Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
Tonight, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Secretary are searching for a new Minister of Defence. That is after the current Minister of Defence Florencio Marin went on a leave of absence from Cabinet today. He is the second minister to do so in a week; Minister of Home Affairs Oscar Mira did so last week.
The decision was made this morning. Sources tell us the Prime Minister took action after growing concerned that the Mira case is just the tip of the iceberg. There are fears that numerous other sub-$10,000 payments could link back to Marin-who served as Mira's senior minister from 2020 to 2025, and returned to the post last November.
But, to hear the Prime Minister tell it-it was Marin's decision to take the leave while the audit at his Ministry is ongoing:
Reporter "All the persons who officials who would have been involved in the payment process regarding the split payments, those people should be placed on suspension. Has that been done?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I don't know. That is something for the Auditor General to take a look."
"She will be making recommendations. Right now, I can deal with what I can deal. I can deal with the ministers. Minister Marin just called me earlier before the meeting to say, you know what, I think it's best for me to ask for a leave of absence so that the Auditor General can continue to do their auditing of the ministry."
"It happened whilst the minister, he believes that he didn't do anything illegal, but he thinks that it will be best for the government for him to step back for the next 90 days, then we could get a report and then take it from there."
But, where will they take it from there? And might that audit already be unearthing that there were many hundreds more suspect payments hovering under the $10,000 threshold?
Jules Vasquez looked at the power matrix within the Ministry of Defence from 2020 to 2025:
Between 2020 and 2025, the leadership structure atop the Ministry of Defence was clear: Florencio Marin served as substantive Minister, Oscar Mira was Minister of State, Dario Tapia sat as CEO, and Salvador Alas managed the books as Financial Officer.
As Chief Executive Officer, Tapia was the official Accounting Officer - meaning he carried the ultimate responsibility to safeguard public funds, ensure accountability, and guarantee value for money.
Reports and messages we have seen indicate that Alas, as the Financial Officer had direct knowledge of the many hundreds, possibly thousands of sub-ten-thousand-dollar payments.
And while the blame could lie with Tapia or perhaps even be passed on to Alas, by directing the two former Ministers, Marin and Mira to take leave, the Prime Minister clearly believes there could be some taint of personal culpability, or direct influence.
We have seen the message from one senior public officer in the Ministry of Defence saying, "Minister Mira is the decision maker" - on the supply of certain items.
With Mira, it is clear: during his time at the Ministry: his family's businesses were major suppliers and service providers, receiving millions of dollars in payments for their services.
But, Mira was junior minister - they are usually fighting for scraps. And so the question tonight is, if his family's companies had over a thousand entries - then how many could plausibly be linked to Marin - since that mode of payment appeared to be the norm in this ministry?
The PM is concerned about companies like Kukulcan and others which may be connected to Marin - and based on tender documents leaked to us in 2023-2024, Kukulcan was among the top suppliers.
Based on analysis of documents we know that Kukulcan was not the most affordable provider of vegetables.
We are also looking into the ownership of those other companies who were top suppliers.
The Prime Minister is also likely concerned about the price paid for these Atlama boots which were bought for one to $200 more than the best available local price - according to our sources.
As we said, the retail price of those Altama boots is a subject of concern. Those boots were made for walking through the jungle-but they may end up forcing a minister to walk right out of a Cabinet post.
The PM said it makes him upset:
Reporter "What do you think of the information which shows that the BDF bought at least 1,500 boots at a high markup when they could have gotten a better price locally from the authorized dealer?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well it's obviously something that raises questions and makes you, it gets you upset you know. Again, I have not seen the entire thing, it's just what you all are revealing so it's certainly something that I would not support."
Reporter "We know that you were in the letter by one of the vendors of these boots said he could have supplied them cheaper. You were made aware of it at the time in 2021 and 2022. Did you inquire or take any action?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I really don't remember the letter, that's 2021 I mean, I get thousands of that. I'm not trying to deflect but whenever it's something like that would happen I would pass it on to the Ministry for them to deal with. They are the ones that look after that so but I genuinely don't remember. I haven't seen that."
