Belize City, Thursday, Aug. 12th, 2008 - On Sunday, August 10th, at around 11:00pm, a cold-blooded killer entered the home of 39 year old single mother and engineer at the Esso Depot in Belize City. By the time the killer left that home on Meighan Avenue shortly after, Sandra Ruiz lay bloody and dying, bludgeoned with a hammer. Her 8 year old daughter Ana was also beaten in the head with a hammer and lay bleeding on the floor. Sandra Ruiz’s other daughter, 13 year old Nadia Prado, hid in the bathroom during the attack and then ran outside to call for help from the neighbours.

Shooting

At about 11:00pm on Thursday, August 7th, Corozal Police received information of a shooting incident and visited Bumpers Restaurant situated on 7th Avenue in Corozal Town. There they found 17 expended 9mm shells on the street and what appeared to be bullet holes on a metal shutter at the business place of one Omar Vellos and on a white Dodge Ram van which was parked inside the yard beside the restaurant. Preliminary investigations reveal that sometime before 11:00pm, 35 year old Michael Gentle of the Rainbow Town Area in Corozal Town was inside the establishment with three acquaintances when he heard the gunshots outside. Shortly after, he came out to investigate and saw a blue four door car speeding off in the direction of Orange Walk Town. No one was injured, and Police are investigating.

“A prudent man forseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.”  Proverbs 22:3.

No leader no matter how hated or reviled is pure evil, even Ian Smith of formerly Southern Rhodesia now the Republic of Zimbabwe, realized that to get freedom one has to break from colonial powers. Zimbabwe, like Belize, came out of a struggle against colonialism. It wielded its young charismatic leaders at the exposed neck of imperialist rule and under the expectations of change rode the backs of Animal Farm-like leadership.