Dear Sir,

I write this letter with a humble heart and all the respect due to your office and your country.

I write regarding your claim to our wonderful country of Belize. I am a descendant of the original settlers of Belize. Please can you tell me and my countrymen why exactly you wish to take away our country from us?

We are a God-fearing people and have never threatened you or any other country. We try to live in peace with all our neighbors here and abroad.

I will be honest with you that I am very scared of your country taking over. Many people in Belize are scared of what Guatemala will do to us. We have seen how you treat your own people in the past. The stories of what you have done to them and their families are still very fresh in most people’s minds – stories of whole families killed or disappearing, all done by your government.

If you take over, will you do that to us also, just to make more land available for your own people? Your country is so much bigger and powerful than our little Belize. Why is it that only a handful of you very rich and powerful people own all the land of Guatemala? Do you not tell your people that our country has given Belizean land to many of your Guatemalan countrymen? Why do you not take the land back from the rich and powerful people in your own country and give it back to the poor?

Or is it possible you are scared of your own powerful elite Guatemalan countrymen? We are a peaceful country who respects all our neighbors and our citizens. Please stop lying to your people and fix your country’s problems without resorting to a fool’s dream of land ownership in Belize.

Your own people who come to live here are scared of going back home. If Guatemala is such a wonderful country, why are so many Guatemalans living in Belize? Why are they saying they would rather fight to keep Belize free than having it fall into an oppressive regime?

It seems very likely that some of our elected leaders will be bribed to give up Belize to Guatemala. When this happens, what will become of us Belizeans? Our mother country has all but abandoned us, so will we become aliens on our own soil, or will we start to disappear or end up dead as happened in the past in Guatemala?

What assurances do we have that we will be able to work our lands in peace? This is such a dim outlook for our beautiful country of Belize, just for a few more votes. We know that going to court will only work in your favor, because you have nothing to lose because we are not claiming anything from you, and we cannot trust the judges.

Is there no other solution to living peacefully with us as neighbors?
Written with fear and respect, Andy Jones 668-9758

cc Honorable Dean Barrow
cc Queen Elizabeth II
cc President Barack Obama