As an economic philosophy, capitalism does not work correctly when there is no competition in the different sectors. Scholars suspect the 1919 Ex-Servicemen’s Riot, for instance, was in no small measure due to price fixing among the merchants who dominated British Honduras’ provincial economy at the time. Certainly, in the post-World War II era, it was evident that the banks and airlines in Belize, as prominent examples, were not competing with each other. In other words, they had formed cartels among themselves which removed competition from their specific sectors and shared the industries’ “guaranteed” profits.
The top lawyers in Belize began to form cartels within their ranks about three decades ago. What these cartels did, essentially, was decide the outcome of cases without needless and excessive wrangling in court. The law cartels were not as structured as the business cartels which recreated at the Pickwick Club, but the law cartels essentially began the process of cross-party affiliation which has culminated in the “one party” PUDP political system we see today in Belize.
Please understand, and you must know by now, after forty years, we mean nothing personal. Our job is to educate and inform you: this is how we make our living. We have cultivated the good will and trust of the people of Belize, and, as a result of that, we have earned the support of the people.
While the Prime Minister and his younger brother, the newly appointed justice in the Belize Court of Appeal, are the closest of siblings, they did not choose to practice law in the same law firm. Dean Barrow joined the law firm belonging to his uncle, Dean Lindo (the first UDP Leader), in 1974, while younger brother Denys, a few years later, teamed up with Ernest “Stud” Staine, who later became a PUP candidate for Port Loyola.
While Dean Barrow entered electoral politics “full metal jacket” in 1983, as a UDP of course, Denys operated outside of party politics, establishing legal relationships across party lines, most notably those with the lifetime and prominent PUP’s – Glenn Godfrey and Eamon Courtenay.
The big time political case when all these things did “so conjointly meet,” was the Derek Aikman bankruptcy matter in 1992. Two banks and two political parties colluded in destroying the political career of the only man to defeat Rt. Hon. George Price in a general election – Derek Aikman. In 1992, the Belize Bank, represented by Dean Barrow’s law firm, and the Atlantic Bank, represented by Denys Barrow’s law firm, came together as one in the service of the PUDP. The PUP, and specifically Glenn Godfrey, wanted Derek’s head for daring to beat their idol, Mr. Price, in 1984, and the UDP wanted Aikman’s head for breaking away from the UDP to join Philip Goldson’s NABR in 1991.
Fast forward to 2009. A few weeks ago there was a brief uproar deep within the Opposition PUP when Party Leader, Hon. John Briceño, meekly acquiesced in the Prime Minister’s appointment of his younger brother to the three judge Court of Appeal. Briceño agreed to the appointment with nary a word of protest, even though Denys Barrow’s appointment means that two of the three judges at the Court of Appeals have UDP-affiliated backgrounds.
The key here was Eamon Courtenay, who is very, very close to Johnny and the Briceño family, but is a bosom buddy, BELIPO business partner in fact, of Denys Barrow’s. Yes, “Brother” Barrow’s personality is almost unique in Belize, in that no one ever has a bad word to say about him. And yes, Denys is acclaimed in legal circles as an astute and accomplished legal mind. But, the silence from PUP leadership at this Court of Appeal appointment is a classic case of the operation of PUDP – a political cartel born of legal relationships, a political cartel which can be activated at any given time for any specific purpose.
There were things that the late, great Hon. Philip Goldson was seeing, despite his glaucoma, when he boldly broke with the UDP in 1991. There is a need to keep reminding you that, even though Goldson served in Esquivel’s Cabinet between 1993 and 1998, it was, strictly speaking, a UDP-NABR Cabinet. And when Goldson died in 2001, he died as NABR Leader. After 1991, he had never rejoined the United Democratic Party.
Power to the people.