I received a gift today of a beautifully bounded 2013 personal diary/planner with the words “The Genesis Agenda” across the top, and “Belize!” at the bottom, with the Belize Coat of Arms taking up the middle section, all imprinted on a blue hard cover. Belize’s tourist attractions are well advertised in picturesque scenes on the monthly pages of the diary, but there is one glaring omission; and for that, I don’t like the diary.

About ten years ago, while holding a management position in a big company, I received a Christmas gift of a very similar type, same size, of hard-cover diary from one of our Guatemalan fertilizer suppliers. We shared a cordial and friendly relationship, but I communicated my strong objection to the agent when I discovered that there were maps of all countries of Central America inside the diary, but Belize was included as a part of Guatemala. He apologized profusely, but I never used that diary.

Genesis Art has disclosed the source of all their art work and pictures, but I cannot find anywhere in the diary the names of the printers and publishers. More importantly, there are no maps displayed, which would have been a great opportunity to advertise our country as an independent nation in Central America. Perhaps the agents are also targeting Guatemalan tourists? It may just be an innocent oversight, but I am nevertheless puzzled by “The Genesis Agenda.”