Jules, thanks for all that; we will see how it continues to evolve in the next few weeks.
And Jules, you have also been looking into another Mira-related company, that's MW Motor Imports. What have you found out?
MW Motor Imports - we're reliably informed that this company also has a family connection to former Minister Oscar Mira - and that the initials suggest the owners' last names. In fact 7News has received a copy of an email where Oscar's brother Keith Mira's name appears as the sales rep - responding to a sales inquiry saying they have a large inventory of Toyota, Mitsubishi and Nissan. But where? The business lists no address or phone number - just a plain Facebook page and an email address - and none of the car dealers we spoke to had heard of or seen this "large inventory of Toyota, Mitsubishi and Nissan."
In 2026 - the Ministry of Home Affairs published this notice for the supply 12 pickups. It was published in February, right when the fiscal year was winding down.
But, highly placed sources tell us, the original plan was to purchase it from a recommended supplier. Would that recommendation have been for MW Motor Imports which planned to supply Nissan Navarro pickups?
It's a million dollar acquisition and wiser voices insisted that it had to go to tender and to the Contractor General - which it did.
Those tenders were opened up on March fifth, 2026 and it shows that MW Motors did submit a bid for 1.1 million dollars. - one of 9 bids. The company's rep was not present at the opening so they did not sign it.
Turns out the tender documents were defective and the process was scrapped - so no one won the bid - and the fiscal year elapsed - so the vehicles were not purchased, at least not yet.
And while we have not seen any screenshots for MW Motors, we have seen dozens for the Stanley Mira-owned MP Farms, which was a heavy supplier to the Ministry of Defence.
But from August 14th, 2025 to May 3rd, 2026, it also supplied the Prime Minister's office-but never for under ten thousand dollars.
The Cabinet Secretary told us these payments were for social support grocery bags paid for by the PM's office for the Belmopan constituency. Each constituency is given a budget for that support, and Mira asked for his amount to go to his family's MP Farms, which provided them.
Today, the Prime Minister said this is a matter for the Cabinet Secretary:
Reporter "Have you inquired about the pantry bags purchased from MP Farms out of your ministry?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well, I think that the minute Mr. Vasquez called the Cabinet Secretary and has answered that question properly."
"I'm basically saying that they have a budget to be able to provide the pantry bags and once they bring the receipts, we pin and that's simply what happened."
Reporter "The last time you were asked about other ministries being investigated, you deflected that's what the NTUCB is asking for. And given the leaks of these smart stream records, it warrants investigations into other ministries."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well, I think, listen, we have a lot of work. I'm not trying to deflect."
"I'm just trying to say to deal with what we have. We have this right now in front of us. We've got to deal with it. And as I said to Cabinet from last week and this week, I'll repeat it. We don't only have to do the things right, we also have to appear to do the things right."
"I mean, for instance, what I've been told when it comes to the Mira's, it gives the impression as if they were only getting money and they were not delivering goods, but the goods were delivered. But it really leads into question when you're just giving it to one person."
"So that's the point I was making, that you can't only do things right. You also have to appear to be doing things right."
And there's more Mira fallout at Recondev, where Oscar's brother Brian is the Chairman of the Board.
Since then, there had been footage circulating of a meeting occurring with some of those members from RECONDEV, and when we asked the Prime Minister about it today, he claims he knew nothing of a meeting.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I hope that we can name a new RECONDEV board by the end of this week."
Reporter: "So there was footage that was released of a meeting that took place at the ministry of human... not Human Development."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Oh, that night?"
Reporter: "Yes, where we had CEO Shal and including Mira."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Everybody saw that footage, but I did not know I was supposed to ask what the meeting was about, so I did not check. They met, and I don't know why."
