Who is More Important — Locals or Foreigners?

By Bill Lindo

Belize City, June 30^th 2023: Belize is now at a crossroads. We as a people need to decide a very important question – who owns Belize, locals or foreigners?

The recent mess over the Definitive Agreement for the Port of Magical Belize has brought this issue into the public arena and has put the ruling Peoples United Party (PUP) in a bind – unto the horns of a dilemma.

A little background is necessary. The PUP was formed in September 1950, making it the oldest political party in Belize — soon to be 73 years old. In 1952, the PUP published its Creed, and in 2010, under the leadership of John Briceno the PUP revised its Creed/Philosophy to include the creation and control of money by the elected representatives of the people and to state “that it is the sacred duty of government to intervene actively in the economic life of the nation in order to achieve full employment and the eradication of poverty and secure a better life for all Belizeans.”

The Constitution of the PUP, Part I, Article 5, states,

The Peoples United Party is a political organization pledged to create a New BELIZE through the Peaceful Constructive Belizean Revolution which will bring to all Belizeans a better life and a just share of the National Wealth.”

Specifically, Article 6 sets out its Principal Aims and Objects, as follows,

1. To consolidate and preserve National Unity, based on respect for equality of all citizens regardless of race, ethnicity, colour, disability, gender, creed or social status with due regard for all regions of Belize.
2.  To defend and maintain the Independence of Belize, its territorial integrity, full sovereignty, and freedom of its people.
3. To achieve full Economic Independence by pursuing a national policy that stimulates higher economic productivity and development and that Eradicates Poverty through Self Reliance and Full Employment.
4.  To ensure that Belize is governed by a Democratic Government.
5.  To ensure that every Belizean has the Right to freedom of expression, of movement, of religious belief, of association, and the Right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness based on the principles of social justice.
6. To ensure that every Belizean has a Right to work, free from Victimization or discrimination and the Right to organize, unionize, and strike, and that they receive a just return for their Labour based on a living wage, a fair share of the national wealth, and a continuously improving quality of life.
7. To ensure that our Natural Resources are owned controlled and managed in order to ensure the benefit for the Belizean people with Maximum Belizean Ownership and Management.
8. To ensure that every Belizean has equal access to Quality, Relevant and Practical Education from pre-school to university with a special emphasis on Universal Secondary School enrolment and completion.
9.  To ensure that all Belizeans have equal access to Quality and Universal Health Care.
10. To vigorously pursue policies and programmes that protect and promote children, the Youths, the Elderly, Women and those who are Mentally or Physically challenged.
11. To work for world peace and security through regional cooperation and the United Nations on the principle of the interest of the other.
12. To participate in Elections at all levels with a view to forming national, municipal, village and community governments to achieve the preceding.  

As humans we judge people, institutions, governments not by what they say or write, but rather by their actions. In fact, we always say, actions speak louder than words.

Let’s now look at what this 72+ years old political organization has pledged to the people of Belize as its purpose, its reason for its existence – a complete change from its colonial past.  First, the PUP writes and preaches to the people of Belize that it will create a revolution – a change, a radical change from the past, especially from the colonial past. Usually, revolutions are violent because the ancient regime would rather die than surrender their power to a different group, to new masters. So, violence must be used to forcefully remove them from the power of government.

Under the leadership of George Cadle Price (1956-1996) the PUP stated that only a revolution can destroy the colonial mentality, and power relationships in Belize, including the financial, and especially the economical relationships that have persisted since the colonial era. But the PUP will make this revolution in a Peaceful Constructive Belizean Revolution. In other words, non-violent, but still a revolution and the creation of a NEW BELIZE – a New Jerusalem.  George Price and later, John Briceno’s National Executive of 2010 then laid out the twelve (12) Aims and Objects above of how the PUP will change Belize to ensure that the people of Belize will enjoy a better life and get a just share of the national wealth of Belize.

We will now do a score-card type of exercise on the twelve Aims and Objects of the PUP since their  November 2020 election.

Number 1 – consolidate and preserve National Unity.  The score is D. In the South there is a Mayan Land Rights Movement that’s destroying the National Unity of Belize. It is an international conspiracy by the Anglo-Americans to seize the natural resources of Belize in the South. This is a huge topic, so I will discuss it in a separate blog, but perhaps my friend the Deputy can help and provide us with some information – has Elon Musk or a company controlled by him acquired and lands/natural resources in the South of Belize?

Number 2 – Defend and maintain the Independence of Belize. Score C. Our governments have acted as servants of the Anglo-Americans and have pushed the people of Belize to take the Anglo-Guatemalan Dispute to the ICJ, really a European Court of Justice to decide if the 1859 Treaty is valid. Judicial cases are win-lose. Belize needs a win-win agreement with Guatemala. In my next blog on the Mayan Land Rights Issue, I will make public a proposal I made to the National Executive of the PUP.  A win-win proposal.

Number 3 – To achieve full Economic Independence by higher economic productivities and Eradicate Poverty through Self-Reliance and Full Employment. Score F.  Belizeans still carry an inferiority complex, preferring instead to support the foreigner and foreign-made goods.  As long as that continues, then we will never know true independence. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the noun independence means the quality or state of being independent: freedom from outside control or support. Not to depend on others. Not to let outsiders decide what’s best for you.

