Both Musa and Barrow touched on the impact of globalization on Belize, as well as the country?s triumphs and challenges. The speeches, together, send the clear signal that Belize?s ability to meet the rising challenges of globalization is impaired by disunity among Belizeans, social ills, and Government-imposed austerity measures. Yet in the face of these challenges, much has been accomplished for Belize, the speakers noted.

?Together we have accomplished a great deal over these last 24 years,? said P.M. Musa. ?Independence is still only the beginning. We are living in a changing world, a new world of open markets, which raises the stakes for small developing countries like Belize ? a global economy in which we have to compete for market share, compete for investment capital and technology, and we are living through a revolution of rising expectations where sound economic policies and good governance, combined with the rule of law and an effective judicial system, are not optional extras, but essential conditions for development.?

Both Barrow and Musa pointed to rising oil prices and changing world markets as key factors that continue to hamper Belize?s development.

Furthermore, Barrow pointed to harmful practices, at home, that have worsened the situation.

He pointed to securitization, which, he said, has done nothing for the masses except put us deeper in quagmire, ?to the extent where now, the international agencies all confirm that Belize?s national debt is fully 100% of our 2.2 billion-dollar GDP.?

The debt service burden is crippling and ?we have to rob especially the poor to pay our rich international creditors?? Barrow said.

He then went on to speak of inflation and the controversy surrounding the Belize Telecommunications Limited (BTL).

?Locally, the BTL saga appears to have assumed criminal dimensions and internationally its legal and financial implications continue to confound us. Inevitably, consumers know it will all translate into higher charges for the already overburdened public,? Barrow said.

?Now taking back the water services might have been seen as nationalism? except that if recent history is anything to go by, our renewed custody is only temporary – yet another way station along the road to yet another alienation,? he added.

Hon. Barrow then pointed to the ongoing SSB inquiry, which, he said, ?…too slowly grinds its way forward? and ?new outrage at yet another indefensible use of worker funds,? in reference to SSB?s $10 million loan to British billionaire Michael Aschroft.

Barrow also raised the issue of the pending Commission of Inquiry into the Development Finance Corporation, saying that, ?like justice, relief delayed is relief denied.?

He continued: ?Add to all this, the fact of generalized austerity, retrenchment of the public sector and contraction of the private sector, and it is no wonder so much despair stalks the land. That is why in so many of our neighborhoods, the sub-culture of violence is now regnant and the rule of the gun seems to hold complete sway.?

For the Prime Minister, however, the focus was on globalization and culture.

Culture is essential to the development process, he asserted, noting that to move forward in the future, we must realize the base from which we have come.

P.M. Musa remarked that, ?In a world that is becoming increasingly globalized, in a world where there are pressures for cultural homogeneity across all countries, what is abundantly clear is that it is essential for us to nurture, to prize, to revere and to support the rich diversity of our culture and our history. To move forward in the future, we must recognize the base and past from which we have come.

?The question may be asked: Why should we check out our cultural and historical roots? The answer, I suggest, is because culture is not some form of entertainment, it is the whole complex of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features that characterize a society from the indigenous to the modern.?

Barrow opened his address by giving God thanks for sparing Belize from the wrath of hurricanes so far this year, and he furthermore expressed solidarity with the US for the suffering caused by Hurricane Katrina.

He also pointed to progress made to date in the Belize-Guatemala negotiations, praising the recent accord between the countries on ?confidence building measures,? which are supposed to promote peace between the two nations. He also expressed hope that the bilateral discussions would yield ?solid, fair and permanent results.?

?It is high time that we be allowed to live in tranquility and the full expression of our national sovereignty and inalienable territorial rights,? he remarked.

Barrow?s speech then segued into the many challenges that have faced us as a young nation, a prime one being rising oil prices on the international front.

He also commented that, ?the continued erosion of traditional trade preferences has many of our agricultural mainstays, most notably sugar, in deep trouble.?

But these challenges on the international scene, said Barrow, ?have been made that much worse by policies pursued by home.?

Musa defended his administration?s policies by saying that they are simply a part of the development process.

He declared: ?On this Independence Day the message, then, is that the cycle of development requires change and fiscal adjustment from time to time, but the work of development is not about sound budgets and financial management; development is not about technocratic fixes; development is also about building infrastructure, schools, health clinics, housing, roads, bridges, good drinking water systems, modern telecommunications, urban and rural electrification, empowering the people and providing job opportunities for a life of dignity and self-confidence.?

Barrow, on the other hand, pointed to ? deliberate inertia? that, he said, seems to have overtaken the reform agenda.

?There are unmistakable signs of a new restiveness among our social actors that can so easily replicate the scenes of January to April of this year, which strained the bonds of our democracy almost to the breaking point,? he said.

Speaking only three days before a planned demonstration to protest his administration?s policies, Musa appealed: ?Let our independence be reflected in the creation of confidence in one another, and a caring for one another rather than in crusades of doubt and suspicion driven by irrational hate and distrust. Let us prove to the world that in Belize we believe in democracy, because it releases the energy of every citizen, and let us channel this energy for the good of our beautiful, beloved Belize.?

Barrow said in his conclusion that, ?Our greatest triumph is in the determination of our populace made so manifest in the early months of this year, to always tell truth to power. It is that, above all, which enables us to say, year after year, with abiding faith and conviction, Happy Independence, Belize.?

Speaking also at the ceremonies was the chairman of the National September Celebrations Committee, Belize City Mayor David Fonseca.

?Belize is an emerging nation,? he said, ?and like a baby, has to go through what we all refer to as growing pains. We are no different from any other young nation in that respect. As individuals, and as a people, we carry the responsibility to build our nation, Belize.?

Quoting from a 1962 speech of Rt. Hon. George Price, Father of Independence, he said, ?There is a common ground on which we can build and then, we use what we build as a firm foundation for all we hope to achieve. We must know each other more. I believe apartness breeds suspicion and mistrust. We need to be more disposed to reconcile, or at least to accommodate our differences. This is how the task of nation building must be begun?.?

Mayor Fonseca also pointed to a number of issues affecting the country, such as HIV/AIDS, homelessness, drugs and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, crime, and poverty.

?Most of these challenges, we might say, might be individual challenges, but let us face it; they all affect us as a community. Therefore, the fight to rid our nation of these many challenges has to be done by all of us as a people,? he remarked. ??Today, we need, as a people, to stand together in moving our country forward as an emerging nation, facing the grip of globalization, setting a firm foundation for our future leaders ? our youths.?