Capital Of Belize
Investment Climate
As with most countries in the region, corruption remains a problem in Belize. Belize's first step to combat corruption in public life came with the enactment of the Prevention of Corruption in Public Life Act in 1994. This act makes provision for the prevention of political corruption and to provide for the public disclosure of the assets, income and liabilities of persons in public life, such as the Governor-General and members of the National Assembly, which includes the Prime Minister and Cabinet members. It also seeks to strengthen the code of conduct prescribed in the constitution. In addition, the government hired a parliamentary commissioner on June 25, 1999. The parliamentary commissioner, known as the Ombudsman, has the primary responsibility of investigating any administrative action and complaints of official corruption and wrongdoing. However, the Ombudsman has yet to conduct an investigation of official corruption or wrongdoing by an elected official. ... [Read More]
Belize
Some of the most common complaints received by the office of the Ombudsman involved alleged misconduct and abuse by police and Department of Corrections personnel. The Ombudsman reported that the number of such reports decreased; however, a number of cases of alleged abuse featured in the press were never reported to the Ombudsman's office. In many cases, the Government ignored reports of abuses; withheld action until the case had faded from the public's attention, at which point no action was taken; or transferred guilty officers to other districts. The Government did take action in a small number of cases. The Ombudsman stated that police use of force was appropriate in the majority of cases he investigated, usually due to the complainant having resisted arrest, even if the level of force used was sometimes excessive. ... [Read More]
US Department Of State Post Report
Mennonites of European stock are often seen in black clothing and horse and buggy. They inhabit the northwest, and produce lovely furniture and much of the country’s poultry and vegetables. The few remaining British subjects, the Lebanese, East Indian and Chinese business communities are predominantly in Belize City. English is the official language and mother tongue of over half of the population, with Spanish, Mayan dialects and Garifuna spoken as the first language of the rest of the population. Literacy is liberally estimated at 90%. Public InstitutionsLast Updated: 11/28/2003 2:18 PM ... [Read More]
Belize
Some of the most common complaints received by the office of the Ombudsman involved alleged misconduct and abuse by police and Department of Corrections personnel. The Ombudsman reported that the number of such reports decreased; however, a number of cases of alleged abuses featured in the press were never reported to the Ombudsman's office. In many cases, the Government ignored reports of abuses; withheld action until the case had faded from the public's attention, at which point no action was taken; or transferred guilty officers to other districts. Despite this generally poor approach, the Government did take action in a small number of cases. The Ombudsman stated that police use of force was appropriate in the majority of cases he investigated, usually due to the complainant having resisted arrest, even if the level of force used was sometimes excessive. ... [Read More]
Belize
The Labor Act prohibits all employment of children under age 12, and prohibits employment of children between the ages of 12 and 14, before the end of school hours on official school days. The minimum age for employment is 17 years for work near hazardous machinery. Inspectors from the Departments of Labor and Education enforce this regulation. During the year, truancy officers, who historically have borne the brunt of the enforcement burden, were more active. The law requires children between the ages of 5 and 15 to attend school, but there are many truants and dropouts. According to the Central Statistics Office, in the 1990's, 46 percent of children did not complete primary school, and 10 percent of those children never enrolled in school at all. On March 21, the Government ratified International Labor Organization Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labor. ... [Read More]
V. Country Narratives -- Countries A through G
Cyprus is a destination country for women trafficked from Eastern and Central Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Traffickers who forced women into prostitution continued to fraudulently recruit victims for work as dancers in cabarets and nightclubs on short-term "artiste" visas, for work in pubs and bars on employment visas, or for illegal work on tourist or student visas. There was increasing evidence of Chinese women being trafficked for sexual exploitation in Cyprus. The Government of Cyprus does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Cyprus made some progress in its anti-trafficking efforts over the past year. The new police anti-trafficking unit produced successful results and showed vigilance in combating the problem. Government recognition of the problem improve ... [Read More]
Belize
No laws impeded participation of women in politics, and 82 percent of both men and women were registered to vote. There were three women in the House of Representatives; two were elected Representatives and the other was appointed to serve as Speaker of the House. There were 5 women in the 12-member appointed Senate, and another woman served as president of the Senate. There was one woman in the Cabinet, and five women were chief executive officers of ministries. The Chief Elections Officer was also a woman. There were no laws impeding participation by indigenous persons or minority groups in politics. There were Mestizo, Creole, Maya, and Garifuna representatives in the National Assembly. Voter registration and participation were not tracked by ethnicity; however, there were no complaints or reports of electoral discrimination on the basis of ethnicity. Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and N ... [Read More]
Marketing U.S. Products and Services
1. Overseas companies which establish a place of business within Belize shall, within one month of the establishment of the place of business, deliver the following to the Registrar for registration: A certified copy of the charter, statutes or memorandum and articles of the company or other instrument constituting or defining the constitution of the company, and if the instrument is not written in the English language, a certified translation thereof A list of the directors and secretary of the company containing the particulars: A. In the case of an individual, his present Christian ... [Read More]
Background Notes
Belize is a parliamentary democracy on the Westminster model and is a member of the Commonwealth. Queen Elizabeth II is head of state and is represented in the country by Gov. Gen. Sir Colville N. Young, Sr., a Belizean and Belize's second governor general. The primary executive organ of government is the cabinet, led by a prime minister (head of government). Cabinet ministers are members of the majority political party in parliament and usually hold elected seats in the National Assembly concurrently with their cabinet positions. The National Assembly consists of a House of Representatives and a Senate. The 29 members of the House are popularly elected to a maximum 5-year term. Of the Senate's eight members, five are elected by the prime mini ... [Read More]
Belize (08/04)
The United States is the largest provider of economic assistance to Belize, contributing about $2.89 million in various bilateral economic and military aid programs to Belize in FY 2002. Of this amount, nearly $2.3 million was provided by the U.S. Military Liaison Office. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) closed its Belize office in August 1996 after a 13-year program during which USAID provided $110 million worth of development assistance to Belize. Belize still benefits from USAID regional programs. In addition, during the past 42 years, almost 2,000 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Belize. As of May 2004, the Peace Corps had 52 volunteers working in Belize. Until the end of 2002, Voice of America operated a medium-wave radio relay station in Punta Gorda that broadcast to the neighboring countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The U.S. military has a diverse and growing assistance program in Belize that included the construction of seven schools an ... [Read More]
|