Reporter: "Because, yeah, he is not a cabinet minister anymore, so it raises some questions."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Why? He is still a member of the National Assembly. He is still a member of our government, so he can meet anybody in the government."
Reporter: "There were people involved from the current RECONDEV board."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I really, honestly don't know."
And this entire Mira and now Marin mess started with Oscar Mira making a cyberbullying complaint against Alberto August. The Police Department acted immediately on the complaint made by its minister-and detained August for more than a day before charging him.
The avalanche of exposure against Mira that then ensued is now a matter of public record.
For the new Minister of Home Affairs on board, his first directive was to hand over the Alberto August cyberbullying case to the DPP for independent review, and she, of course, rubbished what was widely regarded as a frivolous charge.
The PM says he supports that decision, and then went on to discuss the cyberbullying law in depth.
Jomarie Lanza: "The new Minister of Home Affairs immediately directed that the cyberbullying charge be sent to the DPP for review, and she told the police to discontinue with the charges and return the cell phones. What do you think of this?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I support that, and I have said it over and over that... okay, let us start with the cyberbullying law. There is a cyberbullying law that was passed by the previous government, and it provides for the action that has been taking place. I asked the Attorney General to take a look at it, and he thinks that it is unconstitutional. So quite likely, hopefully at the next House meeting, we have to make some amendments to that."
"So let's start with that. And secondly, I did ask the minister to have the DPP to take a look at it to see if there is a case or not; she decided that there is not a case. Thirdly, I would like to make it very clear that we need to be careful as politicians. I don't think that the public have a problem if a politician were to sue anybody because they believe they have been aggrieved or they have been slandered, but I think the public has a problem when they would feel that the minister is using the state to go after its enemies. Now, I am not in any way suggesting that... that is what Honorable Mira was doing. I don't think he was doing that; the police really felt that there was a case. But I just feel strongly that we should not go down that... we should not go down that road, because once you go down that road, then others can then take abuse of it, and we should not allow that."
Notably, on June third, the PM told us, quote, "Oscar Mira has every right to be able to make a report against him under the cyberbullying law."
But shouldn't the police, under the direction of the commissioner, have sent the file over to the DPP in the first place?
The PM says he's unable to say whether Compol Rosado misdirected the case.
Jomarie Lanza: "Do you feel that the Commissioner of Police directed the Cybercrime Unit to act wrongly in proceeding with the charge without independent advice?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I don't know. First of all, I don't know if he is the one... if he directed them, one. And secondly, I don't know if he directed them wrongly, and so that is as best as I could answer that question."
The Belize Defence Force has launched an internal investigation after a female soldier reported she was raped by another soldier at Fairweather Camp in Toledo between Sunday night and Monday morning. Commander Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez said the alleged victim was assisted to make a police report, then flown to Price Barracks for counseling after weather delayed the flight, and has since received medical care and psychological support. The accused soldier has been placed under open arrest at Fairweather Camp while police and the BDF conduct separate investigations:
Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez, Commander, BDF "Internally, the BDF is launching its own investigation and we will determine internally the matter, how it happened, what caused it to happen and why did it happen."
Reporter "Are you all in a position to disclose whether or not it was an officer or a soldier who committed it?"
Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez "It was a soldier who is the alleged perpetrator."
Reporter "Has that person been put on leave?"
Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez "The perpetrator is right now in what we call open arrest at Fairweather Camp, meaning he cannot leave Fairweather Camp until further notice."
Reporter "We know that a previous alleged rape and sexual assault case was linked to the suicide of a female soldier. Can you address this?"
Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez "Yes, well, this is a very serious matter. It's a wicked problem, a problem that really has a very limited solution, it cannot be solved 100%. So that's why we call it a wicked problem. So it's a problem that's persistent, it will always be there. What we have done over the past years and we learned from all these incidents that you alluded to, we have strengthened our policies, we have strengthened our policies, or the way how we deal with these matters, right? And we have educated our soldiers about sexual assault and everything and proper etiquette within the workplace. To the best of my knowledge, these incidents have reduced since that grave one that you mentioned. However, they will never go away, so we have to constantly be on the lookout and on guard."
