I also wish the best for you and your family in this 2009 and the years to come, Brother Marvin Mora.
Permit me to call you “brother,” because apart from that we are all the same in the eyes of the Almighty. We are also a kind of species who, from our own corner, are trying to educate our people with our views on the different issues which concern this, our home we call Belize. I thank you for sharing with me your thoughts, one of which I have taken the liberty to share with our readers because I have found very important points in where I believe our people are asking the same questions but do not have the opportunity to put it together.
Education is not only from an academic institution: it is also from those of us who come forward and put our thoughts openly without fear. Not all our readers will agree with it, but it’s out there to be debated and that is what enriched the minds of our people.
To me, there are two kinds of Belizeans. Those of us, the roots who are made up of the descendants of the Maya and the African slaves. The Garifuna who have over 200 years living here. The Indians who were brought here and mixed themselves with our people. For the Maya this is their (our) land, our home from ever since. You and I and those like us are a product of a historical circumstances. We are all human beings.
Nonetheless, science has proven that there are different races within humankind. We do not need science to prove that to us: we can see it for ourselves. It is impossible for a couple of Caucasians to born a Black baby. It is impossible for a couple of Black Africans to born a white Caucasian baby. It is also impossible for them to born a Chinese or a Maya. I will not mention the “Red Race” because I don’t have tangible proof of their existence, even though they are mentioned by our ancient Egyptian African priests.
You and I are not responsible for the set up of the system. I have said in many of my writings. In the African and Maya civilizations, our ancestors did not have the concept of private property nor the racial discrimination. Before the so-called “discovery” of the New World in 1492, there had existed relations between the Africans and the inhabitants of this part of the world we call America, and there existed no racial discrimination. There was also a time when it did not exist among the African and the Europeans. This disgrace started after 1492 for us in the New World we know as America and also in Africa.
Let me stop here and continue on another of your views. In 1958 the table was set and the food cooked when several thousand German-speaking Mennonites began coming to Belize. An agreement was made between them and the government of the day. They got a portion of land in where they could practice their religious communal cultural system without any interference, and it brought no “tremendous repercussions,” except for those of our roots Belizeans who were affected in their way of making a living. These new Belizeans have already gotten their share with increase of … petroleum.
And without having to go to any court of justice or revolt. There are many other foreign new Belizeans who came and with the consent of our corrupted system had served themselves with the big spoon. So, where does that leave us the Maya, Mestizos, Creoles-Kriols, Garifuna and those like you and me roots Belizeans who have gotten nothing? There is enough land in Belize for us roots Belizeans. I believe in a communal land system where it cannot be sold. It should only be as a family patrimony for the benefit of our future generations. Cada trabajador tiene derecho a una parcela de terreno, como un patrimonio familiar. Punto. It is the responsibility of the NTUCB to demand for it before the Cabinet.
I believe we should give our complete support to our Maya brothers from Toledo. And I also believe that we roots Belizeans have a right to our communal land. But we need to unite and organize ourselves. I invite you to be part of the organization “Citizens Organized for Liberty thru Action,” where many battles can be fought. I also invite “COLA” to give its full support to our Maya brothers and sisters from Toledo, for we are all going to need each other to defend our rights to this place we call Belize.
Our Maya brothers down South are in a more disadvantaged position. Nevertheless, their (our) crying voices for justice can be heard through “COLA”. I don’t believe there are any strong united-fateful-ideological-trustful organizations in Belize to fight for the respect of the preamble to the Constitution of Belize.
Sometime in 2004, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ordered the Government of Belize to define and demarcate the land that the Maya traditionally use and occupy in full collaboration with the Maya people. The GOB had refused to comply with the order. What can we expect from Guatemala?
9th January 2009
Finca Solana
Corozal Town