Now to be fair, a lot of countries are not independent. They are full members of the UN, but the former colonial masters and the Anglo-Americans control their economies, their financial system, their foreign affairs, and even their internal political affairs.  In fact, recently, the world has more-or-less split into two blocks – the Western block/G 7 led by the Anglo-Americans and the Eurasian/South block led by Russia and China. One thing is for certain, the one world government of WEF is out. Neither Russia nor China will allow the big boys (Rockefeller & Rothschild) of the Anglo-Americans and their corporations to control and exploit their nation-state. And now close to seventy countries are lining-up to join BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) because they are tired of the arrogance, exploitation, and outright theft of their resources by the Anglo-Americans. We are now living in a multi-polar world, where we in the South can be independent of the Anglo-Americans.

Aim number 3 (economic independence) of the PUP can only be obtained through self-reliance, which means Belize starts to manufacture all the goods its market can support, using the raw materials obtained here in Belize which naturally leads to massive infrastructure development which then leads to higher economic productivity and to high wages, and finally, the eradication of poverty.  Thus, we see that the teachings of George Price (Mixed Economy), and implementing the PUPs aims and objectives can solve all the problems of Belize.

The government of Belize is a democratic government, so we can give the PUP an A for Aim number 4. And perhaps a B+ for Aim number 5. But the next Aim, number 6 talks about the Right to Strike. The PUP was born out of the labour movement in Belize.  It seems the party has forgotten where it came from. In the dispute between the Port of Belize and the Christian Workers Union, it looks like the government of Belize has taken the side of the corporation in defiance of its pledge to protect the workers from the corporations, especially the foreign entities. Also, the PUP has failed to live up to its promise to ensure the workers of Belize gets a living wage, a fair share of the national wealth of Belize and a continuously improving quality of life. A country with over 45% of its population living below the poverty line are neither giving a living wage to its citizens, nor a fair share of the national wealth, and certainly not improving the quality of life for all it’s citizens.

The PUP Aim number 7 says it will ensure that the natural resources of Belize are maximum owned and controlled by and for Belizeans.  This is a joke. According to Deputy Cordel Hyde, over 80% of the lands of Belize are owned and controlled by foreigners.  And the whole issue with the Portico Enterprise, Royal Caribbean Group and Boskalis International is that some members of the former government and some members of the current government have and are willing to give anything it seems for the Boskalis and Royal Caribbean Group to invest in Belize – no taxes of any kind, in fact the proposed giveaways are tantamount to giving away Belize’s sovereignty and independence to foreign interests.

A couple weeks ago, I watched an interview with Jules of Channel TV 7 and Mr Mike Feinstein of Stake Bank/Port Coral. That interview revealed clearly that the fundamental disconnect why Belize is so backward with huge poverty levels — a lot of the middle-class Belizeans like Jules who influence our culture and economic relationships are in love with the bacra-man. They hate themselves, they hate the notion of independence, they are globalists, they are lovers of the colonial system. Jules was beside himself, he could not for the life of him understand when Mr Feinstein explained that he wants no partnership with Royal Caribbean or any of the other cruise lines. Mr Mike made it very clear and plain – Why can’t a born Belizean own a port in Belize? “This is my country. I have the right to own anything in Belize”, he said. This idea, this PUP idea, this George Price idea, that Belizeans MUST and SHOULD own Belize and its resources is the knife in the throat of the globalists, the fascists, the imperialists, who believe that foreigners must own Belize.

The physical reality is that Belize District can only support one cruise port. Since Port Coral is already far ahead (just a few months to complete construction), they should be the only one to house cruise ships in Belize District. Government, especially a PUP government should intervene to ensure that it is completed in a timely manner.  And government should intervene in Port of Belize to ensure that its cargo facilities are modernized and expanded. A cruise port next to a cargo port is ridiculous and should not be a part of that venture. But politicians need to be careful about nationalization of that facility. It is controlled and perhaps owned by a national of the United Kingdom, and Belize has a treaty with the British which speaks about taking property from national of the UK. Not only must you compensate, but the quantum will be determined by British courts.  Belize will end up paying a high price for garbage. The deck, as usual, is stacked against us. Some of us should be careful of who we are getting our advice from.

As regards Aims/Objects 8, 9 & 10, the PUP government has been making an effort to achieve the objectives set out in its Constitution – score a C+.  They still have far to go.  And regarding Aim/Object number 11, Belize it seems has been under pressure to support war instead of peace in both Ukraine and Taiwan by the Anglo-Americans.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should not succumb so easily to the pressure.

The last Aim/Object number 12 is that the PUP as a party must contest every election, from villages, towns, and central government so the party can achieve the preceding eleven Aims & Objectives for the NEW BELIZE.

The current Cabinet ran and won on a PUP ticket.   But their actions seem divorced from the reality of the lives of Belizeans.  In some instances, I am not even sure that the Cabinet members know or understand or even care about the Creed of the PUP.  Sometimes, I don’t believe that they want a truly independent Belize.  Remember, winning is easy, but governing is hard.  It’s high time the Cabinet started governing in the interest of Belizeans.  And what did the father of our Party and nation-state say? “Economic development is a task for giants, little people tried and turn away.”

A group of nationalist Belizean PUPs will shortly submit a proposal to Cabinet for a scheme to create 15,000 new jobs per year at a living wage and reduce the costs of starter houses to under $ 35,000 per home. Talk is cheap.  Actions are what count.  Elections are close.  Watch what they do, not what they say. 

Long live a free Belize!

Will this continue to be Belize’s future?

OR do we prefer our country to look like this in the next few years?