2023 Special Reports

Narco Links Suspected as Cattle Ranching Threatens Belize Rainforests

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The Guatemalan cattle were back. Dozens of them grazed in the clearing around Valentin Camp, a Belize Defence Force observation post located deep in the protected Chiquibul Forest near Belize’s disputed western border with Guatemala. The presence of the cattle meant that the Guatemalan villagers who raise them were not far away. Rafael Manzanero, who was leading a day-long visit to the area, was not pleased. 

As executive director of the non-profit organisation Friends for Conservation and Development, his work includes managing a small team that monitors and protects much of the 176,000-hectare forest in Belize. “We basically have noted and outlined cattle ranching as being the primary challenge that we face in the Chiquibul today,” Manzanero told the Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network.

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2023 Special Reports

The Impact Of Climate Change On Children With Disabilities

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Children with Disabilities (CWD) continue to struggle for inclusion in a modern society that is facing global challenges. The lack of finance, the lack of empathy and compassion by the general public, and the lack of willpower and policy enforcement by public officers and some private sector entities are some of the main factors that have led to the systematic sidelining of Children With Disabilities in Dominica. However, the problem in all of this is Climate Change. It has exacerbated the issues that affect CWDs. In many cases, Children With Disabilities in Dominica suffered and were further marginalised because of Tropical Storm Erika in 2015 and Hurricane Maria in 2017.

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