Prime Minister’s Visit to Mexico Achieves Major Progress in Bilateral Cooperation, Assistance and Development

-Press Release - GOB, Belmopan- 21st October, 2010-Major progress has been achieved in vital areas of cooperation, assistance and development as a result of the official visit to Mexico earlier this week by Prime Minister Hon. Dean Barrow and a ministerial/technical delegation which left Belize on Sunday October 17 and returned home on Tuesday October 19th 2010.
A total of FIVE bilateral agreements and documents were signed by the two countries. Signed by Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education and Youth was an agreement for Technical Cooperation to support Quality and Competitiveness in Technical Education and Training. Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Hon. Wilfred Elrington signed three documents. One is an exchange of letters for the exemption of Mexican visas for holders of Belize Diplomatic Passports to include Official Passports, another is a memorandum of understanding between the foreign ministries of both countries regarding Cooperation to support National Communities abroad, and the third is a Cooperation Agreement between the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property Rights and the Belize Intellectual Property Office.
Also during the visit, Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Alexis Rosado signed the Final Act of the VI Session of the Bi-national Commission held on September 30 and October 1st, 2010, which covers a wide range of areas for cooperation, assistance and development.
During bilateral meetings held on Tuesday between the delegations headed by Prime Minister Dean Barrow and President Felipe Calderon, further cooperation and assistance was discussed in a number of areas such as Regional Security, Energy, Infrastructure, Housing, Education, Trade and Investment, Tourism, Sports and Climate Change.
Another substantive achievement coming out of the Prime Minister’s visit was an agreement with representatives of COMCE for a team of Mexican business people to visit Belize in February of next year to explore possible areas of trade and investment and to help develop the framework for a partial scope agreement between Belize and Mexico. The agreement was reached during a breakfast meeting that the Prime Minister and his delegation held with members of the business community in Mexico City.
The Prime Minister’s delegation to Mexico City included Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Education Hon. Patrick Faber, Senior Advisor and former Prime Minister Dr. Manuel Esquivel, CEO in the Office of the Prime Minister Audrey Wallace, CEO in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alexis Rosado, CEO in the Ministry of Works Cadet Henderson, and CEO in the Ministry of Housing Lawrence Sylvester.
The Prime Minister and his delegation were accompanied during the entire visit by Mexico’s Ambassador in Belize H.E. Luis Manuel Lopez Moreno and Belize’s Ambassador in Mexico H.E. Rosendo Antonio Urbina. (ends)

UB’s Bachelor’s Program now available in San Pedro

As our community continues to grow, so do the needs of its residents. Over the years, San Pedro has been able to offer a high school education (San Pedro High School), followed by an Associate’s Degree program (San Pedro Junior College). Rather than having to travel, being far away from family, and spending lots of money on rent and food, students have been able to attend classes with the added convenience of evening hours. Those who work during the day find that being able to accumulate credits at night works to their convenience, especially for those who have put their education on hold. Now, it is time for yet another advance in the educational opportunities of San Pedro.

On October 19th, 2010, The San Pedro Sun received a press release from the University of Belize (UB). The release stated that “[UB]…is pleased to announce that for the first time, its Bachelor Degree in Tourism Management Program will be offered in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, in January, 2011.” For many recent graduates of San Pedro Junior College (SPJC), this is quite possibly the most exciting news, as they now may continue their education in the comfort of their own home. When we contacted Mr. Froylan Gilharry, Assistant Dean of San Pedro Junior College, he was enthusiastic about the program.


“This has been one of my personal projects; to convince UB to offer a degree here on the island, since I am the tourism teacher at SPJC and a graduate from University of Belize,” stated Gilharry. His enthusiasm kept him going through the negotiations for “over a year”. Having met with Mr. Kevin Geban (UB Tourism Lecturer) and Dr. Vincent Palacio (Dean of UB), they ironed out the logistics and now, finally, it will be feasible to offer a Bachelor’s Degree in San Pedro. As contact person for UB San Pedro, Mr. Gilharry was quite happy to provide us with information regarding the course, and the technical aspects of it.

According to him, the program will be a partnership between UB and SPJC. SPJC will offer all pre-requisites in order to complete the Bachelor’s Degree program. Classes will be held on Friday nights and all day on Saturday. Taught by UB Lecturers and other experts, the new program will be a great introduction of UB to San Pedro. Gilharry further stated that, “Depending on the enrollment, and the interest from students for other courses to be offered, UB will then make that decision when and if it is feasible to offer any other programs.”

For their part, UB found that San Pedro, Ambergris Caye was a logical place to expand and offer their advanced courses. Dean of the Faculty of Management and Sciences (FMSS), Dr Vincent Palacio explained that the expansion of the program “is in keeping with the continued commitment of the national University to provide affordable and accessible educational and training programs that are relevant, responds to, and contributes to national development needs and priorities of Belize.” The release further states that while the tourism sector continues to be a priority for the Government of Belize, UB is committed to playing an active role in the development of said sector by producing quality human resources. Ambergris Caye has been classified as one of the most important destinations for Belize’s tourism, accounting for 42.3% of total tourism expenditure. Now, the human resources on the island can add a Bachelor’s Degree to their accomplishments, further enhancing the industry which they thrive on.

Currently San Pedro Junior College offers three programs: Associate’s Degree in Business Management, Associate’s Degree in Business Administration (majoring in Accounting) and Associate’s Degree in Tourism Management. Any student who graduates from SPJC can easily enroll in the new UB Bachelor’s Program, as all subjects offered by SPJC are accepted by UB. A recruitment session will be held at San Pedro Junior College on November 5th, 2010 at 7pm. For more information, contact Mr. Froylan Gilharry at the SPHS/SPJC building during office hours.

