(from the Belize National Anthem)

Monday, May 23, 2022

    There is no other place on planet earth, with so much diversity and so little economic/military might, despite having so much “wealth untold,” that still projects so much love and ethnic harmony, as Belize. Perhaps that is why the late visionary, Dr. Leroy Taegar, liked to refer to our little Jewel as The New Jerusalem. Our layman’s instinct would suggest that his reference was intended to hold up the principles and enduring harmony of human relations in our otherwise backward country as a light to the developed and advanced nations of the world who are currently engaged in a dangerous dance with a disturbingly increasing crescendo toward MAD (mutually assured destruction) possibilities. As the rhetoric gets more ominous with each passing week of the continuing Russia-Ukraine catastrophe, would they listen to a small voice of peace in this part of the world? With ancestral links to all sides, and no restrictive commitment to either, it just may be that little Belize has the moral authority to assume a peacemaking role in luring both sides away from the road to planet destruction.   

   Nuclear Armageddon is not something that is beyond possibility when conflicts are spiraling toward zones of desperation. By pretending the danger is not real, it only increases the odds in favor of human frailty manifesting itself in reckless impulses under duress. Intervention is needed both in reducing hostilities between feuding gangs, as well as in ratcheting down the rhetoric between nations in conflict. As Marvin Gaye once sang, “War is not the answer… We don’t need to escalate.”

   Belize may not be a leader of the world in any sphere of human endeavor, neither in the area of science and technology, the arts and sports, business and industry, or economic and military might. We have a bundle of natural human talent, for sure, but we have not developed that talent to create an impact on the world stage in any sport, partly due to our still primitive development structure and a prevailing colonialist mentality among sports bureaucrats that shies away from engaging our own foreign-trained experts in pushing our athletes to the next level.   

   Our still small population, and the ready avenue to personal advancement by emigration to the U.S., has consistently hampered the growth and economic development of the entertainment industry, be it music, theater or dance, on the Belize stage. And state sponsorship, with many other pressing financial challenges, has been almost nonexistent; so, with limited opportunities for growth and meaningful earnings, some of our most promising artists, like our most brilliant academic and scientific minds, often join the exodus north to seek greener pastures. And the struggle continues at home in the Jewel, with a disturbing number of unemployed youth yielding to the temptations of the crime/drug/gang business. 

   There have been a few bright lights, Belizeans who have made their singular mark, and caused the name of Belize to be registered as one capable of producing at world class levels. The reigning Miss Earth is a Belizean woman from Punta Gorda, the beautiful, intelligent and resourceful Miss Destiny Wagner. Belize’s most outstanding artistic achievement on the world stage has been that by Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective over a decade ago, when their critically acclaimed Watina album led to Palacio being named “UNESCO Artist for Peace” and winning “the prestigious WOMEX Award in 2007” (Wikipedia). 

   Even more astounding has been the achievement of Belizean-American inventor Andre Gray, who in 2021 was named by The Washington Mail newspaper as their “2021 Person of the Year” after being “thе Nо.1 rаnkеd іnvеntоr іn thе wоrld fоr thе раѕt 33 соnѕесutіvе уеаrѕ.” In its December 16, 2021 editorial, The Washington Mail said Gray’s “…revolutionary inventions have transformed the world from an analog society to a digital one with far reaching and deeply profound implications that will last for many centuries to come.” It is indeed mind-boggling the tectonic impact that Gray, who attended primary and secondary school in Belize before migrating to the U.S. at age 15 in 1981, has had on the world scene with his many inventions.  For example, The Washington Mail article said that, “In 1995, Andre Gray invented the electronic press kit, or EPK for short, that was originally intended as an online marketing and branding tool” and that “…Once the blogging and sharing features were added to the EPK, social media was born. So without the invention of the EPK, there would be no Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, YouTube and all other social media platforms which have now grown to become a multi-trillion dollar industry.”

   Wow!! And he came from little Belize, the son of late attorney Joseph Gray and his wife, Eleanor. And this brother is not done yet. (See also the Amandala story, “The Godfather of internet inventions is a Belizean-American, Andre Gray,” of July 1, 2017, on amandala.bz.com.) 

   So, world, don’t take this little Jewel too lightly. Yes, we have a high murder rate, but poverty is also way above 50% of our population, and many murders are related to stressed-out individuals under financial pressure, crimes of passion, burglaries gone wrong, or gang-related rivalries over turf in the drug trade. Still, there are no lines drawn due to ethnicity or religion or even politics, as Belizeans generally go about their daily chores with an open mind and willing hearts to lend a helping hand where requested. With all the trials and tribulations, ours is still a good country, still extending the hand of friendship to our neighbors in distress, even embracing migrants from our “enemy” to the west who is still pushing its “unfounded” claim against our territory at the ICJ. And still Belize is offering amnesty to around 40,000 undocumented residents, many from the said Guatemala.

   This “milk of human kindness” that still emanates from the Belizean spirit, despite our difficult circumstances, has so impressed our northern neighbor, according to our prime minister, Hon. John Briceño, that Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) during a recent visit to the Jewel, was moved to waive the 15% import duty on cattle being imported from Belize into Mexico, a gesture most welcomed and appreciated by the Belize government and citizens in the agricultural sector.  

   Recently also, Belize and Mexico have been co-hosting the multinational military training exercise, Tradewinds 2022, which is being sponsored by the United States Southern Command (U.S. SOUTHCOM). Some “22 countries and just over 1,800 military personnel are participating … in an effort to both maintain and improve security across the Caribbean region.” (See the story, “Military personnel from 22 countries forge bonds in Belize” on page 6 of Amandala dated Friday, May 20, 2022.) 

   We are in “America’s backyard,” and it is said that when the USA sneezes, Belize catches a cold.  It’s a small world, and Covid-19 is upon us once again.  But little Belize is still a nation, with one people, one flag, one anthem…

   There is the upcoming Summit of the Americas being hosted in Los Angeles by U.S. president Joe Biden in June of this year. And there is a call from the Mexican president, as well as from CARICOM, which includes Belize, that the Summit should be all inclusive, and thus Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela should be invited. The situation is in flux, with some countries threatening to boycott, as the U.S. weighs its options in light of the hoped-for success of the Summit.

   When Mexico talks, the U.S. usually lends an ear. But not much weight is likely given to words from little Belize and our prime minister in these regional debates, except maybe a quiet gesture to “put us in our place.” But when our P.M. Briceño talks about peace, it is something which he knows about, and his advice to the big powerful nations may one day prove more valuable than all the nuclear weapons they have amassed. None is without sin, but when Belize speaks to the leaders of nations who have issues with each other, our P.M. speaks from a high moral ground. And little Belize has been proven capable of producing great things in this global world that keeps getting smaller. “Listen, world leaders! Listen!”