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
The Prime Minister today held his first Cabinet meeting in 3 weeks, and in that time a lot has happened, including one of his ministers taking a leave. Yesterday we told you that Oscar Mira - according to GOB - has taken a leave of absence while an audit is being conducted into the Ministry of Defence.
So how did that first Cabinet session go? And what does the PM think about the allegations against Mira? We spoke to him today after the meeting.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Obviously it is something of concern and we felt that it was the best decision that Minister Mira ask to be excused from Cabinet and also that we then ask both Minister Espat to take over Home Affairs and Minister Usher to take over the Freezones."
"We were saddened by what has happened but our work comes first we have to look after the interest of the government and the people of Belize that's what we were elected for."
Reporter: "The invoices reflect payments from your office to MP Farms over $130,000 in payments, over 11 invoices, how do you explain that?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "What is there to explain? I think you're grasping at straws, I have no idea the people at finance, the people in my office, the ones that do that, I don't think there was anything illegal that was done there and we followed the process."
Courtney Menzies: "What does it mean to you that the dealings with your ministry, all 10 payments were above $10,000 however with the Ministry of Defense, we saw over a thousand transactions below $10,000?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Certainly we do our best to follow the process and in this instance when we saw this continuous payments under $10,000 obviously it raises questions and it raises an alarm and that is why I called the Financial Secretary to send the auditor general to take a look at what's going on."
Reporter: "What happens when those findings are made, will those findings be make public can you commit to making those findings public?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well obviously the report I think we will be able to make it public that's as far as I'd be able to commit."
And while the PM admitted that the transactions raised an alarm, he doesn't think it'll hurt Mira's chances at the polls. And likely he is expecting Mira to return to the Home Affairs Ministry, where he said the former minister was doing a good job.
Courtney Menzies: "Do you think Oscar Mira is still politically viable in Belmopan?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I have every confidence that he is, he has been a good area representative and he has been a good minister, a competent minister so I do believe that politically he will still be able to continue to connect with the people of Belmopan."
Courtney Menzies: "If it's the Ministry of Defense that's being audited why did Mira as Minister of Home Affairs need to take leave?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well because obviously he felt that he being in Cabinet, it might just give the wrong impression so he felt it was best to pull away out of Cabinet for the audit to be done."
Courtney Menzies: "What expectations do you have of Julius Espat in the ministry?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well I expect him to continue the work that Minister Mira started I think Minister Mira was doing a very good job as the minister responsible for home affairs."
Mira now becomes the second Minister on a leave of absence; to hear the PM tell it, Jose Mai is on a medical leave of absence. We should note that both leaves of absence were - according to our best information - directed by the PM.
While the Prime Minister threw Mira a political lifeline by endorsing his political viability, that narrative is colliding with the steady stream of leaks which show the depth of the Mira family's lucrative relationship with the state.
Tonight, we look at a new set of screenshots, those covering another Mira brother, Stanley. Jules Vasquez reports.
Stanley Mira, Oscar Mira's younger brother, was a vendor for the Ministry of Defence between July 2022 and August 2024, according to leaked Smart Stream screenshots.
The screenshots show 59 transactions totaling just under half a million dollars in 25 months.
With the exception of one $200 transaction in 2012, the 41 year old Stanley exclusively supplied his brother's Ministry of Defence. Those 5 dozen transactions totaled $435,125.57.
And, following the pattern of his other family businesses - in these 5 dozen payouts there was no payment record above $10,000.
According to the CEO for Defence, Stanley also owns MP Farms, a high-volume Ministry of Defence supplier.
JUNE 17
Francis Usher, CEO - Ministry of Defence and Border Security "I looked for who it was registered under I believe is Stanley Mira."
For example, in 2023 - MP Farms invoiced the Ministry of Defence for over three-quarters of a million dollars, while the vendor Stanley Mira earned another $117,000.
And we also detected anomalies with his payments: we saw two invoice numbers paid out twice for two different amounts. And in another case, an invoice was canceled and then the same invoice number was brought back with a ghost period added for another figure.
We note that while those are all the entries we received via leaks, they only comprise 60 of the 132 invoices for Stanley Mira on the Smart Stream platform.
The Ministry of Defence CEO could not confirm what goods or service Stanley Mira provided because the audit of his Ministry's records has started.
And one UDP political hopeful has seen enough. The opposition caretaker for Belize Rural Central has filed a corruption complaint against Oscar Mira with the Integrity Commission.
While it's not an office that we hear about often, we also haven't seen a complaint filed against a minister and elected rep. But Broaster said that's exactly why he felt the need to file this one.
