“Georgia! Oh, Georgia!” Thus began a famous song by the legendary soul/gospel singer, Ray Charles. He was talking about a lady who blew his mind, so to speak. But, in little Belize, whenever the name Georgia is mentioned in the international news, most Belizeans might think of the state of Georgia in the USA, with which we are more familiar. But a Georgia has been in the news often lately, like Israel-Gaza and the Palestinians; and it turns out that this Georgia is another whole country altogether. Like Ukraine and a number of others, Georgia was once a part of the Soviet Union, until it became an independent nation, the Republic of Georgia, when the Soviet Union collapsed in December of 1991. And, like the turmoil still ongoing in the Russia-Ukraine war, the political tension between the influence of the West (mainly the European Union and the USA) and the East (mainly Russia) is being felt very strongly among the people of Georgia. Some Belizeans might say, that doesn’t concern us here in Belize; who cares about Palestine, and Haiti, and Sudan, and Ukraine, and Georgia way over there? But the raging battles or political upheavals in these places are a reminder to us, of the importance of national unity in times of internal political tensions, especially when influenced and even instigated by agents of foreign nations. We must never forget the wise advice of our national heroes, to save our country before we lose it, and to unite to preserve our independence. Some Belizean with the knowledge should give us a crash-course on what all the current fuss is about in the nation of Georgia, so that we can better understand the forces at play in this world, and be on guard in times to come, to protect and defend our Jewel, Belize.

A famous British explorer, Aldous Huxley, is supposed to have said back in 1934 that, “if the world had any ends,” Belize, then named British Honduras, “would certainly be one of them …” Indeed, this Jewel is unique, special, “sweet Belize” indeed, as one of our talented artists, Pen Cayetano, has sung. We’ve had our problems, social and political and economic, but somehow, like the fabled Hanaacy, and some would say with God’s blessing, we always seem to come out okay. Another artist, the late Leroy “Base” Castillo, sang, “Belize nice, like sugar and spice.” And although the local attitude to certain intrusive or somehow offensive new projects being introduced from abroad to our shores, has been that “bigger circus than that kohn ya an bruk up,” Belizeans are always welcoming to strangers, but maintain a quiet pride in ourselves and our little country.

Despite the occasional floods, and a hurricane once every few years, compared to what we can see happening in other places, we are blessed. And we pray it stays that way. And in the coming days and years, with increasing effects of global warming, international economic upheavals, and the implications from the outcome of our ICJ journey, it will be important for us to maintain our poise and strength as a people, especially in regard to our internal politics, the most potentially divisive factor in our daily lives. And to do that, it will be important for us to not allow ourselves to become confused and turn against each other through the manipulation and instigation of treacherous outside forces that may not have the best interest of our nation at heart, that would want to turn back our hard-won independence and recently gained economic freedom from Super Bond debt, to have us once again swamped and submerged under a mountain of foreign debt. Threats to our independence and our “peaceful, constructive, Belizean revolution” may come from many angles, so we must be alert to the possible traps and snares faced by other nations, even some close to home.

The older generation of Belizeans are well aware of our problems with the Guatemalan claim, but many Belizeans only decades later became aware of the CIA-orchestrated overthrow of Guatemala’s very popular and elected president Jacobo Arbenz in 1954, after he had earned the disfavor of the American-owned United Fruit Company with his land and labor reform program for the masses of peasants in Guatemala. A recent Youtube documentary (“How the CIA invaded Guatemala using a rebel army …”) explained how a major part of the success of that coup was the propaganda campaign that was unleashed upon the Guatemalan people by the CIA agents through radio broadcasts and other means, causing confusion and disunity among the masses and in the country’s military. According to a Wikipedia page on the topic: “The coup installed the military dictatorship of Carlos Castillo Armas, the first in a series of U.S.-backed authoritarian rulers in Guatemala … Nearly four decades of civil war followed, as leftist guerrillas fought the series of U.S.-backed authoritarian regimes whose brutalities include a genocide of the Maya peoples.” But, if the Guatemalan people had been more exposed to the strategies and tactics of the outside world, and the ruthlessness of foreign powers, perhaps they might have been able to resist the CIA efforts to depose their popular president, Jacobo Arbenz.

Our Haitian brothers and sisters have endured much suffering and hard times following their historic first successful slave revolution and declaration of independence from France on January 1, 1804. After American intervention and occupation (1915–1943) and their subjection to the brutal puppet dictator Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier (1957-1971), and then his son, Jean Claud “Baby Doc” Duvalier (1971-1986), and after a couple military coups, at last the Haitian people got a chance to democratically elect an extremely popular president, Jean Bertrand Aristide, in 1990. Alas, outside forces again stepped in when the actions of Aristide did not please them, and the people were not united enough to fend off the coup strategies, and Aristide was forced into exile after only one year (1991), and again in 2004 after being overwhelmingly re-elected in 1999. According to Wikipedia, “Aristide continues to be among the most important political figures in the country, and is considered by many to be the only really popular, democratically elected leader Haiti has ever had. Yet his administrations were targeted for destabilization…,” and it’s been trouble and more trouble for Haiti ever since.

There was an attempted coup, some aspects of which were televised a couple decades ago, involving then popular Venezuela president, Hugo Chavez. According to Wikipedia, “A failed coup d’état on 11 April 2002 saw the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, ousted from office for 47 hours before being restored to power. Chávez was aided in his return to power by popular support and mobilization against the coup by loyal ranks in the military.” Today, the successor to Chavez, Nicolas Maduro, has faced much pressure, similar to Chavez, and has been called many bad things, including “axis of evil”. Venezuela has been subject to stiff economic sanctions by the U.S. Meanwhile, both under Chavez and now Maduro, Venezuela has been very kind to Belize through the PetroCaribe program. And the USA has also been very kind to Belize, although they may have an even closer relationship with our nemesis Guatemala, like they share with Israel, with whom Belize has broken diplomatic relations in solidarity with the Palestinian people, who the United Nations warned are undergoing a genocide at the hands of Israel. What a world!

There are “deep waters” for Belize to navigate as a nation; and while our leaders have a job to do, it is very important that we the people understand the games that are being played, and that could one day be played against us in our local politics. If we can just begin to make sense of the drama unfolding in Georgia, we’ll be better prepared to withstand the negative outside forces in this world. In times of calm seas, prepare for bad weather, and the more informed we are as a people, the better we will be able to stay together as Belizeans, despite our differences on particular issues.