"So these incidents, like I mentioned, they can be triggered by different things. But when large numbers of young people, soldiers, sailors, or police, I guess, work in confined spaces together, if you add other things like alcohol or whatever in there, these incidents are likely to occur. If not managed properly. And even though we have all the protocols and in place and procedures, the incidents still occur from time to time."
And when it comes to the SmartStream screenshots suggesting insider enrichment at the Ministry of Defence, the Brigadier General said he did not know where their rations were being sourced, but when he found out about it, he was very disappointed in the way it was being procured:
Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez, Commander, BDF "Okay, first of all, I don't know where the goods come from, right? I know that we receive vegetables and food for the Belize Defense Force. And my concern, my chief concern as commander of the Belize Defense Force is that our soldiers receive the proper food for their nutrition, okay? So as long as we do not receive rotting vegetables, for example, or substandard food or vegetables, then I am happy, okay? And the procuring process occurs at the ministry level, okay? So I don't know where they come from, but my key and only concern is that we receive the proper and the best food for our soldiers."
Reporter "Were you somewhat concerned or disappointed when you saw all the releases?"
Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez "Yes, definitely. Any citizen of this country would be concerned. However, my primary concern as commander of the Belize Defense Force is the morale and the welfare of my soldiers, of our soldiers. And based on that, I will ensure that they receive the proper food and nutrition that they deserve."
Reporter "And have you had cases recently or since you've taken over to know where you've noticed that goods have arrived that were substandard?"
Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez "Not to any huge extent. Not to any huge extent, no."
Reporter "Do you believe that all the information that's been recently released, that that has affected the morale of the soldiers?"
Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez "Like I mentioned before, as a citizen of Belize, yes, it's concerning. To the extent of affecting the morale of the soldiers, I would believe that the same thing as a citizen of Belize is concerning."
And a retired BDF Major is speaking up more plainly. Former PUP candidate and Retired Major Lloyd Jones today posted the following:
"I am deeply pained by the abject failure of former military officers to effectively lead the MOD.
For the first time in the history of the BDF we had three former military officers and graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst occupying the top three positions in the MOD: Min. Marin, Min. of State Mira and CEO Tapia. I was beyond elated at this and I applauded the PM for those appointments. What a wasted opportunity!
The revelations coming out of the MOD is especially painful particularly because these former military officers know firsthand the neglect that the BDF has suffered since 1990 when Belizeans took command from the British."
"I am hurting for the serving members of the BDF who must endure living on military camps that are in deplorable conditions, whose rations have been curtailed, who are ill equipped, and who must feel absolutely demoralized at this time."
Today, the Minister of Education, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Culture Francis Fonseca returned to work-just under two months after doing triple bypass cardiac surgery. That's an early return because typically open-heart surgery requires a three-month recovery.
But Fonseca sat down with Jules Vasquez this morning to say he's feeling good-and has a new lease on life-but one informed by the very grueling experience of open-heart surgery. He told us about lessons learned:
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education, Culture, Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade "I'm feeling good. You know, I'm very, very grateful for the for be feeling this. Well, eight weeks after. After my surgery. Major surgery, you know, recovery period. Generally, they say you start to feel, you know, kind of normal around three months. So I feel like I'm ahead of schedule. I feel really good. You know, so, you know, I have full of energy and, that's why I've really returned to to work, effective today."
Reporter "So you're fully taking back up your core ministries, which is education, culture, foreign affairs, foreign trade?"