Edward Broaster, UDP Caretaker, Belize Rural Central "When nobody makes a report, they say nobody made a report so how can they investigate right? And that's the reason why I took it upon myself to go and make the report on behalf of many people in Belize, red and blue, they are frustrated with the level of corruption that is taking place before our very eyes."
Courtney Menzies: "Do you believe that something will come out of it?"
Edward Broaster, UDP Caretaker, Belize Rural Central "If there's any integrity within the integrity commission I'm sure there will be a complete and comprehensive investigation being made into the honorable Oscar Mira."
Courtney Menzies: "But do you have that trust in the integrity commission?"
Edward Broaster, UDP Caretaker, Belize Rural Central "I have faith and trust in the institution that is there and I hope that the individuals serving there will show the Belize public that they have integrity and they'll do everything within that office to ensure that they uncover exactly what had transpired."
"When we hire officials to represent us in parliament they must be held accountable and they must be forthright with us, it is our monies that are being spent, my tax dollars that are being wasted and given out to a few family members and so forth so this is not political."
Courtney Menzies: "Do you have any indication of when you may hear back from the commission?"
Edward Broaster, UDP Caretaker, Belize Rural Central "No I don't, I am hoping that they follow the policies and procedures laid out in the integrity commission and they institute a full investigation and ensure that the Belize people get answers to the fleecing of the public purse, it's really ridiculous."
Broaster said that he spoke to his party leader about the complaint before filing.
And Broaster isn't standing alone - the UDP issued a press release yesterday calling for Oscar Mira's immediate removal from government. But Briceno maintained that the opposition's former party leader would not have taken action against his minister.
Reporter: "The UDP is calling for more strict measures against Mira, they said the 3 months leave isn't enough."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I don't think the UDP has any moral authority to speak when it comes to those issues because if you were to remember, the then prime minister would defend defend defend until he absolutely couldn't do better, in our case we take actions immediately and we need to be able to get to the bottom of this."
But the NTUCB is also calling for more measures, including an audit of every ministry. But the PM said - basically - ain't nobody got time for that. He said that they have far too much work, and then explained what he says are the positive things coming out of today's Cabinet meeting.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Just right now we just approved a trade agreement with El Salvador, something that the UDP government could have never done. It will open up the opportunity for the Belizean farmers, especially our farms and producers. We have a lot of work, we're taking over the presidency of SICA, we just agreed with the MCC compact, $120 million US something that the UDP could never even think about. And the NTUCB is supposed to be our partners and not be able to just say gotchu. Let's work together, at the end of the day, we have to move this country forward and that is what we have been doing from every metric. I think if not this week, next week we are going to make an announcement the economy in the last quarter grew over 5%, unemployment still continues to be under 2%, so there's a lot of good for us to look at as opposed to just looking at the negative and yes we're not perfect, yes we're going to make mistakes but what's important is that we take corrective measures."
And while the Mira political fallout is centered in Belmopan - for the PUP - the effect is dispersed nationwide.
When we spoke to the PUP area representative for Collet today we asked him what was his reaction when he saw the Mira payments. Here's what he told us.
JO: "What was your first reaction when you saw the payments being made to the companies owned by the Mira family members from the Ministry of Defense?"
Devin Daly, Minister of State at the Ministry of Youth and Sports "I believe I had the same sentiments as every other Belizean, you know, we wanted clarity. However, like I said, I am not a member of the Cabinet, and as a minister of state and as the area representative of Collet, I want what is best for my constituency and best for our ministry. And as you can see, these initiatives that we are pulling off now, that's what that speaks to."
And as a Southside area rep, we also asked Daly about the new police minister. Not mincing on overstatement, he called Espat a great and noble man.
Devin Daly, Minister of State at the Ministry of Youth and Sports "The minister, the new minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Julius Espat, you know, a great man, a noble man, he has done great and good works in his ministry that he has, MIDH. I am not a sitting member of Cabinet as yet, and I hope, I aspire to get there one day, so the internal details of some of the discussions I get the same time as you get."
And while Daly hasn't yet reached Cabinet heights - he's the representative for an area with over 100 delegates. That number could prove pivotal in selecting the PUP Mayoral candidate. But while Daly is new to the game, like his more senior colleagues, he danced right around choosing between Allan and Eluide:
Devin Daly, Minister of State at the Ministry of Youth and Sports "Everyone is asking this question, and you mentioned already that you don't have a line of questions for me. However, I believe both of them are good candidates, and I went on the record saying that already. And ultimately, the direction that Collet goes is the direction that I think is best for our constituency."
