The road has been smooth for a long while for Belize in its relations with the mighty USA, where tens of thousands of our citizens are now resident, many with dual citizenship, but a sizable number are still to “normalize” their status, and a significant number are likely in the category that new president Donald Trump labels as “immigrant criminals”. It is expected that our government, and specifically our prime minister, Hon. John Briceño, will not be doing anything intentionally to ruffle the feathers of Trump if he is disrespectful (which seems to be his personality) while he is on his drive to “make America great again”. At some point, however, we expect that our leaders will need to enlighten the U.S. president that Belize has a unique history, being a proud member of the British Commonwealth, despite opting to forego the new king’s picture in order to instead place images of our own national heroes on our new currency notes.

Nevertheless, deals and agreements that benefited Belize, as with many other countries, are being reviewed by the Trump administration, following the signing of his many Executive Orders. When you are the recipient of gifts, you are expected to be thankful and courteous, even when such gifts are stopped in their tracks; and it is not for Belize or its leaders to show any “bad face” to our donors, however heartless or disdainful their actions might seem to us. It is their, his, America’s right to give, or not to give to those perceived as poor countries, in the U.S.’s quest to be “great again”.

But there may come a time, and Belizeans will all know, those of us who are still proud of our nation and call ourselves Belizeans, when we will have to “put our foot down”, even in regards to the mightiest nation on the planet. And it is not as if we are called upon to throw dust in the face of the great Uncle Sam; disrespect is not the privilege of a small and militarily insignificant speck on the world stage. But “it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it.” And in this period of relative calm, it is good for us all to consider how our leaders, specifically our prime minister, will be wording his caution and, however audacious it might appear, his gentle reprimand of Mr. Trump, if or when he crosses the boundary of our national dignity and sovereignty.

It is said that on the road to our independence, the Belizean people, under the guidance of our national hero and first prime minister, George Price, engaged in what he called a “peaceful, constructive, Belizean revolution”. Nevertheless, on certain occasions the Belizean people have been called upon, by their own nationalistic, survival instincts and pride, to express their strong feelings in massive street demonstrations and strikes, to let the world know where we stand.

The deportations have reportedly begun, to Mexico, to Guatemala, to Colombia. It has been said that “home is that place where, when you go there, they have to let you in.” There is, indeed, no place like home. The problem for many who may be caught in the Trump deportation net is that, having grown up in the U.S., and with most known relatives residing there, their being deported to Belize will be like arriving in a strange place. Even someone who has left Belize for twenty-five years, will find that things are not the way they used to be, and most of the folks they knew are themselves now in foreign lands. There will be a lot of adjustments to be made, and our government should give special priority to finding a place where the skills of our “re-imported” Belizeans can be put to good use in gainful employment. The LIU (Leadership Intervention Unit), which was designed to negotiate peace among feuding gangs, may have to be expanded to address the economic/social intervention that may become necessary to avoid a major negative fallout from significant numbers of deportations to the Jewel.

These are some serious times, indeed, and our hope and prayer is that our leaders are up to the challenge to steer the nation across these turbulent seas ahead. And Belizeans all will need to join in the task to make the homecoming of our people be warm and comforting, after their being snubbed by the emperor up north. With their help and the blessing of the Almighty, and with all our leaders, we the people of Belize must pledge to make our Jewel once again the shining light of peace in this region and the world. Regardless of whatever the empire does, “We will not be moved!” Let this impending tragedy be a wake-up call to all our people, old and new Belizeans, to re-ignite the spirit of our own “founding fathers and mothers” and declare to all who think they determine our fate, that we will continue “to build our nation… Belize, united, sovereign and independent!” Power to the people!