There are a number of stories that purport to explain the origin of the term, “the real McCoy.” The most credible version goes as follows: In the late 1890’s and early 1900’s, one of the hardest punching boxers was a lightweight fighter who went by the name, “Kid McCoy.” Of course, every barfly with a few too many in him boasted, “Don’t mess with me, I’m Kid McCoy.” As the story goes, one guy went after a man who had said the above and got knocked out with one punch. When the man got up off the floor, he groaned, “That was the real McCoy.” Journalists as a rule are skeptical; some would say cynical. I plead guilty more often than not, but I believe that Derek Aikman’s kidnapping was the real McCoy. Here’s my reasoning.
I am no stranger to tough streets, having grown up in Harlem, New York City in a one-bedroom third floor apartment in a building that could only be described as a five-story tenement walkup. Whenever I went downstairs to leave the building I couldn’t help but notice the junkies shooting up “scag” (heroin) behind the staircase in the lobby.
I saw my first “hit” when I was six years old, a numbers runner who was suspected of stealing from his mob bosses. The unfortunate victim was parked when a car pulled up next to his, the passenger window went down and a guy fired three rounds at him from a pump 12-gauge shotgun at point blank range. Needless to say, the result was horrific, particularly to a young kid who for a while lived in fear that the gunman would come looking for him because he saw it and, how could they be sure he wouldn’t talk?
I don’t know one single employee of Kremandala who has not been expecting something like this from the Musa-Fonseca axis of evil for a long time! Evan X didn’t learn the lessons of the street until his 20’s, but he has learned them well, and most of us who work with Kremandala have absolutely no illusions as to who and what we are dealing with!
For a number of years now, Amandala editorials have cautioned their readers about the ruthlessness and the lack of any conscience or feeling that is the hallmark of 95% of those who become politicians. The editorials have emphasized that the current PUP politicians (with two very notable exceptions, the Honorable Mark Espat and the Honorable Cordel Hyde) are dangerous men, and that they won’t hesitate for a second to employ “death squads” if they feel that they are being sufficiently threatened!
I have also alluded to this likely possibility in a number of my past articles. Now, given that so much of the chicanery and the brazen larceny has become public knowledge, these guys are desperate! They are desperate to avoid any sanctions for their actions, and they are also desperate to remain in power. That translates to “by any means necessary.” Dean Barrow may have said it, but Musa and Fonseca really mean it!
So, why did they choose Derek Aikman? Well, the average third party is not generally viewed as a serious threat by the power structure, although the UDP has expressed its concern by mercilessly attacking any and all third parties because they feel that they will be the most likely to lose votes to disgruntled Belizeans who are looking for an alternative to a failed two-party system. Now, picture yourself as a “black operation psy-war strategist.” Who had suddenly emerged as a serious threat to the power structure? Derek Aikman reappeared on the political scene in the last two weeks! The success of, and the publicity generated by, the referendum against the Universal Health Services bailout, pinpointed Mr. Aikman as a credible and formidable force in the coming general elections. The organizational skills that Mr. Aikman displayed, in addition to the national name recognition, scared the power structure! Derek Aikman has been a serious threat to that power structure for a long time. Both political parties felt the need to use the Belize Bank, owned by you know who, to prematurely call in a business loan so as to deprive Mr. Aikman of his House seat in 1992! Now, he was back, bigger and better than ever.
Mr. Aikman was the ideal victim. Unlike us suspicious American city ghetto and Belize City Southside types, Derek Aikman has been a businessman and a politician all his life. He has never lived in a tough neighborhood and he obviously doesn’t have the skills to survive in that kind of environment. He lives in a rural area; his movements were easily tracked because they are completely predictable. He would leave his house on a specific day at a specific hour and travel the same isolated road to the same destination. As he said on KREM, he never dreamed that something like this could happen to him. If I see a car trying to stop me on the road and am faced with a masked gunman exiting a vehicle in front of me, I am going to instantly jam my foot on the gas and turn that guy into a hood ornament! Then, catch me if you can! Derek thought that the guy was signaling for help!