A team of medical professionals from Texas is in Belize holding a free medical clinic. We stopped by the ITVET compound where they set up operations and spoke to the head doctor in charge. Jomarie Lanza has this story.
The House on the Rock Medical Mission is here from Dallas, Texas, offering free basic medical check-ups in Belize City. We met the team at the ITVET compound today and spoke to the group leader about some of the services they are offering:
Dr. Simi, House on the Rock Medical Mission "So today we have a group of doctors that will be here to do a physical exam. That means we are going to be checking your blood pressure, we are going to be checking your blood sugar. If your blood sugar is higher than the setting parameters that are set, we will be checking your A1C, we will be screening for kidney disease, for diabetes, and so we are going to do your urine analysis. We will also-we have the pharmacy section, and we are also going to make sure that, needed, if you get some medication that we will be giving. We are also going to be doing EKG, maybe if people come with chest pain or just an abnormal blood pressure reading, we want to look at your heart and just make sure everything is alright. And not just that, we have physical things that we will be giving out, like clothing, some school supplies, shoes-as much as we are able to give. We are just here to show love."
Their contingent is made up of 2 medical doctors, nurses, volunteers, and a pharmacist. Dr. Simi says they expect to service at least 2,000 patients today, and we spoke to one of them after he got his check-up:
Kieran Samuels, Received Check-up "It is very reliable based on what I have just experienced. The people are very welcoming and, apart from that, I wouldn't say they did an extensive medical examination, but they did the basics, you know, so."
"I think it depends on the social status of where you are, because if we be realistic, this is more geared towards the poor people, because then now it helps the poor class to see a doctor, because majority of them are unable to, so it helps the lower class."
This is the first time the team is in Belize, and Dr. Simi told us they will continue to travel to other countries to deliver services.
Dr. Simi, House on the Rock Medical Mission "So our sister church in San Antonio has been doing this for over 10 years and that is why-so we also do locally in the US every month. Every month in the US we go to places we feel that need it, like different apartments and communities, and we do that every month, every third Saturday of the month. [00:05:05.04] [00:04:17.00] So last year we were in Mexico, this year we are in Belize, next year we will be in Africa, so we go continent by continent. We just pray about it, and wherever the Lord asks us to go, we go. The Lord asked us to come to Belize; we have never been here, but something just said, "Belize, Belize," and we kept hearing, "Belize, Belize," and that is why we came."
A Washington, D.C.-based non-profit think tank named Global Financial Integrity has signed an MOU with the Belize Policy Research institute and Belize Network of NGOs.
They're compiling a report identifying gaps in Belize's anti-corruption legislation. Today, they held a governance and integrity session with the media and other stakeholders. BELPRI's executive director told us more.
Dr Dylan Vernon, Executive Director, BELPRI "So this analysis is basically showing that we go have in Belize a framework for anti-corruption that on paper is strong in some areas but the legislation has some gaps that could be improved and should be improved and we make recommendations in those to ensure that there is more enforcement. The short finding of the report of the analysis is that while we have some of the legislation enforcement is hampered by the legislation also having gaps and the three big things coming out of this would be 1, there's a lack of coordination among the bodies that are responsible for implementing the various pieces of legislation, some of the pieces of legislation do not have implementing bodies at all, and that also prevents the enforcement. But there's also in the context of the legislation themselves taken together a lack of implementation because of a lack of awareness and the overall structure of impunity from illegal activity under corruption when they do happen."
Claudia Hernandez, Program Manager, GFI "The report is based on the analysis of at least 11 legislations, domestic speaking, but also international standards and we also identify at least 18 institutions that are a part of this transparency and integrity system so we classify them in high priority medium and low priority so there are some recommendations of this legislation domestically speaking."
Tonight, Belizeans across the country are experiencing intermittent internet outages.
BTL confirmed to 7News earlier this afternoon that they are experiencing intermittent internet outages - and SMARt has posted a notice saying the same. It is affecting both fixed and mobile internet services.
The outages started around 4:00 this afternoon and are continuing at this time - but with less frequency.
The closing for the inaugural Primary School Super National took place this afternoon and there were hundreds of medals distributed to the primary school athletes.
We spoke with the Minister of State in the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the deputy Director of Programs for the National Sports Council on the success of the tournament.
Kaya Cattouse, Deputy Director of Programs, National Sports Council "The inaugural Super Nationals, as was held over the 2 days in Belize City, which saw student-athletes-the best student-athletes in 4 disciplines from across the country, being football, volleyball, basketball, and kids' athletics-was definitely a success. We definitely saw exceptional talent from all districts, and I think we are very proud of the product that we have here."
