Editor AMANDALA
Dear Editor,
This is one Belizean for whom the meaning of the noun “home” can have no connotation with the noun “Guatemala”. After researching the Anglo/Belize/Guatemala boundary/border/territorial dispute for 50 years, I have come to the conclusion that the outcome of our future as an independent nation will rise or fall on the result of documentation. It’s all about historical documentation. For example, we would never have known that a British diplomat offered to pay the Guatemalans mordida to settle the dispute if it was not documented – that was wrong. I predict that if Belize plays a football match “at home” in Guatemala, it will be documented in BOLD TYPE and to our detriment – This will be a mistake.
When I think of sports in relation to Guatemala, I cannot help but recall the fate of Gerald Cattouse. Gerald Cattouse was the son of the late Albert Cattouse, former deputy premier of Belize, and his wife, Kathleen Fairweather. He was also my first cousin. Gerald was all about sports and physical fitness, tall, dark and handsome; he was what you would call a “health nut,” eating the right food, proper rest, etc. as he was into bodybuilding and weight lifting. He made his home in Guatemala City. In July of 1981, perhaps while he was on one of his early morning fitness runs, he was riddled with bullets and his body thrown in a garbage dump. The motive for his murder and the names of the perpetrators were never revealed.
Sincerely,
(Signed) Compton Fairweather