Tonight's headline is one we wish we could give after every long weekend. There was peace in the city over this four day weekend: no gang war, no one shot, and no one killed as the result of a gang beef. Yes, one woman was murdered in a crime of passion, and we'll tell you about that shortly - but first the latest on the gangs. Last week Wednesday, the gangs had a peace march. It was a first, this kind of demonstration of goodwill to the community - and many onlookers expressed more than a little skepticism. But, we now know it was more than just symbolic - because since Wednesday, there has been no reports of shooting for gang related crime in the city - and it's been years since we can say that. The peace comes out of the march, but also out of a closed door meeting that followed the march to hold down on all crime and violence throughout the easter.
But, that was just for the easter, and peace making amongst the almost 20 gangs in the city is a work in progress. That work continued today. There was a mediation session this morning and tonight, as an encouragement, the mediators are taking gang members to dinner. This is to commend them for their effort and to discuss the way forward. We'll keep following the process - which is building to an official truce. April, Mary and June are historically the most violent in Belize City.
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