Devin Daly, Minister of State at the Ministry of Youth and Sports "In participating and competing, ultimately what we want to do as the ministry, from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, is that we want to invest in our young people who are actually showing us that they want a better future. So we are following them, and first of all, we have created a baseline, a catalogue of student-athletes who are excelling in their discipline-in their particular disciplines-and then we are just trying to find a way to hold their hands up all the way from this level all the way up to tertiary, with all the support that they need along with their families."
"It's about 420-something students, student-athletes for primary school, 580 for high school, all condensed within a 2-week span, and we are getting the data that we rightfully need at NSC so we can find out who are the athletes excelling in their disciplines. So this is going to be where the national team process starts; this is going to be where the district tournaments start, because now we can identify properly the athletes. And this has been a collaboration with the federations, grassroots community coaches-we are trying to bring together all the stakeholders involved in youth and sports so that we can get the best possible product."
The overall winners for the past 2 days in Volleyball, Basketball, Football and Kids Athletics were from Cayo, Belize and Toledo.
More than 40 of Belize's front-line emergency response personnel graduated from an intensive, week-long disaster management program, as part of readiness exercises for the 2026 hurricane season. The CARICOM Disaster Relief Unit National Training Programme concluded with a certification ceremony in Belmopan following a rigorous agenda that united the Belize Defence Force, Coast Guard, National Fire Service, and the Belize Search and Rescue Institute.
The training, conducted through a partnership between CDEMA and NEMO, included hands-on exercises in emergency logistics, telecommunications, and post-disaster engineering.
Email
Print
The Prime Minister today held his first Cabinet meeting in 3 weeks, and in that time a lot has happened, including one of his ministers taking a leave. Yesterday we told you that Oscar Mira - according to GOB - has taken a leave of absence while an audit is being conducted into the Ministry of Defence.
John Briceno, Prime Minister 
And while the PM admitted that the transactions raised an alarm, he doesn't think it'll hurt Mira's chances at the polls. And likely he is expecting Mira to return to the Home Affairs Ministry, where he said the former minister was doing a good job.
While the Prime Minister threw Mira a political lifeline by endorsing his political viability, that narrative is colliding with the steady stream of leaks which show the depth of the Mira family's lucrative relationship with the state.
"I looked for who it was registered under I believe is Stanley Mira."
And one UDP political hopeful has seen enough. The opposition caretaker for Belize Rural Central has filed a corruption complaint against Oscar Mira with the Integrity Commission.
"If there's any integrity within the integrity commission I'm sure there will be a complete and comprehensive investigation being made into the honorable Oscar Mira."
And Broaster isn't standing alone - the UDP issued a press release yesterday calling for Oscar Mira's immediate removal from government. But Briceno maintained that the opposition's former party leader would not have taken action against his minister.
But the NTUCB is also calling for more measures, including an audit of every ministry. But the PM said - basically - ain't nobody got time for that. He said that they have far too much work, and then explained what he says are the positive things coming out of today's Cabinet meeting.
Devin Daly, Minister of State at the Ministry of Youth and Sports
A team of medical professionals from Texas is in Belize holding a free medical clinic. We stopped by the ITVET compound where they set up operations and spoke to the head doctor in charge. Jomarie Lanza has this story.
"So today we have a group of doctors that will be here to do a physical exam. That means we are going to be checking your blood pressure, we are going to be checking your blood sugar. If your blood sugar is higher than the setting parameters that are set, we will be checking your A1C, we will be screening for kidney disease, for diabetes, and so we are going to do your urine analysis. We will also-we have the pharmacy section, and we are also going to make sure that, needed, if you get some medication that we will be giving. We are also going to be doing EKG, maybe if people come with chest pain or just an abnormal blood pressure reading, we want to look at your heart and just make sure everything is alright. And not just that, we have physical things that we will be giving out, like clothing, some school supplies, shoes-as much as we are able to give. We are just here to show love."
"It is very reliable based on what I have just experienced. The people are very welcoming and, apart from that, I wouldn't say they did an extensive medical examination, but they did the basics, you know, so."
A Washington, D.C.-based non-profit think tank named Global Financial Integrity has signed an MOU with the Belize Policy Research institute and Belize Network of NGOs.
Dr Dylan Vernon, Executive Director, BELPRI 
Claudia Hernandez, Program Manager, GFI 
The closing for the inaugural Primary School Super National took place this afternoon and there were hundreds of medals distributed to the primary school athletes.
Kaya Cattouse, Deputy Director of Programs, National Sports Council