Francis Fonseca "Yes, yes, yes I am. obviously, you know, I have to understand that I have to to pace myself and, you know, do things a little differently. I think one of the critical lessons you learned from going through this experience is that, you know, what, your lifestyle is, is critically important. And I think certainly over the last five years, as a cabinet minister with, with major responsibilities, I found myself spending a lot of time being sedentary. You know, you get up, you get in your vehicle, you drive to Belmopan, you get to Belmopan, you're in an office, you have meetings all the, when the when that day is done, you you jump back into the vehicle, you get home, you're tired. You just want to relax at home. So it's easy to fall into that trap. And I think that's one of the critical lessons you have to have for all of us that, you know, that sedentary lifestyle can really be be a killer. So it's important to, to be active, important to move throughout the day, to make sure that, you know, you find find a proper balance, and you don't get caught up in that world of, of just work and sitting down and, and, and and focus on, on that aspect of your life."
Fonseca's issues didn't start the day he had surgery; they started long before when he began feeling a burning sensation to his left shoulder.
But, he thought it was gas; it never occurred to him that he might be having a partial blockage of one of the main arteries to his heart. He told us what he was experiencing:
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education, Culture, Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade "I would say around the end of January, I started feeling, you know, some discomfort in on the left side of my chest. No. No pain. It wasn't pain. It was what I described to the doctors as, sore. The burning sensation. So, you know, I, I kind of ignored it. Does. You know, we often do, for a few weeks. And then when I was traveling, walking through the airport one day, it really intensified and, and really got to the point where I had to stop. And, I said is, when I get back to Belize I really have to check this out."
"And so when I came back, I went to, to the doctor, I first went to doctor Mark Musa. I said, this is a probably, you know, like, gas or something."
"So, he examined me. Give me some. He looked at me. I, took some tests. Showed nothing really, initially. So I he gave me some medication. I took that for maybe two weeks, but the discomfort didn't go away, so I said, no, I have to go back. I went back to him, and that's when he. He recommended that I see, Doctor Jeff Lin, who is, Taiwanese, doctor, a cardiologist."
"So I went to see Doctor Lin, and he did a number of tests with me, stress tests and other things. And he said, listen, we he wasn't satisfied with the tests. So listen, we we need to do some more detailed tests. And that's when I, he brought in, doctor Adrian Coye into the picture, who is a cardiac surgeon."
"And that's where those tests revealed, that I had significant 60% blockage in one of my main arteries. Leading to the heart. And that, you know, that was, obviously a very alarming, but I also had two."
"Two other arteries that were, less had less blockage. 20%, 30% blockage, that could have been treated through medication."
But, medication would not have addressed Fonseca's 60% blockage. Tomorrow you'll hear why he chose to do such a complex surgery at the KHMH, but tonight you'll hear his answer to our question: was he scared that he could have died on the operating table?
Reporter "What was your greatest fear? That you fear death. We know that. It's a very difficult surgery. They basically have to take your heart off line."
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education, Culture, Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade "And lungs, Yeah. Yeah. No. Absolutely, absolutely. When you, when you're, faced with a major surgery of this nature, you face death. Yeah. You you you you you come face to face with that possibility. So I knew that there were risks. The doctors were always saying to me, listen, this bypass surgery is a low risk surgery. You know, it's the most common surgery in the world today. But there are risks. You know, they felt that because of my age, I was in a good position. Because of my heart was strong. Nothing is wrong with my heart that just these arteries that float to the heart. The heart is strong. The heart is is doing well. So they felt that it was very low risk. But yes, you are faced with that. I was, for the first time in your life, imagine, you know, you live 50 plus years, and the first time in your life your heart will be shut down completely. Your lungs will be shut down, and you're put on a on a on a machine, where a medical technician is keeping you alive, running this heart and lung machine. So, you know, I, I certainly, you know, was looking forward to that. I was concerned about that. And of course, they have to then revive you after the surgery. And that's where they they always had the greatest risks when they're kind of waking you up back. How do you respond or does your body respond? You know, how does your heart start beating again? Normally, that's where, you know, a lot of people have heart attacks, strokes during that period. So I was concerned about that."
And while he was not tuned in to the news during his convalescence, he didn't quite go Rip Van Winkle.
