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After months of speculation, Belize government officials confirmed last week that Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines wants to build a “tourism village” near the emote village of Placencia.

Ministry of Tourism chief executive Mike Singh told reporters the cruise company plans a facility on the southern point of the peninsula as “a welcome center for tendered cruise passengers.”

The proposal is already sparking sharp debate. As any industry professional will attest, cruise ships can be a mixed blessing. On one hand they expose a destination to thousands of travelers, including potential second home buyers. But detractors argue that the ships only bring day-trippers who don’t spend money and leave environmental damage in their wake.

Destinations in Belize, Nicaragua and Panama made AARP magazine’s latest list of top retirement spots.

The magazine’s criteria focused on “mostly warm and sunny, attractively affordable locales with good-to-excellent health care that are hospitable to Americans of retirement age.”

That makes many of the choices something of a no-brainer. And maybe the magazine’s criteria were not as “exacting” as it claims. Most represent the safe, easy choices beloved by retirees for years.

One of the prominent players developing the Placencia peninsula in Belize is facing a federal indictment in the U.S., alleging he spent years avoiding taxes and lying under oath.

James R. Parker, who lives in Carefree, Arizona, was the owner and c.e.o of Mackinnon Belize Land and Development, a Belize company that developed the master-planned project known as the Plantation. The Internal Revenue Service alleges Parker and his wife, Jacqueline, conspired to hide millions of dollars in income from their Belize real estate business.

Villas at Cocoplum

Progress continues on the Placencia Penninsula, the main center for second home development on Belize’s mainland.

Construction is underway on a new international airport on the north end of the peninsula, local developer Boris Mannsfeld notes. And after 10 years of delays, the majority of the narrow 23-mile dirt road on the peninsula has been paved.

The road project is scheduled for completion in the next few months, says Mannsfeld, who is among the locals who believe the paved road will spur a new round of businesses and projects. Placencia is home to one of the few stretches of white sand beach on the mainland, which has attracted a steady flow of developers in recent years.

Mexico is developing a plan to attract more U.S. retirees, including provisions to offer them health care, according to a published report.

Mexico is already home to 1 million U.S. retirees, and that number could jump to 5 million by 2025, the Miami Herald reports. New proposals would likely allow Medicare payments to Mexico facilities certified by the U.S., the Herald says.

The end of a two-year-old legal battle has apparently cleared the way for construction of the largest hotel and condo project on Ambergris Caye, Belize’s most popular tourist destination

Development of the Ma'loha Resort & Marina was stalled by a dispute over ownership of two acres of waterfront land. But a Belize court recently sided with the developer, project managing partner David Bane announced last week.

If the project continues, it will be big news on Ambergris, where most of the second home projects are between 20-50 units, at the most. The Ma'loha is expected to include 150 hotel rooms.

On the list barometers to gauge a country’s worthiness as a second home destination, IPJ contributor Claudia Gonella has found a new one—paved roads from the airport.

This may sound slightly frivolous, but there is logic to the Sore Butt Index. While some may look at long term rental yields or the number of golf courses within a 50-mile radius, for many buyers that first bumpy drive from the airport defines the experience, especially in Central America.