Back in 2018, it made the evening news when American Businessman Chad Eckert ended up in the Supreme Court after Gustavo Cardenas, one of his former employees sued him.
You may remember the fight between two was over 12 thousand pounds of West Indian Cotton. It was produced by Eckert's company, Belize Sea Island Cotton LLC, which is based in the Orange Walk District. Eckert's company hired Cardenas to run the operation. But, the two had a dispute which ended up in court after Cardenas accused Eckert of jilting him.
The case landed before the former Supreme Court Judge, Justice Courtney Abel, and after arbitration, the two sides agreed in July of 2018 to resolve their legal quarrel by way of a consent order. The two parties were supposed to cooperate to the best of their ability to sell all that cotton, which had an estimated value of over $100,000. Then, they were to split the proceeds of the sale equally among themselves.
This week, Cardenas contacted us to say that even after those many months, there were delays which discouraged all of the potential buyers he brought to the table. He insists that he kept on trying to get it sold until he found out recently that the cotton had been burnt and destroyed.
Cardenas is particularly aggrieved by the destruction of the cotton. That's because not only will he not collect any revenue from this cultivation, he says he owes his creditors around $50,000 in expenses that were incurred to grow the cotton. This morning, he spoke to us via zoom to discuss his distress. Here's how that conversation went:
Gustavo Cardenas, Claimant, Cotton Lawsuit
"I even made him an offer. I told him, let me get my 50% since you don't want to finalize this situation."
"We came to a verbal agreement that - he wanted me to also buy his share. We came to a price on that. I said, fine, I can also do that. That's not a problem."
"The guy kept dragging his foot, dragging his foot. He always had something why he wouldn't do it, why he wouldn't get it done. So, I decided, look, something is not right here. I decided to go to the warehouse. And that's when I get to discover that the warehouse is empty."
"So, I get to ask the owner of the warehouse - the owner's son - I said, look, where is the cotton? The guy didn't want to say."
"After a few hard words, he disclosed that the cotton was destroyed. I said, what, what do you mean destroyed. He said that they got instructions to get it burnt."
"So, about 100 yards behind the warehouse, that's where I found the site where they destroyed the cotton."
"My estimation is that I had put in a little over 50,000 Belize dollars into the cost of production."
"What we had in stock was a little bit over 100,000 US dollars, sitting at the warehouse. Now, for that to be destroyed completely puts me out of any income from that business."
Today, we reached out to Chad Eckert via WhatsApp for comment on this issue, but up until news time, he has not responded.
Teenager Held For Weed and Weapons
Tonight, a 16-year-old student from Belize City could be facing major firearm and drug trafficking charges after police found 2 illegal firearms, 45 pounds of marijuana, and a cache of ammunition in his home.
Police searched the upper flat of a residence on Hemsley Alley where they found a Sig Sauer pistol, another handgun, and 3 magazines. The cops continued searching the house, and that's when they found a white box that contained 17 wrapped parcels of suspected cannabis. The officers also found a tray containing 50 live rounds of ammunition. After weighing the drugs, the cops found out that there was a total of 20.638 kilos or just under 45 and a half pounds inside those 17 parcels.
Present at the time of the search was a 16-year-old, and Police have detained him in the presence of his mother.
A Department Drug Ring?
And while wholesale quantities of weed are being pinned on that teenager - recently it's cops who've been caught pushing heavy quantities of cannabis.
This morning, we asked the Police Minister about the two cops who were busted in less than a month trying to smuggle large quantities of marijuana through police checkpoints.
Both officers, Dion Bellini and Rosendo Cantun, are from Belmopan, and they were busted with the drugs in Orange Walk. Here's what Minister Musa had to say about the fact that police have to prosecute two officers of the law:
Both officers have been arraigned.
Corozal Town Council Re-Negotiated With Imer
And while the police department will have to root out drug trafficking within its ranks, Corozal Mayor Rigo Vellos is ridding his council of what he calls unsustainable debt. He's taken a step in the right direction by renegotiating a contract that the previous UDP council had signed with now-infamous contractor Imer Hernandez.
The contract in question was signed with Hernandez's Development Company in 2017, for the paving of six streets. It scheduled monthly payments over a period of 10 years and included the stipulation that in the months January to March, the entire Government subvention be paid towards the contract.
It ended up being the financial obligation that, in the last three years, put the most pressure on the Council. And while they'd attempted to re-negotiate it on multiple occasions, those attempts had been rebuffed. But the Mayor was persistent, and on January 13th, 2021 he and Imer Hernandez Development Company finally agreed to new payment terms.
The re-negotiation of the terms will lower payments while extending the completion year. And with council COVID austerity measures having included a shift system work schedule and 75% reduction of salaries for everyone except sanitation workers, it's a much-needed respite.
