And turning away from the sovereign debt issue - to violent crime in Corozal - which continues to escalate - there is news tonight of another murder in that northern district.
This one happened in Libertad and the victim is taxi-man, Anwar Hernandez. Police believe it is a retaliation for some illicit type activity - although the victim had no criminal record.
Daniel Ortiz went looking for answers today:..
Daniel Ortiz reporting
Last night at around 7:00, the quiet of Libertad Village in the Corozal district was shattered with the execution style killing of 28 year-old Anwar Hernandez, a resident of Corozal Town.
All indications from the police are that Hernandez, who is a taxi driver, picked up one or more of his assailants, who posed as customers, from his usual taxi location in town.
At some point during the drive, Hernandez's assailants surprised him with a firearm and forced him to drive to the entrance of Libertad, where they shot him as many as 12 times.
He received 7 shots to the right side his back, 4 to the right arm, and 1 to the back of the right ear. The calculated nature of the attack suggests that it was some type of planned hit, and today, one resident spoke to us off-camera about the aftermath of the murder.
Voice of: Libertad Resident
"We just heard the gunshots, about 12 shots. Usually when you hear gunshots you know that something bad was happening in the village. When we went out there we saw a multitude of people and we saw that a guy was shot. We were afraid to go and see because of all the crime that is happening in Belize."
"The guy was crying help! But then do you think that we will come and help when we heard the gunshots? When you hear gunshots - that is something bad that is happening, so we can't go and help because probably we could get shot up too."
But by then, the assailants had already escaped, and Hernandez died on the spot. Today his pregnant wife told us that the family can't understand why anyone would kill him in such a terrible way.
Carmen Hernandez - Wife of Deceased
"He was a kind person. Everybody knows him; he used to be friendly with everybody. That's all I could say."
Reporter
"When was the last time you saw or spoke to him?"
Carmen Hernandez - Wife of Deceased
"I saw him yesterday about 5:30 when we were coming up to Santa Rita - he was coming down from Chetumal. We met on the road. That's the last time I saw him."
Reporter
"What did he say to you?"
Carmen Hernandez - Wife of Deceased
"We didn't have any words, I only saw him on the road - he was coming."
Reporter
"What is it that you as his wife going to remember the most about him?"
Carmen Hernandez - Wife of Deceased
"That he used to play with his son and he was desperate in knowing this baby because it's a girl and he wanted this baby girl."
Reporter
"When you were told last night about what happen, what went through your head? Do you know why anyone would want to kill him?"
Carmen Hernandez - Wife of Deceased
"We don't know anything about that. We don't know why they kill him."
And the residents believe that this incident, and other crimes in Libertad and the surrounding villages could have been prevented if their police station, which burnt down 10 years ago, was replaced.
Voice of: Libertad Resident
"Here in Libertad a lot of things are happening - lots of stealing. We need our police station, we really that. When we need the assistant of police - we don't have any assistance from the police. We have Concepcion, Estrea, Santa Cruz and Libertad. Libertad is a hide out for the people - the gangs that come from Belize City come here in our village and we as villagers, we need to call on the Minister of Police to take a look keenly on this village because we need police officers here in Libertad."
Police believe that the investigation should yield an arrest - which would be an improvement since the last 5 murders in or near Corozal Town since July have resulted in no arrests.
