by Colin Hyde

In a world with many imperfect human things, Justice Conteh’s decision to give communal rights to Santa Cruz and Conejo was beautiful and special. Quite likely it was tactical, the cases of two villages from the “hinterlands” being brought to court first. Later, the decision was extended to all Mayan villages. My understanding of the ruling was that the government would proceed to demarcate these villages. And that was fluid, a process that with goodwill for our Mayan brothers and sisters and the best interest of all of Belize at heart, would end with a practical solution.

Now, I believe that Chief Justice Conteh accepted that our Mayan brothers and sisters in Toledo might not have direct roots in the area where they live presently. Absolute proof of direct connectedness by our Mayan groups in the south wasn’t necessary. I believe he arrived at his decision with a hefty application of practicality. The overriding fact was that our European ancestors came and chased our Mayan ancestors off the land. And bully, they had returned. I don’t know to what extent Justice Conteh considered occupation, but in one of my earliest pieces in which I offered my opinion on the matter, I pointed out that had our Mayan brothers and sisters been pastoral, there would have been no need for them to go to court; they would have had it all, okay, most of it, surrounded by barbed wire.

If the MLA doesn’t know it, Cristina is the leader. She adored her brother-in-law, who was a man who had a solid vision, but died before seeing it realized. And all that is good. She came for the just cause along with Greg. She brought her intelligence and her fresh beauty, and she helped win a great victory for Belize, especially for our brothers and sisters in Toledo Rural who were in great need for the country to protect them, protect them from greedy super wealthy Belizeans and rapacious foreigners, not from roots Belizeans.

There are a number of Mayan villages that are surrounded by Mayan villages. I have given my opinion that the borders between these villages shouldn’t be contiguous, because it might take us into the dangerous and sick world of balkanization. Our greatest badge is that we are mix-up, mix-up, and we get along in love. I thought it would be great for a little strip between villages to be set aside for regular land ownership and these owners should not necessarily be Mayan. It is also my opinion that we might still have a good balance if some of them, for example Santa Cruz, Pueblo Viejo, San Antonio, San Jose, and Nah Lumka, were conjoined.

Mayan villages on the outskirts, such as Midway and Laguna and Indian Creek, should never have been the source of any contention. Yes, negotiations can be a beast. But negotiations on a matter like this cannot go there. This is a matter for the government, acting on the advice of the villagers.

We hear talk of persecution and divide and conquer. Most every tribe in Belize can speak about these things. The African side of Belize came on slave ships. The East Indians and the first Chinese weren’t in luxury cabins on the ships that brought them here. The Mestizos and people from Arabia and recent Hispanics fled to Belize to escape ugly wars. The Mennonites came here so they could live the way their ancestors did.

Our Mayan brothers and sisters won a great victory, and that victory is a thing of beauty for all of Belize. Now it is becoming not so beautiful. Anyone wants to talk divide and conquer? Well, the seeds being sown here are far more noxious than any weed planted by the British. Please, you are negotiating with your fellow brothers and sisters of Belize, not a colonial master. The Prime Minister of Belize luk jos like a rural Toledo-born.

In the name of practicality, let’s curb vaulting ambition. Again, I support Greg as the leader for our times. It’s no defeat to love Belize.

Among other things, we can’t pay fu this

The people who make their living in court want the rest of us to believe that the system is workable as it is, and this case that ended up with Officer Martinez being found guilty of manslaughter proves it. I disagree.

I still don’t know all the details of the case that came out in court, details that were allowed under the law. I’m naturally not contemporary. Generally, I like to let things stew awhile, especially if I don’t have to rush to a position. Ah, even if a lie, I expected the accused would say the death was accidental, that he aimed to fire high and he tripped and the bullet went low. Or, the accused would acknowledge the terrible deed he had done, show remorse and beg the court to go easy on him. I gather that the defense argued that Mr. Martinez didn’t fire the fatal shot, that in fact one of his colleagues is the guilty party.

Someone pointed out to me that this was one case where the key witness didn’t run out on the prosecution. If the circumstances were different, it would have been reasonable to think that the key witness had received considerable support to go to court. We are human beings. We do think. The difference in this case is that the key witness was a close friend of both the youth that was killed and his family, and the key witness was also victimized that fateful night. Consider also that the key witness quite likely wasn’t terrorized, because the accused was not a notorious gang banger/drugs runner. The accused was a police officer, an apparently overzealous officer who was serving special interests in Placencia who had told him that there were thieves in the area.

The Flemings, the family of the youth who was tragically killed, hired a private lawyer to bolster the case against Mr. Martinez. We won’t ask them how much that cost. Did the prosecution in this case outspend the defense? The prosecution certainly had the more famous private lawyer on their side.

This case is NOT a showpiece for the potential of the present system. If that’s what justice costs, we absolutely can’t afford it. Before anyone says we can’t afford to not deliver justice, I 100% agree that that cat has to be skinned, but maintain that this is not the way we are going to do it. What more of the little available public money in this country is to be thrown to fatten lawyers?

Don’t get too excited by a conviction here, because it is unsustainable. The system is very much a dud, and if they don’t know it, they are not as smart as they claim they are. The system has to be changed; it has to be changed because it has failed us and is failing us. And it would be changed, if the “strongman” in the mix, the foil, the lawyers, weren’t throwing the kitchen sink and biting and clawing to protect their turf.

Did you see how Lawyer OJ went after the new Ombudsman a few weeks ago? There are many cases that should go before the Ombudsman, but end up in court because the lawyers are protecting their feeding grounds. That segment when OJ called the WUB to put the Ombudsman in his place, someone with money should buy the clip and make it an infomercial, for Belizeans to see what it is all about.

I know we are a capitalist country, and money is big business. But we have to be wise in going about creating it. Sorry, taking money from the poor and the government to give to lawyers isn’t the blueprint that will make us all win. We are not living in the USA where money is flying about like dirt. Every law is a bonanza for the law professors. Look, I hated writing this piece. You know what it is about. Somebody has to say it.