Freezone Set to Open Despite New Strain of Coronavirus in Mexico
And while Corozal's candidates for town council prepare for the polls in March, a little north of the town, the government is preparing for the reopening of the Corozal Freezone in February. Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa, told us today that there has to be strict measures in place, especially since the new strain of the coronavirus has been detected in Mexico. But he is confident that the regulations planned will be effective in mitigating the spread.
Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs & New Growth Industries
"We had a meeting yesterday, the committee met to discuss the regulations, they are going to be a little more stringent than the normal regulations and so we have to look at that carefully because there is always that tug of war between businesses and the community and the healthcare and wellness of our people so we have to look at those regulations, there was an initial presentation made by the Minister of Health yesterday, we are in the agreement with all those regulations and that will be put to Cabinet next Tuesday for consideration."
"The restrictions that we're going to be implementing have to be extremely stringent, the checks, the monitoring, the oversight has to be very regular, the Ministry of Health will play an active role in overseeing the implementation and constantly monitoring the business taking place within the freezone to ensure that there is full compliance by all businesses, by all patrons to these establishments, and so that's very critical moving forward because we are looking to as much as 1000 employees going back to work in the freezone, initially it was around 3000 employees but we're looking to take about 1/3 of those employees back and definitely the measures that are going to be in place at the freezone is going to be very strict and we're going to have to constantly monitor it because like you said there is evidence of the UK strain being in Mexico and so we have to be very guarded when we consider reopening the borders even at this very small degree just the freezone."
The freezone is scheduled to open February 1.
GG Used To Teach Me
Earlier in the news, we showed you Dame Minita Gordon's state funeral and burial, and brought you some loving words from the people who knew her well. And while they remember her as the Head of State, she started off as a teacher. Education was her passion, and she instilled its importance in every child she met. One man who went to pay his final respects for her told us she was a strict teacher, and recalled a memory he would never forget.
Can Kareem's Sweet Treats Sell?
And while the former GG taught that man, Minister Kareem Musa taught Belize how to make fudge. On George Price Day, he made a TikTok video detailing the recipe and how to make the perfect product. And today we asked him, why not start selling?
Cuba and Belize - 25 Years Strong
Today, the Henry Reeves Brigade, which spent the last ten months in Belize fighting on the frontlines, left the country enroute to Cuba. The Ministry of Health and Wellness held a small ceremony at the Radisson Fort George Hotel to show their appreciation for all the work the brigade has done. Now the 59 health care professionals are returning home, but no worries, since the permanent brigade has been stationed in Belize for 30 years and will remain here.
This is only one show of Cuba's diplomacy with Belize, and the strong ties they share. This alliance moved Foreign Minister, Eamon Courtenay, to condemn US President Donald Trump's decision to declare Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism. In addition, Cuba is also facing a decades-old blockade by the US.
But, as Belizean playwright John Alexander Watler put it, "while they fight, we write" - and in Cuba's case, while the US drops drones, they parachute in doctors to countries in need.
The Minister Counselor at the Cuban Embassy told us more via Zoom yesterday:
After 6 Months, Belizean Students in Cuba Get Help
And with the two countries sharing such a strong bond, there are plenty of Belizean students going to school in Cuba. Back in July, in the middle of the pandemic, they wrote a letter to the government after the previous Ministry of Education announced a cut to their already scant stipend. They would have gone from receiving 150 Cuban Dollars to only 100, which is equivalent to a little over 200 Belize Dollars per months.
This is not much for students who must buy groceries and toiletries, especially since the US under President Donald Trump instated stiff measures against Cuba, which meant that even the most basic products - like toothpaste and soap weren't readily available in country.
And even if they were, the students had little access to it because they were also faced with discrimination as Belizeans.
They were disallowed from most grocery stores, internet parks, and often were questioned by police officers. They were appealing to the government to allow their families to send supplies for them and finally, six months later, that plea was heard.
Today, one of the students reached out to our newsroom to inform us that they finally received the much needed supplies. The government was also able to send them groceries such as canned foods, hygiene products, sanitary wipes, face masks and shields, toothpaste, medicine, mosquito repellant, and much more.
Washington After The Storm
And it is hoped that with a new US President, the embargo will be somewhat relaxed as it was under President Obama, when Biden was VP.
Joseph R. Biden was inaugurated today on the west front of the United States Capitol Building in Washington D.C., along with his Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden becomes the 46th President in U.S. History, with Harris, the 49th Vice President becoming the first woman, the first African American, the first Indian-American, and the first Caribbean-American to serve in this capacity.
And while COVID precautions, and security measures following the storming of the Capitol, severely limited the inauguration ceremony. It was attended by a number of former presidents and vice presidents of the United States, including Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Mike Pence.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to President Biden, while Harris recited her solemn words to Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina judge to sit on the U.S. high court.