Fonseca had heard about the thousands of sub-10,000 dollar payments that were being made at the Ministry of Defence. We asked him whether or not he ever practiced anything like that. He said that it is not the minister's place to get involved in his finance officer's practices:
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education, Culture, Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade "I learned a long, long time ago to, to stay away from the finance officer and the ministries. As you know, the CEO was already accounting officers for the ministries. So as the minister, my job is is policy. My job is is not to interfere in contracts and to interfere with the finance officer. The only time we meet really is when budget time, when they say, listen, we need you to go to cabinet and fight for for our budget. And these are the priorities. So, you know, I, I'm not engaged, as you said. I'm aware of these thresholds. And, yes, I know that there's some level of abuse that's takes place, in the public service, with these thresholds, but there I think, listen, I, I, I certainly support the actions that have been taken so far. Placing these substantive ministers on leave, and then ensuring that a proper audit is done. And that's important. We have to make sure that it's the audit is done properly, that it's, it's it's a comprehensive audit. And wherever that leads, we have to allow it to lead, you know, to go, wherever that leads coming out of. So I, I support those actions. I think those are the appropriate actions at this stage. As more information becomes available, there may, may be a need for further action."
And in news related to Foreign Affairs, the government has officially signed modifications to the Belize Compact, a $125 million USD grant agreement with the US under its Millennium Challenge Corporation, making it one of the largest grants in Belize's history. This grant will be allocated towards significant investments in education and long-term energy support.
But getting to this point required a lot of adjustment-since the terms of the grant changed after Donald Trump was elected. The energy component has been significantly reshaped to have less emphasis on renewable energy.
The Prime Minister gave us more details on the signing today.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I don't think it has been really a long process because when they called us in December of 2021 informing us that Belize has been chosen to be a recipient-to sign a compact with MCC-usually it is a very, very lengthy process. So when they met with us and said, 'Well, let's come up with a list of things where we believe that Belize's priority is,' and then we started to narrow it, we said, 'Listen, the two priorities that we had, one is education and the second was energy."
"I am happy that they quickly agreed on that, and so that is what we have been working on. It has been a long process in the sense that there have been a lot of consultations, especially when it comes to education-with the teachers, with the ministry, with the Ministry of Finance-and likewise with energy, trying to address the challenges we have been facing with energy. In a way, we have been a victim of... of our own success. Our economy has grown way faster than expected, so we are already consuming what was projected for 2028 and probably 2029. So I think it was a wise decision to hone into those two areas."
So in terms of what those projects will be looking like in the coming months, the PM says one of the main things they hope to tackle soon is replacing the submarine line that connects San Pedro to the mainland. It's a project endlessly delayed and literally tied up at the bottom of the sea.
He says it is now a major priority to them.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "What we looked at is to move some of the finances that were going to be used in more inclusion, and also the digital devices, because they wanted to shift more monies into energy because they felt that, again, for us to have a thriving economy, we have to keep up with the energy-but not only reliable, but trying to find ways on how we could start to bring down the cost of energy. And that is what we are working along with them. With the World Bank, we are doing a project for batteries; I think it is about 30 megawatts of batteries."
"Looking at solar, solar will be coming online pretty soon-within the next year, two years at most, we are going to be having an amount of solar. And we know that also the submarine line that connects the mainland to San Pedro has passed its time. It should have been done from before we got into government; it should have been replaced and it wasn't. And so now, through the compact, we are getting some funding to be able to help pay for it. Government will still have to put a significant push of monies to be able to get that done."
But while negotiating the revamped MCC agreement with the Americans has been difficult, settling the issue of the Cuban medical brigade is far more complex.
Belize has been trying to hold onto them-but the Americans insist they've got to be sent back because they call it forced labor.
We asked Fonseca about it:
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education, Culture, Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade "I think back in March, or it may have been April, the cabinet considered this very important matter. And what the cabinet directed and instructed was that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Wellness work together over a period of six months, so we're like three or four months into that six-month period, to come up with options that could then be taken back to the cabinet for a final decision on how we move forward with the program."
