Photo: MLA/TAA officials walk out of meeting with Government Officials at Attorney General’s Ministry in Belmopan

BELMOPAN, Wed. May 3, 2023

The Mayas of southern Belize, who are in negotiations with the Government of Belize for the implementation of the April 2015 Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Consent Order, have walked away from the table. Their message to the Briceño administration is, “If our rights are denied, so will our support [be denied].” They plan on resuming talks with Government “… when they are prepared to show good faith … the ball is in their court.”

The deterioration follows a series of events that unfolded on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. According to Cristina Coc, the spokesperson for the Maya Leaders Alliance/Toledo Alcaldes Association (MLA/TAA), the parties were to attend a meeting – scheduled months prior — in Belmopan at 9:00 a.m.; but the Government asked for a postponement at the 11th hour without providing a reason, while they were already on their way to Belmopan, after having flown in international indigenous human rights experts. The meeting was then set for 1:00 p.m., but Coc said they subsequently learned that the Government was holding a press conference to discuss with the media the same matters they would be discussing at their meeting. When that meeting was finally convened after 1:00 p.m. that day, the MLA/TAA team read a prepared statement and walked out at around 2:00 p.m. In their remarks to the Government officials, they reminded them that both parties had agreed not to go to the media, and described a statement made at the conference as “inflammatory.” They added that the Government “… insists on framing Maya communities and Maya rights in a way that only furthers the risks we face on the ground; that only furthers the tensions on the ground with our neighbors, and now, even with the Government.”

At the press conference, Minister Dolores Balderamos Garcia referenced findings from an inspection conducted on the ground in non-Maya village, Yemeri Grove, and Maya village, Laguna, which are currently embroiled in a land dispute. The inspection was spearheaded by Senior Lands Officer Alfred Cal, who in his report stated, “Based on the findings of the inspection, the area in question is being occupied and has been illegally surveyed by the village council of Laguna. The area is in close proximity or adjacent to Laguna Village where we saw clearings and construction of homes occurring. The area is being disputed by both villages as land belonging to their own communities.” The findings were not officially communicated to either village prior to the press conference, but officials said the village leaders were present during the inspection. Questioned about this being a sign of disrespect, Minister Balderamos Garcia replied, “they weren’t officially communicated to both sides because we felt that we need to clear the air with the Belizean people first. But they will certainly know the position of the Government after today, because we felt that going out there to escalate tensions was not necessary.”

Minister Balderamos Garcia declared that under Belize law, only the Ministry of Natural Resources has the authority to sanction licensed surveyors to place survey markers. The bone of contention arises from activity in the last year or so when Laguna village leaders measured out residential plots for a group of primarily young people who had come of age, and who, in line with the customary practice of Laguna, are entitled to have a residential plot assigned. The plots were then marked with concrete pillars which were removed by Yemeri Grove residents, leading to recent flare-ups which required police involvement. The position of the Mayas is that, indeed, the Government is the sole authority to sanction surveyors to place concrete pillars on national land. As to what happens on customary land, the Mayas say that is subject to discussion and the legislation to be drafted on customary land tenure should clarify the procedures that are practiced. However, they point to traditional assignment of living areas that has been happening through the years on customary land. While the Mayas say concrete pillars were similarly placed over seven years ago in an area across the road from the recent pillars, the Government officials today disputed this.

Minister Balderamos Garcia pronounced that “the Consent Order of the Caribbean Court of Justice does not give Maya villages carte blanche. We must say that markers placed not by the Lands Department are not legally sanctioned, and, therefore, we want to ask parties to refrain from doing such things, especially in areas where we have some dispute.” The Mayas view this as the Government limiting their rights to use and exercise customary practices and livelihood. Today, Coc affirmed, “We will not sit here and watch the Government try to win in the public sphere, when they have lost time and time again in the legal environment where multiple decisions have ruled in our favour, and have affirmed and upheld our rights to our lands and resources. We will not be told that we cannot decide how we use and manage our lands … We are not going to let the Government think that setting the public against the Maya is going to afford them any wins. We are resilient people; we’re firm in our belief that as indigenous people—people who have been the first peoples of this land—we deserve greater respect, we deserve good faith dialogue. We’re not going to take the insults anymore. Enough is enough.”