Mexico’s Federal Police offers training to the Belize Police Department

Belmopan, October 15th, 2010. - The Mexican Embassy informs conclusion of the training course on “Analysis and Police Intelligence” offered by the Mexico´s Federal Police to the Belize Police Department (BPD). The training was sponsored by the Ministry of Public Security of Mexico and was held at the Police Academy in Belmopan. This training constitutes part of the agreements made between Mexico and Belize within High Level Mexico – Belize Border Security Group (GANSEF). The objective of the training is to enhance the capacities of the offices in the Belize Police Department, to strengthen the operative capability, and to contribute to the efforts that the Government of Belize has embarked to combat delinquency.

The course was developed from October 11th, to 15th, 2010. The training was headed by two officials of the Mexico`s Federal Police with experience in training elements of the Mexican Police. Thirty three members of the BDP, Belize Defense Force, National Coast Guard of Belize likewise the Department of Immigration, Customs and Prison Officers participated in the training. The objective was to improve activities on intelligence and analysis of information of those security agencies in combating criminal activities.

The training was especially prepared for the needs of Belize, including topics such as terrorist organizations, organized crime, threats against the Government, intelligence and information, cycle of intelligence, planning and administration, search and database collection, analysis and dissemination of the intelligence products. The course included practical tasks and an evaluation.

The representatives of the BPD expressed their gratitude to the Government of Mexico because these type of courses represent a great importance for the Belizean forces. In particular, they underlined the professional capability showed by the Mexican trainers. At the closing ceremony Ambassador of Mexico to Belize Luis Manuel Lopez Moreno mentioned the importance of the cooperation and the mutual support in the struggle against crime. He also presented the participants with certificates for completing the training program.

This is the fifth course that the Mexico`s Federal Police have given to the BPD during this year. The previous ones were “Scene of the Crime and Preservation of the Evidence”, “Reconstruction of Road Accidents”, “Interview and Police Examination”, “Tactics of Security and Survival”. Those courses were given to 132 officials, which represents approximately 10 % of the elements of that department.

Ministry of Health to hold launching ceremony for Tobacco Control measures in Belize

Belmopan. October 18th, 2010. The Ministry of Health National Drug Abuse Control Council is pleased to announce the official launching ceremony of the Frame work Convention on Tobacco Control Article Eight (Protection from exposure to tobacco smoke) to take place on Wednesday, October 20th, 2010 starting at 9:00am at the Belize Telemedia Limited Constitution Park, Belize City.

Belize signed onto the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on September 26th, 2003 and ratified it on December 15th, 2005. In order to fulfill its obligations under the FCTC the country developed the Belize National Tobacco Control Plan 2007-2012 which was launched on May 31st, 2007.

Since then, the Ministry of Health and the Bureau of Standards of Belize with the technical support of the Pan American Health Organization have been working on the implementation of the plan.

In an effort to maintain a Smoke Free Environment, Cabinet has approved Article Eight (Protection from Exposure to tobacco smoke) with the following measures:
*the prohibition of smoking within Government Buildings
*the prohibition of smoking in private business where the public accesses services, for example: Lobbies of Banks, hotels. Restaurants must indicate ‘Smoking’ and ‘No Smoking’ areas
*the prohibition of smoking in all Primary, Secondary and Tertiary learning institutions, whether public, church-state or privately managed
*the prohibition of smoking in public transportation, including all Terminals
*public display of ‘No Smoking Signs’ in areas where smoking is prohibited
*public awareness and education activities to promote this initiative

Minister of Health, Hon. Pablo Marin mentioned that he is encouraged by the steps taken to fulfill the obligations under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and he is committed to assist at Cabinet so that we can ensure full compliance with the other articles.

In Belize it is estimated that 37% of our deaths each year is related to cancers and other tobacco-related diseases. A Global Youth Tobacco Survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) published in 2008 showed that almost 1 in 5 students currently use some form of tobacco (8% smoking cigarettes) and one in 10 students currently use some other form of tobacco aside from cigarettes. 74.7% of the respondents want to stop smoking and 61.4% think smoking should be banned from public places.Guest speakers at the ceremony will include the Minister of Health, Hon. Pablo Marin and representatives from PAHO.

A Tobacco-Sensitization Fair follows the official ceremony with participation from the Cancer Society, Bureau of Standards and several primary schools from the Belize district area. The media is especially invited to attend.

ACES says Thank YOU!

The parents, board members, teachers and the entire student body of Ambergris Caye Elementary take this opportunity to thank the following persons for their kind contribution in one way or the other to the school.

Mr. Claudio Azueta and Family, Mr. Carlos Alejos and Family, Mrs. Alba Marin and Family, Mrs. Florita Frisinger and Family, Mrs. Melanie Paz, Mrs. Flora Ancona, Mr. Manuel Ancona Jr, Mrs. Anna Ico, Mr. Kareem Marun, Mr. Roberto Canul, Mr. Geovannie Marin, Mr. Sam, Mrs. Sonia Sutherland, Mrs. Ilse Williams, Mr. Jorge Rodriguez, Mrs. Jessica Eiley, Mr. Daniel Itza, Mr. Emil, Mr. Dee Dillion, Mr. Erick "Gato", Mr. Samuel Gonzales, The Bikini Bar, Xanadu Resort, The Victoria House, The 14 kids that helped during the summer, Councilor Pablo Ico, The San Pedro Town Board and Mayor Elsa Paz, Traveller's Liquors

Thank you all.

God Bless,
Ambergris Caye Elementary School.