"Now, obviously, one of the options is winding up the program. So winding up the program, can we establish some permanent residence program that the Cubans would be comfortable with, satisfied with, the Americans as well."
"Could we work out individual contracts? So that's the work that really started and has been ongoing to devise this brief, this plan, with a number of options that will then be presented to cabinet. So I think what the Charge was saying was that, because in their briefings with us, we have shared with them that plan."
"That is one of the options and that's what they support. They support winding up the program and if we decide to go in that direction, they obviously would want us to do so. So that is one of the options on the menu, on the table."
Jules Vasquez "You project that there is some room to work around this issue, but really with the Americans, there's no legal room. Once you are listed for two successive years as having forced labor, as they call it, Cuban medical doctors, and we have already been listed once, and at the end of this year, if we still have it, we will be listed twice."
"They cut you off. You lose all support. The MCC grant gone, etc. So we can talk around the issue, but the fact is, for the Americans, it's a binary situation. At the end of December, they will ask yes or no."
"If the answer is yes, we still have, they will cut us off."
Francis Fonseca "That may be the case. That may be the case. But we're not there yet. We're not there yet. And that's certainly not the message that we have gotten from them."
"As you know, you know, one of my last trips, you know, before my surgery, Prime Minister Merseño and I were in Washington, where we had an opportunity to meet, you know, with the Deputy Secretary of State, Secretary Landau, who is responsible for the Western Hemisphere."
"And we discussed this issue as well, very briefly. But again, I think they are prepared. They're working with Cuba. They're prepared as well to work with us. So yes, as you rightly point out, they want the program ended."
"But I still think there are opportunities for us to find some reasonable, responsible middle ground."
As Belize prepares to celebrate its 45th anniversary of independence, The September Celebrations Committee unveiled this year's theme. The winner is an 18-year-old student, and today we got the chance to ask her what inspired her submission. Jomarie Lanza was at the event:
High School Student Athletes Face Off on Day Two of Super Nationals Volleyball
All 6 districts are participating in the male category of the high schools Super Nationals volleyball games, while only 5 districts except Corozal will be playing in the female category. Today was day 2 of intense volleyball games between student athletes from across the country, and the men's match was quite something to see this morning. We met with the Deputy Director for the National Sports Council, Kaya Cattouse at Swift Hall for an update on the Super Nationals tournament. She says the games are definitely worth seeing.
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Tonight, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Secretary are searching for a new Minister of Defence. That is after the current Minister of Defence Florencio Marin went on a leave of absence from Cabinet today. He is the second minister to do so in a week; Minister of Home Affairs Oscar Mira did so last week.
John Briceno, Prime Minister 
But, where will they take it from there? And might that audit already be unearthing that there were many hundreds more suspect payments hovering under the $10,000 threshold?
As we said, the retail price of those Altama boots is a subject of concern. Those boots were made for walking through the jungle-but they may end up forcing a minister to walk right out of a Cabinet post.
Jules, thanks for all that; we will see how it continues to evolve in the next few weeks.
And while we have not seen any screenshots for MW Motors, we have seen dozens for the Stanley Mira-owned MP Farms, which was a heavy supplier to the Ministry of Defence.
"Internally, the BDF is launching its own investigation and we will determine internally the matter, how it happened, what caused it to happen and why did it happen."
And a retired BDF Major is speaking up more plainly. Former PUP candidate and Retired Major Lloyd Jones today posted the following:
"I am deeply pained by the abject failure of former military officers to effectively lead the MOD.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education, Culture, Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade 
And in news related to Foreign Affairs, the government has officially signed modifications to the Belize Compact, a $125 million USD grant agreement with the US under its Millennium Challenge Corporation, making it one of the largest grants in Belize's history. This grant will be allocated towards significant investments in education and long-term energy support.
