UDP Leader Declares State of the Nation is Failing in Response to PM’s Address

United Democratic Party (UDP) Leader Shyne Barrow declared that “the present state of our nation, which unfortunately is failing.”

His speech was in response to the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation address.

Barrow said that a year after his inaugural rebuttal speech, things have only gotten “worse” for the average Belizean.

Barrow highlighted a number of pressing issues, including the “exorbitantly high” cost of living and unsolved murders of individuals who were “implicating the Government in land corruption”. He also criticised the lack of adequate public healthcare, citing the death of a baby who could not receive care in San Pedro.

On the issue of crime, he asked, “Do you feel safer?” He referenced recent violent incidents, including a double murder in Hattieville and the alleged “extrajudicial kidnapping of Joseph Budna by alleged police officers” in front of the Orange Walk Central Police Station. The UDP leader accused the government of operating “more like a criminal enterprise than officials implementing the best public policies.” He called for a new Minister of Police, stating that “Musa has failed” and adding that a “reset at the top of the Ministry of Police is the only way we can restore confidence in our law enforcement.”

On national security, Barrow raised concerns over Belize’s territorial integrity, questioning whether “the Sarstoon has been surrendered to the Guatemalans in some back room deal that the Belizean people have been kept in the dark about.” He pointed to repeated Guatemalan incursions and criticised the Prime Minister for failing to take a stronger stance. The UDP “calls on the Briceno Administration to recall our Ambassador to Guatemala at once for consultations” and to “consider economic sanctions, a temporary suspension of diplomatic cooperation or whatever appropriate measures are needed to bring about a Sarstoon protocol.”

The UDP leader promised that a future UDP government would tackle these issues by creating new industries, supporting small businesses, and improving healthcare, education, and social justice. In what he suggested may be his “last State of the Nation Speech as Leader of the UDP”, Barrow pledged to “work with my successor and all Belizeans to hold this Government accountable” and to “form a new UDP Government that will deliver on their promises for a better Belize”.