“Full belly tell empty belly, kip heart, bredda.”
– Creole proverb
Our Belizean people are vulnerable to the blandishments of money, and this is because most of us are poor, or we believe we are. There is also a culture of greed, which means that even those who have money are grabbing for more. The man with the most money in Belize is a naturalized Belizean, Lord Michael Ashcroft, who is also a British peer, the Lord of Chichester. Mr. Ashcroft’s money, which gives him power, intimidates some Belizeans, and his money tempts others.
The Prime Minister, Hon. Dean Barrow, enjoyed Lord Ashcroft’s moneys for two decades plus. Mr. Ashcroft’s bank is a prominent client of Mr. Barrow’s law firm. Their relationship was not only professional: it was cozy. Now, Mr. Barrow finds himself leader of the nation we call Belize, and he has discovered, even if he did not suspect it before, that Lord Ashcroft, at the end of the day, is a man whose intentions have been and are to use the Belizean nation, cold-bloodedly, for his own self-aggrandizement. Towards his ends, Lord Ashcroft has powerful people inside the Opposition PUP on his payroll. But, more troubling for Mr. Barrow, there are UDP Cabinet Ministers and other party officials who accept Mr. Ashcroft’s moneys from time to time.
Well now, Mr. Barrow finds himself in the position where he must prepare Belize’s new 2010/2011 budget, and for sure it will be an austerity budget. The PM’s position is therefore unenviable. It is made even more unenviable because of the fact that the Hon. Prime Minister is no Mohandas Gandhi. He likes the good life, and he makes no secret of that.
Making matters more dicey is the manifest fact that there are Cabinet Ministers who have become ostentatiously wealthy in the two years of UDP rule. In addition, the PUP continues to press charges of personal nepotism, charges which have Mr. Barrow squirming. It may be, then, that the Prime Minister’s only authority for seeking sacrifice on the part of the Belizean people, is a constitutional one.
Under the circumstances, we think the Hon. Prime Minister should be careful not to send the wrong signals to people like us on Partridge Street. At Kremandala, we essentially function in the marketplace. We are the best in Belize at what we do. Or, let us put it another way: Kremandala has the most credibility in the business, because we have longevity, we are independent, and we tell it “like it is.” Our dedication to Belize is well-established, and we have made stands in the past which were principled. We are not for sale.
We know Mr. Barrow is in a tricky spot, and we will not try to take advantage of him. You may well ask, and we would appreciate the question, how can a media operation take advantage of a Prime Minister with 25 out of 31 seats in the House of Representatives? Well, the heat is beginning to increase in the Prime Minister’s kitchen. It is the unions which are turning up the heat. Kremandala could jump on the union bandwagon, but we will not. We admit an institutional loyalty to Jackie Willoughby-Sanchez, the Public Service Union president. That said, we will criticize the Prime Minister, but we will not become personal with him.
At the same time, if the Prime Minister believes that the bottom feeders in his political party will seek to intimidate our Kremandala news people, and that we will take it lying down, then he must disabuse himself of that notion. Self-preservation is the first law of the jungle. The ruling politicians must be careful not to take on the characteristics of gangsters, or to allow their bottom feeders to behave thusly. That would make our Belizean environment become like a jungle.
For some time now, Kremandala has been under attack from the Opposition PUP media on the grounds that we are pro-Barrow and pro-UDP. In times like these, the course of the independent media is difficult to chart. It’s PUP Scylla and UDP Charybdis. For instance, when we supported the January 30 COLA march, it ended up that both the PUP radio station and the UDP radio station were condemning the march. You figure that out.
The PUP propagandists are doing their job. If they rant and rave, the Belizean people appear to expect them to be frantic in demeanor. The UDP and their propagandists need to be more careful. They are in power, and their power is legitimate. The UDP power should be respected. But, power brings responsibilities. These responsibilities may include discretion, decorum, or a certain noblesse oblige.
Mr. Barrow’s personal Scylla and Charybdis will be BNE, on the one hand, and the unions, on the other. The unions need the money, and the thing is they believe they know where it is – Spanish Lookout. Somewhat skittish because of the complications arising from the nationalization of Telemedia and the subsequent, desperate fight with the Ashcroft-financed Speednet/SMART competition, the Prime Minister has cried out categorically, No, I won’t touch BNE. The unions’ response is, Oh, yeah?
In the media marketplace, it is the people who decide on Kremandala’s performance. Out there in the world of tax escapists, the Ashcroft and special interest moneys play their games. Mr. Prime Minister, we are not your enemy. But before the UDP was, we are. Now, let us proceed.
Power to the people. Power in the struggle.