Mary, my tatarabuela, left her name to miles of river frontage along el Río Hondo, now the playground for border jumpers. The mahogany and logwood are gone. In her time, the challenge was keeping the Mexicans out. Today, we battle COVID-19 brought in from México by Belizeans who move easily back and forth across the river. The motives, largely historical, are: family, commerce, healthcare and el disfrute.

It’s going to take more than an SI to trump that foursome. SI’s criminalize behavior, even where, as in this case, the pastime is personally and communally beneficial. Crossing the river, to those who live along it, is much like crossing the street, to us. And just as easy.

I lived in Blue Creek as a child. In the dry season the river narrowed in some places to a few feet. We skipped rocks from one side of the river to the next. Didn’t even know we had been to México and back.

The issue: How do we curtail (we’ll never halt) the border jumping?

The remedy: an SI outlawing the practice, marooning the villagers, and setting up roadblocks to capture offenders.

Sorry, but we need to ante-up that plan. The area residents justifiably ask, ‘how are we to survive?’

My reply: for the duration of the SI, the Government has to take over the distribution of the food stock in hot spots of the area. The need for this will become more axiomatic if we need to rollover the SI! Contrived shortages and price gouging are controlled. Those manning the commissaries, by not having family connections in the village, will ensure a less stilted reporting of border jumpers.

COVID-19 has the potential of claiming more victims than Hurricane Hattie. What worked then can do so again. Otherwise, Mary’s playground legacy will linger.