Living on the Southside of Belize City, “schools” you real fast! You don’t underestimate anyone. Routes to destinations are altered on a whim, as are times of leaving and returning. This morning I was coming from the market, riding up South Street. Ahead of me was a young black man on a bicycle, maybe 30 years my junior. As he felt me coming up behind him, he gave that look back that he tried not to make look like a look back, and slid over to the other side of the street. When he didn’t feel that I was a threat, he continued as though nothing had happened. I smiled to myself; I’ve done that any number of times. We all do that out here. Take nothing for granted. There are mean desperate people in our world that will jack you and maybe kill you in a heartbeat for a few dollars.
Look, anyone can be gotten if someone is willing to try hard enough, but nothing says that you have to make it easy for them and they have to realize that coming after you could put them at risk too, real risk! Instead of being the getter, they could be the ones who get got, and even if they get you they better realize that they will be hunted down, one by one.
Not only did Mr. Aikman never dream that this could have happened to him, too many Belizeans won’t analyze this properly because it is something new for Belize, although it sure isn’t new for much of the rest of the world. This makes it easy for some people with an agenda to insinuate that perhaps the man orchestrated the entire thing. Then to top it off, the kidnappers stated that Mr. Aikman would be killed if the BTL bill passed and then made threats against the PM and the Governor General, thus conveniently trying to point fingers squarely at the Opposition so that they could be blamed for “fomenting violence”! Of course that makes no sense, since Mr. Aikman is part of the opposition, and he couldn’t affect that outcome no matter what.
I also raised my eyebrows when Asst. Commissioner Crispin Jeffries said something to the effect that he was sure that Mr. Aikman would be found alive. Really, Mr. Jeffries? What made you so damn confident? Very few others were. Is it just possible that you knew something that we didn’t know? And why did the cop at the check-point refuse to assist when asked? The odds of winning the lottery twice in a row are better than the odds of anybody being convicted for this, even though it is genuine terrorism.
It isn’t for nothing that the Amandala editorial of June 3rd talked about death squads that are connected with, and include officers of a country’s, security forces. Those of us who work for Kremandala know what people like Said Musa and Ralph Fonseca are willing to do to stay in power. In the final analysis, they are no different from dictators and tyrants who have gone before them in many countries: Gen. Rios Montt of Guatemala, Somoza of Nicaragua, Pinochet of Chile, Stroessner of Paraguay and the Argentinean generals who fought the “dirty war” in the 1970’s, using such tactics as torturing suspected opponents to within an inch of their lives, then drugging them and throwing them out of airplanes into the sea!
These guys are more than capable of doing the same things. Given the “professional” demeanor that Mr. Aikman described as the behavior of his abductors, these were experienced thugs, trained in these operations. Were they Belizeans attached to the security forces, or were they foreigners imported just for this purpose, after which they vanish like ghosts?
Mr. Aikman is extremely fortunate. He is a diabetic with additional medical problems. Many diabetics who are subjected to extreme physical and mental stress can have their blood glucose levels fluctuate wildly. Dehydration is particularly dangerous because as the blood thickens, glucose levels sky. Diabetics are also five times more likely than the average person to be at risk for heart attacks and strokes. Obviously these guys didn’t plan to kill him, but it probably came a whole lot closer to happening than the majority of the Belizean public realizes. I know, I’ve been diabetic for 21 years. That alone speaks volumes as to why this wasn’t an orchestrated event.
X also pointed out on the June 5th Kremandala show about the duct tape that was obviously impairing Mr. Aikman’s breathing when he was found. That is a real hazard to anyone, much less a man with his medical problems. Besides I don’t believe that Mr. Aikman would subject his wife and children to that kind of stress in the first place. Mrs. Kim Aikman sure didn’t sound like someone who was in on a staged affair!
Listened to Johnny Briceño and Eamon Courtenay on the June 5th Channel 7 news. Boy, did they choose their words carefully. I also caught part of the rebroadcast of the WUB morning show with the Hon. Dean Barrow. He pointed out that if a party member becomes too strident in his criticism of his party, he can be expelled and then a by-election would have to be scheduled. Listen and learn.
One last thing. I noticed a bit more cordiality and respect shown by Mr. Barrow to KREM and to Kremandala as a whole. I sincerely hope that in the future, that respect, and mutual respect, will continue.