Sunday, September 29, 2024 at 11:09 AM
As I watch all the merciless chaos that is a worldwide phenomenon these days, whether it’s Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan or Venezuela, I’ve come to realize that, while those situations are the most newsworthy, unrest and distrust are worldwide, including inside our own little Jewel. As we start counting down to the ICJ decision on our fate as a nation, we have to acknowledge that we are hostages in the larger scheme of things, that we don’t really have a say in the matter. All we have is hope, but is that enough? My friend has told me on various occasions that we are not paying enough attention to this threat to our sovereignty, and I totally agree with him. We are too busy fighting for our own personal survival to pay attention to the survival of our country!
I believe that, because we have become so Central Americanized, we have become so diluted by immigration and intermarriage, the threat that is Guatemala is not as urgent, as seminal, as we old-timers have always considered it to be. They don’t see, or refuse to see, the disruptive changes that would occur if we should have to cede one inch of Belize to Guatemala, one inch! What’s the saying—give them an inch and they take your whole country? That’s not the exact saying, but that’s exactly what would happen!
I say, and believe that if the ICJ rules that parts of our country should be given to our neighbor, that gives them permission to want more, and still more. It would justify their claim on the entire country of Belize, not just what would be ceded to them; it’s just human nature. “Give them an inch and they take a yard.”
Some want to turn the page, to put the claim in the rearview mirror, to pretend it’s not real. Some believe that a knight in shining armour will come riding in to save us, and in my humble opinion, most of us won’t care until it’s too late! And then what?
I don’t know anything about the discussions, the arguments, the deals that are being discussed in The Hague regarding our sovereignty. We are not being apprised of the negotiations by our government, which in my opinion, is a dereliction of duty! But again, do we even care?
My friend was waiting to hear what our Foreign Minister had to say at the United Nations last week! Why should any of us have to wait? We should already know, because it concerns our sovereignty, our survival, as this hodgepodge of people who want nothing more than to be left alone, on our own property, on our own terms! How much longer will we have to wait?
Folks, we have already lived under colonialism for over 200 years. We thought that we had shed that yoke in 1981 with independence, only to substitute it with another yoke, one of economic colonialism! Now we are facing the reality of being recolonized, by a far less generous party. One that just wants to suck the marrow out of our already very fragile existence. Wat a ting!
I don’t really know what we as citizens can do, those of us who care that Belize might become a department on the Guatemalan map, for real. Should we agitate, complain, or just wait? It seems that we have been waiting our entire lives!
Glen