At six in the evening on March 12, the polls will close, and at that time Belizeans will have decided which party they want at the helm for the next five years. Four years and four months ago, when we went to the polls to choose a new government, it was the worst of times, because the world was in the grip of a pandemic. Then, survival dominated our minds. Today, the pandemic now behind us, we are occupied with the struggle to maintain our standard of living, and improve our economy so that more of us win.
But these aren’t normal times yet. The pandemic left economies across the world reeling, and two wars involving the major military powers have increased economic hardship everywhere. Inflation has severely eroded the purchasing power of our dollar; no country is exempted from the pinch.
The US, under their new president, Donald Trump, is pursuing an extremely disruptive America first agenda, which they say is necessary to make America great again. Tens of thousands of Americans are set to be retrenched from public jobs. Illegal immigrants are being targeted for repatriation. Many aid programs have been frozen since Trump took office. In their latest move, the US government has increased tariffs on a number of goods they import from China, Canada, and Mexico.
In the “new” world order, assistance for developing countries is drying up. The UK has announced that it will be committing more funds to its military, with the finance coming from cuts to their foreign aid budget. Foreign aid is more “recompense” than charity. Over the centuries, the developed world has extracted vast amounts of wealth from countries like ours, and they continue to do so through their multinational companies and wealthy citizens that own businesses abroad—the profits of these endeavors ending up in deposits in the banks of the home country.
In normal times, our economy is fragile because it is small and overly concentrated on services. Our manufacturing sector is limited by a small market, and the high cost of imported inputs and transportation. Agriculture, the backbone of our productive sector, is threatened like never before. Three of our main agro industries – citrus, sugarcane, and farmed shrimp – face difficult times because of diseases and unpredictable and unfavorable weather. Milling is presently on pause in the sugar industry, after excessive rains turned the feeder roads into a quagmire and greatly reduced the quality of the crop.
In most countries, the economy dominates the discussion during election years. With our territory being claimed by a neighbor, that existential matter was as big in the discourse during election years as any, but since both main parties agreed on a bi-partisan approach, and even more so now since the matter is before the ICJ, we have more leeway to focus on the bread and butter on our tables.
Worldwide a number of incumbents have been booted from office in recent elections, with the inflated price of food and numerous other goods being a major factor in the decision of electorates to choose change. In these difficult times, it is a giant task to deliver economic prosperity. The PUP has presented its report card for its 2020-2025 government, and an outline of what it will deliver if it is returned to office. The UDP’s leaders, who haven’t yet resolved some serious internal issues that have split the party, have talked about what they perceive as failures of the 2020-2025 government, and offered their plans if they are elected.
There are a few notable candidates among the third parties and independents. Wil Maheia (PNP) returns (he contested in the Fort George Division in 2020) to contest in Toledo East, where this year, for reasons not yet explained, there is no UDP candidate on the ballot. The candidates in that race are the incumbent, Dr. Osmond Martinez (PUP); Maheia (PNP); and Orlando Muschamp (Independent). In Corozal Bay, Ms. Elvia Vega-Samos, who was a Minister of State in the 2020-2025 PUP government, runs as an independent candidate after losing in a convention to Ms. Thea Garcia Ramirez (PUP). The UDP’s Hernan Riverol is the third candidate on that ballot. In Dangriga, Cyril Garcia, who back in June last year had applied to contest the incumbent, Dr. Louis Zabaneh (PUP), in a convention, and was denied, runs as an independent candidate. There is no UDP candidate on the Dangriga ballot.
On March 12, Belizeans who vote (an average of 77% of registered voters participated in the last 5 elections) will decide which party they think is best to steer us through these “inflationary” times and possible turbulent waters ahead. For the 41% of the voting electorate who favor the blue (the PUP garnered 40.88% of the votes cast when it was crushed at the polls in 2008) and the 38% who vote red (the UDP garnered 38.34% of the votes cast when it was crushed at the polls in 2020), manifestos, candidates, who is likely to be the next prime minister, and the state of the economy, are of little consequence. They belong to the party; they vote for their party. Because there are two factions of the UDP, in a number of divisions party faithful will have to decide which of the camps they will vote for.
Twenty percent (thereabouts) of registered voters who participate in elections are unaffiliated (swing votes), and as usual it is their “sober” heads that decide which party celebrates on election night, and which has to start remaking itself. The PUP has some notable achievements since taking office in 2020, and the fracture in the UDP gives them (the PUP) an easier path to victory. Elections, of course, are decided by those who vote on Election Day. The polls close at six.
Recalling our great heroes and benefactors on March 9
In our very unique history, in 1926, at the invitation of a friend who was an officer of the government of British Honduras (Belize), an Englishman named Henry “Baron” Bliss anchored his boat, Sea King, in our waters. Baron Bliss, who was confined to a wheelchair since contracting polio at the age of 42, was in poor health when he arrived in the Jewel. He was here but a few weeks when he died on March 9, 1926. We are world-renowned for our hospitality and flavor, and the Baron so enjoyed his stay that he bequeathed the bulk of his estate to our country.
The interest alone from his estate is used for projects he approved of in his will, so the fund continues to give to this day. Notable among the many projects funded by the Bliss estate are the Bliss Center for Performing Arts (formerly the Bliss Institute), the Bliss School of Nursing, the Annual Harbor Regatta, and beside his tomb at Fort Point a beacon, the Baron Bliss Lighthouse, constructed to guide to safe harbor the fisherfolk and other mariners who had enriched his last days.
While March 9 will forever be Baron Bliss Day to older Belizeans, since 2008 it is officially called National Heroes and Benefactors Day, after a government decided that our country should also honor daughters and sons of the soil who made outstanding contributions to our development. Public and Bank holidays are created with the stroke of a pen, but they are very costly, hence the decision to share the Baron’s space with our outstanding native-born heroes.
On March 9 we recall our great women and men – Happy Baron Bliss Day, Happy Heroes and Benefactors Day to all Belizeans!