The recently completed Belize Diaspora Summit in Florida, USA, brought some refreshing energy and focus via XTV to Belizeans countrywide and across the diaspora, on the great untapped potential in the area of business and investment by diaspora Belizeans in their homeland, Belize, to which an increasing number have been returning in their golden years to retire. Whatever may have been discussed in the area of international relations, and the key role that patriotic Belizeans in the diaspora have played in the past by lobbying at the United Nations and with related US diplomats for the independence of Belize, it is more than likely that our diaspora may be called upon again to lobby for the security of their homeland.
On the home front, back in the 1960s and ‘70s, then premier George Price and his PUP team had engaged in intensive initiatives to gain support for Belize’s independence from countries in the region, and those efforts were rewarded with the support of Panama and then a few other Central American nations. Cuba was in our corner from the get-go, as were most of the Caribbean countries, and Mexico has always been a friendly neighbor. Not to be overlooked, however, was the sterling work done by our Belizean diaspora team on the Freedom Committee, of which the late Compton Fairweather o g has spoken on then KREM, now XTV, and in this newspaper. With the US support, Belize gained its independence in 1981, “with all our territory intact”; but remaining so, even in the aftermath of an anticipated positive outcome at the ICJ in the near future, cannot be taken for granted. In this new “world order” where it appears that “might is right,” sincere efforts need to be directed towards maintaining the support of our regional counterparts, and especially the decision makers in the USA; and that is a task which our diaspora Belizeans are best placed to tackle.
But, neither can Belizeans at home afford to go to sleep on this issue. Unfortunately, that may be exactly the case with many citizens at this time, who pay little attention to “foreign” news. While the educated and intellectual elite are well versed on international affairs, this is not the case for most of our grassroots citizens, who are the ones who have taken to the streets in the past, after being enlightened by political leaders at public meetings and in daily newspapers. Now, public meetings are a thing of the past, and grassroots Belizeans don’t read newspapers as much as they did prior to Covid and pandemic related restrictions from 2020 to around 2022.Many Belizeans have become satisfied with the frequent “hot” sound bites on a plethora of social media along with the daily evening news on local TV stations. Their attention is largely restricted to the latest local happening, whether it be a murder, rape, robbery, fatal vehicle accident, labor union crisis, or major challenges and critical events in our various production industries, as well as popular celebratory events on the horizon, etc. What’s happening in the outside world is hardly a concern to the local news buffs. International news? Who cares?
Unfortunately, along with their daily consumption of local news, and hunger for the next hot happening, many Belizeans are severely lacking in their understanding or appreciation of events on the world stage, except when the effects hit us at home, with skyrocketing prices on the grocery shop shelves or at the gas station, as may soon be the case if the situation doesn’t cool down in the Middle East. It is unfortunate, not only because of the possibility of being caught off guard by higher prices, but because there may soon come a day when the world will be watching to see the response of the Belizean people to events close to home; and if the Belizean people are not informed enough to be energized and inspired, as they were in the ‘60s with the Webster’s Proposals, and in 1981 with the Heads of Agreement, if this new generation of social-media-addicted Belizeans are not “ready” to take to the streets in numbers to show the world where they stand, it could make a difference in the level of needed support at high levels of governments abroad that Belize once counted on in our struggle for independence.
What is happening in Gaza is a big concern to some Belizeans; but many are not even aware of the daily atrocities that the Palestinian people are being subjected to, as they persist in their decades-long quest for self-determination and nationhood, even though the United Nations has repeatedly and overwhelmingly voted for an immediate end to the Israeli occupation and genocide. The reason it has not stopped, is that the representative of the United States of America has repeatedly exercised that nation’s veto power to stop such resolutions at the U.N. Security Council.
It is generally believed that if the US gave the order and stopped sending weapons and ammunition to Israel, the so-called war in Gaza would end immediately. But, US president Trump just hosted Israeli prime minister Netanyahu at the Oval Office, although the UN’s International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for his arrest for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Meanwhile, right in our very Caribbean neighborhood, almost next door to the greatest military power on planet earth, the USA, there has been an ongoing massacre of civilians by armed gangs who somehow have been able to consistently receive a plentiful supply of guns and ammunitions to keep terrorizing and killing Haitian civilians. And it is suspected that all these guns and ammunitions are smuggled in from the US, the greatest manufacturer of guns and ammunitions in the world. No embargo on guns coming into Haiti?
In regards to Gaza and the Palestinians, it is clearly the case, evidenced by its veto, that the US does not really want to stop the “war”, although the Secretary General of the U.N. keeps imploring.
But in the case of Haiti, there is no official war between two acknowledged combatants, as in Gaza where the Israeli army can claim it is fighting against Hamas; so, the US has not faced a U.N. resolution that would call its hand over Haiti.
The similarities are too stark between Gaza and Haiti, where well-armed gangs are terrorizing and slaughtering a captive civilian population, while they are “forcing tens of thousands of residents from their homes”, “hospitals … have closed due to insecurity … [with less] than 25% of health facilities around Port-au-Prince …operational” and “the escalating violence … is threatening to destabilize … other countries in the Caribbean.” It begs the question, is there a “Riviera” style plan also for Haiti after the destruction is complete?
It leaves us in little Belize with a lot to ponder as our date with destiny at the ICJ draws near. Is the mighty and powerful USA somehow unable to stop the ongoing mayhem and massacre on its very doorstep in Haiti, or is it satisfied with the civilian slaughter that has been going on there, for its own “strategic interests”? Perhaps now, more than ever, our diaspora Belizeans have a major role to play in lobbying the State Department in their respective areas, and to seriously consider what interests will be motivating the U.S. government when the ICJ brings down its verdict on the Belize-Guatemala case, soon to be addressed at The Hague. And Belizeans at home also need to be aware and ready to take to the streets in numbers if the situation demands it.