Dear Editor,

Like a vast troupe of tireless vaudevillians, the political actors on the stage of Belize serve up their song and dance routines in the never ending hope that a positive chord will be struck with the ticket-buying public, without whom the show cannot go on.

Taking center stage in this theater of the absurd as reported in the General section of the Amandala dated June 20, was Attorney General Wilfred Elrington delivering a dramatic monologue alarming in its implications. Speaking in his role as the country’s chief law officer and senior legal advisor, where you would expect him to send the message that NO Belizean is above the law and that he will do everything he can to support the rights of the people to ensure that justice prevails in Belize, he instead has this to say about the case of disgraced former Minister of State Elvin Penner: “There are many more important issues rather than harping on a matter like the Penner matter.”

Let me get this straight, Wilfred, are you saying that the Belizean public’s deep-seated concerns over influence peddling and corruption in government are no more than a type of “pestering” and should be swept under the rug? That we should rely once again on the theater goers’ short memory and get back to truly important things, like maybe the distraction of fretting some more over those pesky homosexuals for example? Please, exit stage – left, sir.

All the players get a turn on stage and a short while ago – on March the 26th – in his important role as Minister of Immigration (!), Godwin Hulse used his moment in the spotlight to deliver this unforgettable comedic line: “A lot of hanky-panky has happened in immigration and perhaps continues to happen….”
Is that what the “Penner Scandal” is all about, Godwin, “hanky-panky,” mere mischief? I would think “criminality” and not hanky-panky is more like it, and far from being irrelevant, it demands transparency and not the murkiness and double-talk seen thus far.

Please, exit stage – left, sir.

There are so very many players that I’d almost forgotten (and I’ll bet many have) all about the former Deputy Mayor of Belize City Eric Chang, a member of the supporting cast who probably won’t be appearing in a theater near you anytime soon, unless you go to Taiwan. His performance would result in a sellout crowd – standing room only – but unfortunately, his forte seems to be pantomime, sometimes referred to as “dumb-show.” Not particularly fond of public theater, perhaps this is a good thing for the Chinese oligarchies.

And so on and on it goes, with the majority of Belizeans living impoverished lives while the “elites” -having learned to gin the system – thrive. But the world is changing, and it will change in Belize, too.

“Poor” is not a synonym for “stupid.”

In the struggle,
Russell Czarnecki