The US flag has been flying at half-staff in the US since Jimmy Carter, their 39th president and leader of the free world between 1977 and 1980, died on December 29. It should be flying at half-staff in Belize also, indeed in the majority of countries in the Americas, for no US president has done more to promote justice, peace, democracy, economic growth, and human rights in our region than he did.
Whether they liked and admired him or didn’t, political leaders from sea to shining sea are mouthing nice things in the wake of Carter’s passing. A Democrat, Carter became president of the US in 1977, defeating the Republican candidate, Gerald Ford, who finished the 1972-1976 term of Richard Nixon after Nixon resigned from office in disgrace in 1974. Carter served only one term. In 1980 US voters crushed him at the polls, delivering 489 electoral votes to his opponent, Ronald Reagan, while he received just 49.
In the hearts of many Americans, Carter’s place among US presidents has not improved any since they chased him from office. Even some Belizean Americans refer to him as a weak president, which is consistent with the position of the US’s president-elect, Donald Trump, who showed great respect and honesty when he commented on the solemn moment. Trump said, “While I strongly disagreed with him philosophically and politically, I also realized that he truly loved and respected our Country, and all it stands for … He worked hard to make America a better place, and for that I give him my highest respect.”
Indeed, Jimmy Carter loved his country. But his love wasn’t limited to the narrow confines of those 50 states. Carter loved all humanity; he worked to make the world “great”, and for that, especially in our part of the world, he must be held in the highest esteem. He stopped arms sales to Guatemala to force the leaders there to end their genocidal war against indigenous Guatemalans; negotiated the handing over of the Panama Canal to Panama before the turn of the century; and for Belizeans, in his greatest decision of all, he gave his support to our country’s independence.
Carter’s efforts in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti met heavy resistance at home, which might explain why his achievements in these countries were limited. His push to see democracy take hold in Haiti, Nicaragua, and Cuba failed largely because extremist right-wing forces weren’t about giving left leaning or non-aligned leaders the space to survive. Journalists in the Miami Herald noted that experts “credit him for launching countries like Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil, all under right-wing dictatorships, on a path toward democratization”; and that “declassified State Department documents show that if he had been re-elected, Carter intended to lift the U.S. embargo on Cuba.”
Ambassador Assad Shoman told 7News that when Carter came into office “he and his administration were pushing for Belize to cede land to Guatemala in order to placate the generals, to placate the Guatemalan government, and keep them as an ally, a stronger ally of the United States of America.” Significantly, after reviewing Guatemala’s unjust claim to Belizean territory, its demand for the repudiation of the 1859 treaty between the countries which was made in a time of peace, Carter became our greatest champion. Shoman noted: “… in the end, he was helpful to Belize because it was under his administration that the United States finally in 1980 voted yes in the resolution, the UN resolution for independence with territorial integrity, fulfilling our right to self-determination.”
Carter’s legacy is tarnished by events in the Middle East. He is credited with the Camp David Accords, a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in which the former “agreed to withdraw from Sinai, and Egypt promised to establish normal diplomatic relations between the two countries and open the Suez Canal to Israeli ships (which until then had been banned from the waterway).” (Britannica.com)
Carter inherited the corrupt 23-year-old regime of the Shah of Iran, and religious zealots, who took control of the country after he “ushered out” the Shah from office, weren’t expansive enough to recognize/appreciate his generosity. The zealots were bent on revenge and, among other atrocities, they took Americans as hostages. When Carter chose negotiation to free the hostages (which was, instead of the use of the US’s military might, a drawn-out process), his adversaries at home, utilizing a compliant media, pounced and drove a wedge between him and the American people.
The foreign policy of Carter’s government was different from that of any US government before or after him. The US, with its high standard of living and its awesome military, was, still is, uniquely poised to make the world great, if not all of it, at least our hemisphere. But other US presidents, unlike Carter, insist on pursuing a narrow agenda. Maybe they are hemmed in by domestic pressure, demands of the American people to deliver an even higher standard of living at home. Maybe they lack Carter’s heart and mettle. Whatever the explanation is, the economic growth of “vassal” states in our region has stagnated since Carter’s brief time in the Oval Office.
Our country owes a great debt to Jimmy Carter. He is a special hero.
New Year, high cost of living still the biggest concern
In his upbeat “optimism and opportunity” 2025 New Year’s Day Address, PM John Briceño listed a number of achievements of his government since they took office in November 2020, including the efforts his government has made to keep down the cost of living, which is very high. Despite all his government has done, that plague remains in a virulent phase. The obstinacy of inflationary prices shouldn’t surprise anyone. A few years ago, educator/historian Ms. Sandra Coye warned the nation via the XTV WuB Morning Show that economic pain would come our way, because the powerful nations would be doubling their efforts to restore their economies which had been seriously eroded by the pandemic.
In 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and while to justify the invasion Russia’s leadership has cited issues such as Ukraine’s ambition to join NATO, and ethnic divisions that have festered since Ukraine and other states separated from the Soviet Union in 1991, it isn’t lost on anyone that Ukraine’s considerable natural resources would greatly augment the economy of the invader.
US ally, Israel claims that its unrelenting bombing of Gaza is in response to an attack by the militant group, Hamas; but it isn’t lost on anyone that mineral resources and sea/land expansion are the spoils for Israel as it pursues this cruel war. In the face of world condemnation of Israel’s vicious war, US president Biden and the US power structure have repeatedly told their “dog” to seek peace, while sending them military supplies to replace what they have used in their war of “revenge”.
New US president Donald Trump (to be installed on January 20) has discussed purchasing the mineral-rich island, Greenland, from Denmark – a country with no inclination to sell; told Panama that his government expects lowered charges for US ships transiting the Panama Canal; and told immediate neighbors, Canada and Mexico, to expect increased tariffs on their exports.
The most powerful countries are throwing their weight about, and that, piled on top of the recent pandemic and unfavorable weather, increases the pressure on our economy. But, although our dollar doesn’t buy as much as it used to, there is reason to be optimistic. It is no lie that we’ve come a long way since 2020. Happy New Year, Belize!