First of all, let’s get something straight. A big bank account does not necessarily qualify you to make decisions for the people of Belize. A big bank account means you’re a smart businessman, or you inherited from your father, or maybe you’re a thief. But it doesn’t necessarily qualify you to make critical decisions for the people.
A time like this is an extraordinary time in Belize. All bets are off, and now our elected leaders are asking the people of Belize to place ourselves at the mercy of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The British spent four years setting this trap. It started with a relationship the British financed in 2004 between the University of Belize and the University of San Carlos in Guatemala.
Foreign Minister Sedi Elrington is a sincere man. But he is not a consistent man. His strong suggestion on national radio on Wednesday morning that a vote against the ICJ would be a vote for war, was a mistake he made, because he now finds himself under the pressure of being the leading advocate for allowing Belize’s fate to be decided at the Hague in the Netherlands.
A gambler would look at this situation and say, yes, the odds are supposed to be in our favour, but we are risking too much. And, after all is said and done, what is the prize? The prize is supposed to be peace, peace between neo-European Guatemala and moreno Belize, forever and ever. That’s a really big prize. But is it real?
Who guarantees the prize? We will be encouraged to assume that the Americans and the British will guarantee the prize. But if the Americans and the British are so powerful as to force the racist and bellicose Guatemalan oligarchy to behave themselves until eternity, then why are the Guatemalans presently doing what they want inside Belize? They are doing what they want inside Belize because they are allowed to do so by the aforementioned American and British governments. Why are the Guatemalans allowed to do what they want? So that we supposedly sovereign Belizeans will act like sissies and give up our birthright.
The American and British governments are behaving in a pattern which has been consistent since the Webster Proposals in 1968. They want Belize to become subservient to Guatemala. The people of Belize have always rejected this projected type of subordinate association with Guatemala.
The interesting aspect of the present crisis is that the population of Belize is substantially different from what it was forty years ago. In 1968 and 1981, the violent reaction of the Belizean people to sellout was spontaneous. But it was partly ethnic in inspiration. Today, the ethnic composition of Belize is different. At this newspaper, we welcome the early response of the Mopan and Kekchi Mayan people to the ICJ threat. It is true that the Maya of Toledo have self-interest, but don’t the rest of us do also?
What was September 21, 1981 all about anyway? Was it just an adventurist initiative orchestrated by a group of nepotists and cronies? The conversation has changed. It is no longer “not one square centimeter.” It is now, ICJ, do with us as thou wilt. We think this is an incredible development, but the people of Belize have actually been presented with this plate of debasement by the elected leaders of Belize. And in our parliamentary democracy, the elected leaders of Belize, especially when they come together in a bipartisan arrangement, are so much more powerful than a newspaper.
Who the elected leaders of Belize are not more powerful than, is the people of Belize. At Amandala, we hereby submit to you, the people, that we, the sovereign nation of Belize, are really being asked to behave like the sissy nation of Belize.
Power to the people.