By: Omar Silva I Editor/Publisher

NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE BELIZE _ DIDITAL 2026

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Wednesday 14th May 2025

📰 Editorial

It is shameful. It is unlawful. It is cowardly. When a government begins arresting 13-year-olds under a State of Emergency that wasn’t even explained to the public, we are no longer talking about law enforcement—we are talking about state repression.

The Briceño Administration has failed to address crime. The Minister of Police has failed to deliver a policy. And the new Commissioner of Police is already presiding over one of the most vicious abuses of police powers in recent memory.

Let us be clear: rounding up minors, accusing them of “assembling in a group of more than three,” and throwing them into courtrooms under vague, unconstitutional SOE orders is not policing. It is a State of Exception masquerading as law and order.

How many more young men must be branded criminals before they’ve even left high school? How many more mothers must watch their sons be dragged into courtrooms because this government has no crime plan, no strategy, and no moral compass?

What makes this even more grotesque is that the police appear to be trading guns for freedom—while innocent children are being locked away for talking on a street corner.

This is not justice. This is not security. This is not democracy.

The Police Act, the Constitution, and the very principles of natural justice have been shredded by political convenience and brute incompetence.

We demand:

• The immediate release of all minors detained under these sham charges;
• The resignation of any senior police officers involved in abuse or intoxication while on duty;
• And a full, independent public inquiry into the abuse of SOE powers.

Enough of the cover-ups. Enough of the stalling. The people of Belize are not the enemy.

If the Government cannot police with respect, it must step aside and let those with a plan, a spine, and a conscience take over.