. In terms of assistance there are a variety of initiatives to assist Belize; a lot of them tend to be in the area of capacity building. It is about policing; it is about identifying these criminals that are involved in this nasty world of trafficking in persons which I am sure you all know is a serious matter here in Belize. Belize has been a big partner in it and has shown strong initiative in resolving these matters. The assistance is being provided and I expect more to come in the area of prison management. The big challenge that faces Belize is convictions and putting away these criminals. Not just recognizing that there is a problem but identifying who these criminals are and taking very specific actions with convictions and having them serve time.” On the issue of the decades old embargo against Cuba, ambassador Thummalapally says that Belize’s friendship with Havana will not hurt our relationship with Washington. Vinai Thummalapally; U.S. Ambassador to Belize “The Cuba situation is unique in that it is not so much about what America is doing; we feel it is a matter of what Cuba is doing in that we respect the rule of law, we respect the basic democratic principles and we respect human rights. As we see progress there I think in terms of normalization I think that I where things are going to head. Just this decade movements have been made from both sides where trade has increased. Just last year 2008 I was very impressed to read that seven hundred and ten million dollars worth of food was exported from the United States into Cuba. As it relates to money remittances from the United States Cuban Americans living in the United States sending money back to Cuba has been on the increase. A whole variety of such activities are happening so the optimistic side of me would like to only see good things in the future but I would not want to predict where exactly things would end up a year, five years or ten years from now. I wish the best for the people of Cube and the people of the United States.” And while that’s the diplomatic side of things, the U.S Ambassador says locally he will use his office to help the poorest of the poor in Belize to help themselves through a process called micro-financing. Vinai Thummalapally; U.S. Ambassador to Belize “I got interested in it sometime ago and I have just started having some internal discussions and we included a couple of other NGO’s. The goal is to help people to be able to take loans in the smallest amounts to pull themselves out of abject poverty. Every corner of this world today has abject poverty and Belize has its share. It is a personal passion of mine to not just be talking to the people in Corozal and the Freezone or San Pedro or some organization in Belmopan but really look on more rural parts of areas of Toledo and so on. Areas where people really want to better themselves and the idea is not to do it for the embassy but our job at the embassy is to be catalysts. We need to bring the right people together, the right CEO’s and the right institutions. This is so that while I am working with someone in the United States someone here can start that conservation. At a high level it is called microfinance but it is to help the least served people in this world.” Love FM LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Saga Humane
Society Pet Contest,
The Saga Humane Society staff and
volunteers would love to invite
the community and all our visitors on the island to a Halloween Bash,
Saturday, October 31st at BC's Beach Bar. Fantastic food, snacks and
delicious sweets will be sold starting at noon. Children's games start
at 1 pm with the Witches Stew Relay Race, followed by the balloon toss
at 2 pm and the sack race at 3 pm. Saturday, October 31st And what would Halloween be without the Pet Costume Contest. This year we have four categories to compete in. Who will be the scariest? And the cutest? Or the most creative with their pets costume? And we all love the entries for the best owner/pet costume duo!! Costume Contest will start around 4:00 pm so remember to sign-up early so we can get everyone in!!! What a great way to spend a Saturday. On the beach, with your pet, friends and good food!! We hope to see everyone there!!!
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© SAN PEDRO DAILY, PO Box 45, San Pedro Town, Belize. Inquiries to editor@sanpedrodaily.com |
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