by Thérèse Belisle-Nweke
Monday, January 20, 2025
Belize is owned by the following people, in this order – white, working class, and supercilious Americans, whom all Belizeans think are truly rich, but aren’t; the Chinese, who if they were to close down all their shops, supermarkets and middling restaurants for just 7 days, and withhold everything from their huge farms, would cause everyone in Belize to starve; the Indians (whom Creole Belizeans usually refer to as coolies), who with the Chinese, the Americans and Mennonites have reputedly bought out much of Belize’s land and also own gas stations – and from any plane hovering over Belize, you can see wide expanses of a “lotta, lotta” empty, but apparently sold off land; the Latinos, who now own a bank, also a couple gas stations and small roadside shops selling vegetables and fruits.
The Latinos seem now to monopolize the civil service slot in Belize, once the preserve of the more educated Creoles, not only because they are now in the majority, but they are BILINGUAL, and most of their kith and kin from the neighboring republics stubbornly cling on to communicating in Spanish, or at best in Kriol. Hence, Spanish may soon overtake English, like in Florida and Texas, (so Herr Trump has a point). The Latino contribution to Belize’s population highlights the growth of a group with a percentage topping over 52.9 per cent, while the once majority Creoles are barely 24.9 per cent.
The Creoles, the former landlords of Belize, are now symptomatic of these lines in that old Methodist hymn for children about a Gentle Jesus “meek and mild”… “pity my simplicity”. Thus, they are obsequious when dealing with the “foreign Belizeans”, who now either own Belizean passports, or are fervently recently in the process of acquisition, as I observed at the content and intensity of the traffic at the Immigration Department Passport Office in Belmopan. These Belizeans behave like “Uncle Toms” and “Aunt Jemimas” when relating to the immigrant arrivistes to Belize; but are generally rough and unhelpful to fellow Creoles, and at times even to other “born and ancestral” Belizeans. At best, they are full of lame excuses to assist, no matter how mundane and do-able the request. And, some of them view the Belizean returnees from abroad, whether transient or permanent, with a mixture of envy and resentment, as well as targets and easy victims to exploit.
Today, Belize gives the impression to the concerned observer of constant flux and yet a certain pejorative staticism, as if having no government.
To those who are cognizant of what is expected of good governance and duty of care to all citizens, what apparently is on the table showcases players who give the impression that progress is assessed in indices of big, air conditioned government buildings, more modern bridges, a few OK roads, a “lotta, lotta” feel-good propaganda about foreign help, and plane loads of brash tourists coming to shore up taxes and money to spend on services within Belize.
I recently saw some who had arrived on an old American Airlines plane, with the flight delayed twice; and returning later to Miami had three delays. The flight lacked on-board entertainment, except you provided it for yourself on your phone, ipad or laptop, and for which you paid extra money for good seats. We are talking about an “international” flight – not local – of almost two hours, and yet not even a sandwich was available; and passengers were bombarded ad nauseum with so many repetitive in-flight announcements, as if the announcer had diarrhoea of the mouth.
A pro-active Belizean government, having accepted the tourism route as an elixir for growth, (though economic development experts generally recognize this as growth without development) should make many more air slots available to Belize for quality airlines such as KLM, Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, some of which have routes from Europe to America and the Caribbean. This would also enable more European tourists to come to Belize. It would also up the ante in ensuring better quality air travel to Belize, than is now the case.
A number of these tourists are elderly retired whites, some of whom I saw permanently in their wheelchairs and canes, while others are young, multi-tattooed, hippy-looking fun seekers. These are people who seemingly have saved just enough cash to come to Belize to enjoy a few days being important in a country that worships everything American, including “the good, the bad and the ugly”. Since most tourists are on all-in-one holiday packages or cruises – check them on the tourist buses in Belize City – it is these holiday package or cruise companies which make the real profits, along with the tourist resorts and hotels in Belize, that are generally owned by foreigners. The “son of the soil” Belizeans who are small players in the tourism industry, and even at the lower end of the value chain, merely get the tiny crumbs falling from the table. Though, some actually think they’ve hit gold! Yet, even the lucrative Airbnb market in Belize, now has the ubiquitous Chinese muscling in and doing rather well.
Between the two political parties, it would seem that they’ve coolly and unconscionably auctioned off Belize, hook, line and sinker for chicken-feed to the foreigners, and retained the remnant for themselves. Though I would not be surprised if the now despised, crime ridden Belize City Southside, with property values at bottom bargain basement rates, in a couple years enjoys a renaissance with the arrival of the ubiquitous Chinese buying out most of the old Creole family properties and creating a China Town free of the gangs, guns and insecurity. Indeed, there is a crying need for a new altruistic and nationalistic mindset to break the pendulum swinging monopoly. Though, the way things are currently, it looks as if there will be a sole player for a long, long time, since Karma has definitely caught up with the other one.
However, in the thinking of some people, they think they’ve collected a “lotta, lotta bread”. But in effect, all they got were bread crumbs and pepitos. For there are players from other Global South locations who own bombadier jets, yachts, real estate in Monaco, the best addresses in NY, London, etc., and hide their money in shell companies and in places where the interest is far higher than in Belize, which now clocks third in world position as a money laundering haven.
Yet, should a “son of the soil” Belizean want to open an ordinary bank account in Belize, or want to do any business in Belize, he must own a Belizean social security card, current passport, etc., even if as “born and ancestral Belizeans” that person happens to live in Antarctica and only comes to Belize occasionally.
The strangers who apparently own Belize, are not all billionaires by any stretch, but are mainly ordinary people and even hustlers, who all recognize a great opportunity, and where most of the people on the ground are perceived as both passive and unsophisticated, and thus easy pickings.
So – it’s not any “land of the gods by the Carib Sea”; or even “land of the free by the Carib Sea”; but rather a land of once great expectations, but is now only reserved for a magical few with the rest looking on as bereft and disappointed spectators.