The clock is ticking down on the US presidential election, with voting culminating on Tuesday, November 5. The Republican Party and its nominee, Donald Trump, have considerable support in Belize, but it is the consensus that the majority of Belizeans, both those who have acquired American (US) citizenship and those at home, support the Democratic Party and its nominee Kamala Harris. Support for the Democratic Party increased significantly in Belize after John Kennedy (Democrat) opened the door for refugees from our country after Hurricane Hattie flattened Belize City and Dangriga in 1961, and after Lyndon Johnson, another Democrat, steered through laws (Civil Rights) that recognized the basic rights of non-white (Black) Americans (we are a nation of non-whites) as citizens.
There is a clear division between the two parties on a number of issues. The Democrats, who are not as capitalist as the Republicans, fully support welfare programs and subsidized healthcare. The Republicans want to cut down on these programs. The Democrats support abortion rights; the Republicans want to restrict abortions. Many Republicans resent the
Democrats for pushing through legislation that legalized gay marriage, for seeming supportive of children having the right to undergo a sex “change”, and for seeming supportive of transgender athletes competing against women.
A great concern in this election for Belizeans is that a Donald Trump administration could follow through on a threat of “mass deportation” of individuals who are in the US illegally. Many Belizeans, and people from other parts of the Americas, use every means they can to go to the wealthy US because of unbearable economic conditions at home, conditions partly brought on by US interests having “the run of the place” in our countries. The US war on cocaine has destabilized most countries south of the Rio Grande. Most countries in our region that embrace the trickle-down capitalist system of the Americans have high levels of poverty and inequality. Countries in our region that don’t fully embrace the trickle-down capitalist system of the Americans are ostracized.
While relations between the US and Belize, both former colonies of the British, have always been friendly, we are suspicious about the US’s relationship with Guatemala, a neighbor whose claim on parts of our territory is now being adjudicated at the ICJ. The US was birthed as an independent nation after a violent confrontation with the British. Belize was birthed as an independent nation peacefully, assisted by the United Nations’ 1960 Declaration on Decolonization. We are a peaceful nation that demands to be respected.
Belizeans in Belize won’t be the only non-Americans who will be glued to their television sets on Tuesday night until the wee hours of Wednesday morning when the next president of the US will likely be declared. The election has implications for people in every corner of the globe, from the large and powerful to the small and near powerless.
Both main parties in the US support Israel’s right to “defend itself”, but the support of the Republican Party, the majority of whose members hold a literal interpretation of the Bible, from Genesis to Malachi, seemingly has increased to the point where it would give Israel license to complete the destruction of all its enemies in the Middle East. Trump, who held office between 2016 and 2020, in the face of opposition from Israel’s neighbors and some of Israel’s staunchest allies, unilaterally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The US has maintained an economic embargo on Cuba, since shortly after Fidel Castro seized power from Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. The Republicans have maintained a far harsher stance on Cuba, probably because Cubans who rejected the revolution and resettled in Florida form a solid voting bloc for the party. The votes of Cuban exiles actually tipped the 2000 presidential election in favor of the Republican nominee George W. Bush, over the Democrat Al Gore.
The campaigns leading up to the election have been vitriolic. It is a certainty that when we wake up Wednesday morning, some Belizeans will be very happy, and some will be very sad. We at home have no say in who wins. We sit and wait, and pray for the best.
Blaming SSB for the nation’s fault
It is common for the Social Security Board (SSB) to get a lot of flak for tough decisions it makes, and the condemnation that was heaped on the Board for its lack of financial support for a terminally ill police officer was as scathing as any. Belizeans wanted the SSB to have a heart, cover all of the sick officer’s needs from the tens of millions of dollars it has sitting in the banks. The SSB said it fulfilled all its obligations to the officer, 37-year-old Mr. Santiago Ciau, Jr., now deceased.
The SSB does have a lot of money in the bank. It also has considerable liabilities. The SSB’s 2022 financial report lists its total assets at over $600 million, much of that ready cash; but if the fund was shut down today, if it received no more contributions, it quite likely couldn’t meet all its obligations/commitments. Fortunately, it is the law that Belizeans have to contribute to the scheme, guaranteeing its liquidity into perpetuity.
Working-class Belizeans are not alone in the misconception that the SSB has cash to burn; government leaders have lost their composure over the money the SSB has in the bank too. SSB’s handling of its loan portfolio during the PUP regime of 1998 to 2003 got it into serious trouble. To ensure the viability of the scheme, the SSB has to invest a portion of its funds. There were some questionable investments by the SSB during that PUP 1998-2003 government, and under heavy pressure from the people, the management of the Board’s funds was restructured during the PUP’s 2003-2008 government. Today, all proposed loans by the SSB have to be published to allow for public scrutiny.
Probably due to fear of appearing partial or of setting a precedent it cannot sustain, the SSB is wary of acting outside of its guidelines. From time to time, government has “leaned” on the SSB to make small ex gratia contributions or give out big loans to businesses that employ many Belizeans, but individual considerations don’t seem to find much favor.
The nation should have stepped up and covered the medical and other costs of the unfortunate, infirm Mr. Ciau. In Cuba all of the officer’s medical needs would have been taken care of by the state. The National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme is gradually being expanded to cover the entire country, but in our capitalist system that is only intended to provide for primary health care.
When Belizeans become terminally ill or suffer from other debilitating health conditions and injuries, their only recourse is to sell barbeque meals on the streets. As stated in the Tuesday Amandala re: our health costs crisis, “our priority must be ‘Life’ first, and cost-cutting later, even if as a nation we all have to share the bill, whether by Boledo profits … or some other method that does not involve ‘house and lot’ and bankruptcy for poor people.”
We’re not going to become socialist; neither can we go on with the status quo. Where there’s a will there’s a way. A well-managed national “Go Fund Me” page could be set up for our children and youth with illnesses and injuries that demand specialist care. Government could issue a gaming license for individuals who have major healthcare needs. Those individuals could form an association to take advantage of management skills within the group. Selling barbequed meals to pay for medical care, we can’t go on that way. Nor can we unjustly keep bashing SSB for a national failure.