Dear Mr. Editor,
Please continue the good work of keeping our nation informed in an important and factual manner. I ask that you kindly publish this letter, not to step on anyone’s toes, but to provide some insight as to how as a nation we could do better or similar to El Salvador.
I humbly ask our political leaders in government to watch the news or go to YouTube and see all that the Salvadoran president, a young man of Palestinian descent, Najib Bukele, is accomplishing for his country. He has only been in power for 2 years and, in a country like El Salvador with millions of people in its population, he has managed to accomplish things never before done in his country. Mr. Bukele, among other accomplishments, has managed to drastically lower the crime rate, has built a COVID-19 hospital which is considered one of the best in the region, has managed to control the propagation of the COVID-19 virus, has done various infrastructural projects around his country, and has created employment and housing for the poor.
My point, Belizeans, is why can’t we, with a much smaller country and even smaller population, do the same things that El Salvador is doing, in a time of a global pandemic? Why can’t we control the COVID-19 rate? Why can’t we build houses for the poor? Why can’t we charge, convict and jail corrupt politicians who steal the nation’s money while simultaneously filling their pockets?
My question is, do my Belizeans lack initiative and fortitude to do the right thing? Why can’t we ask the neighboring countries for assistance, not necessarily for money, but for better medication/healthcare, crime control tips, training and building material for building schools/hospitals/houses, just to name a few? What is our problem? I know for a fact that where there is a will there is a way! A past politician once told me that we (Belizeans) are not a country of beggars, and my reply was that there is nothing wrong with begging the world as long as it’s not for the sole self-gain of politicians but for the betterment of the Belizean people.
Thank you all. I hope our leader reads this letter and takes some similar action and tries to emulate the ways of El Salvador, which we are so close to.
Sincerely,
Mario Lopez