Independence — do we understand it?

By Bill Lindo

Belize City, September 20^th, 2023:  Independence. It’s a simple word, yet very complex when applied to a nation-state. Tomorrow, Belize will celebrate its forty-second year of Independence from the British Empire.  But the celebration won’t be like years ago, instead Thursday will just be a day to relax and enjoy a holiday mid-week.

So, what is the meaning of the word, independence? Especially from the standpoint of political economy? Independence means:

1. State of freedom from outside control
2. Belize’s people and leaders take decisions by themselves without outside interference.
3. Belize is self-reliant, exercising its own judgement or power.
4. Belize’s policy is self-sufficiency, able to maintain itself without outside aid, or capable to provide for the needs of Belizeans.
5. Belize has extreme confidence in its own ability or worth.
6. Belize’s judicial decisions are made within the borders of Belize, and no foreign court, nor judge can interfere in Belize.
7. The financial system of Belize must be controlled within the borders of Belize, and no foreign bankers should be able to influence the financial system in Belize.

Now that we have defined the meaning of Independence in terms of political economy, I need to clear up some facts about how Belize got its Independence from the British Empire in 1981.

First, the British did not voluntary grant independence to Belize. The government of PUP George Cadle Price TOOK Independence. How?

The British and most of its subjects (including the loyal UDP opposition political party was also opposed to Belize’s Independence in 1981) felt that Belize should only get Independence after the settlement of the Guatemalan claim to the territory of Belize. 

The vast majority of the leadership of the then PUP was opposed to this view. They felt it was a ploy to deny Belize’s Independence. With the full support of his party, George Price then did something that shocked the Anglo-Americans. George informed the British that Belize will proceed immediately to Independence and would invite Fidel Castro of Cuba to post Cuban troops in Belize to help defend Belize in case Guatemala decided to invade Belize.

Well, the Americans went ballistic and demanded that the British immediately grant Belize its Independence.  The Carter administration was very upset about the idea of Cuban troops on the mainland of Central America. In 1980, the United Nations overwhelmingly voted for Belize’s Independence with all its territory intact, and for the first time, the United States of America voted to fully support Belize’s Independence. The rest is history. Belize became independent on September 21^st, 1981.

George Price and Fidel Castro – the man who made Belize Independent

But did Belize receive its full independence? For a long time, the final Court in Belize was the British Privy Council. The British had tried this with the Americans in 1783, but the Americans rejected the jurisdiction of the British Court and opened their own American courts system.  Today 42 years later, Belize still does not have an independent judicial system, but rely instead on a mixed British/West Indian system where foreigners decide on matters which pertain to Belizeans. And we have gotten so bad, that we prefer foreign jurists over local Belizeans in their own country – paying the foreigners more and putting them in charge.

On September 22^nd, 1981, the financial system in Belize consisted of two large Canadian Banks — Scotiabank and Royal Bank of Canada; a large British Bank – Barclays Bank; plus, a large Honduran bank – Atlantic.  

And today, 42 years later, the financial system is dominated by two large banks – Belize Bank and Atlantic Bank. A medium size – Heritage Bank and a small struggling national bank. The controlling interests in the main three commercial banks are British, Honduran, and American. The National Bank of Belize Ltd is owned and controlled by the people and government of Belize. In a “real” Independent Belize, the National Bank should be the bank leading the economic development of Belize.  On a side, Belize only got the National Bank because of the foresight of the former Prime Minister, Dean Barrow, and his desire to end the merciless exploitation of the foreign bankers.  My advice to Belizeans is that you should deposit your excess funds or operational funds in the National Bank of Belize. It is the safest, because it is owned by the people and government of Belize and thus cannot fail. At the end of the day the governments are the final backers of banks because only the government can create/print money with no limitations.

As a good elder PUP, and political economist, I am publicly advising the Hon. John Briceno as Minister of Finance, to start by depositing 25% of government funds in the National Bank of Belize, and to increase the deposits of the consolidated funds in our own bank each year. Charity begins at home, and it is time to complete the financial Independence of our beloved Belize. STOP putting foreigners before Belizeans.

My Belizeans, what will happen to us? Many years ago, a French lady asked old Ben Franklin, what is the best form of government? Old Ben Franklin replied, “A Constitutional Republic, if you can keep it”. My Belizeans, Belize is not a Constitutional Republic. Belize is a sort of diluted parliamentary democracy. Now that we say we intend to change our Constitution, then we should establish a Constitutional Republic – not democracy. Alexander Hamilton, Ben Franklin, and George Washington knew that democracy is rule by the mob, and inevitably, rule by the very rich who buy the mob. A constitutional Republic is based on checks and balance, where all are equal with inalienable rights, and we are citizens, not subjects.

Below I will give two examples of how Belizeans are trying hard not to keep the Independence that George Price and his PUP fought some 30 years for.

Today’s world is going multi-polar with four countries, United States of America, India, Russia, and China dominating the entire world. Our world has been split into two opposing blocs – the G7 and the BRICS +. The dominant bloc is now the BRICS + with control over energy supplies, military power, large populations, and generally dominant economic power.

Recently, India a member of BRICS gave a statue of the Great Mahatma Gandi to the people and government of Belize. Mahatma Gandi is the father of Indian Independence and the greatest leader of non-violence in politics, and an inspiration to many civil rights movements globally. I understand that the bust is sitting in a storeroom because the bureaucrats and some politicians don’t want such a gift from India because it is a BRICS member. Are we so conditioned in our western outlook?  India was a former colony of the British, but 76 years ago they became independent and have refused to be told what to do by the former master.  Here in Belize, it seems we want to go backwards.  

Fidel and Mao were right. Our leaders need to go to the mountains and be re-educated. It is high time to rid ourselves of the colonial mentality. It is time to truly understand we are free.

We have done the same thing with our territorial integrity. We got our Independence in 1981 with all our territory intact.  In a fit of foolishness, we have turned to the Anglo-American court, the ICJ to decide if we own this land.  Please understand that no court can decide your freedom and territorial integrity. You have a brain that God gave you. Use it.

And time now to ask the Foreign Minister the details of the Guatemalan claim and Belize’s response.  It can NEVER be secret. This is my land. Courts are based on the principle of win-lose. There is no win—win in judicial matters.  For the last 164 years, Guatemala has claim Belize with the support of the Americans. So, what will the compromise be? The British was holding out (deny Belize Independence) to give Guatemala either all of Toledo district or half of it, including the seabed with its huge petroleum deposits. I believe that since no Belizean politicians would dare propose to give land and sea to Guatemala, then we will use the white man’s court to do it and then the local politicians can cry it was the court. We really are a set of foolish people. This is why you have the Maya lands rights movement (MLR) in the Toledo district funded by the white man. Remember Philip Goldson words, “The Time to defend your country is before you lose it”.  George always said, there are no Creole, no Hispanic, no White, no Indian, no Chinese, no Mayan people in Belize – there are only Belizeans.

In case we are still interested a truly free and independent Belize, we should first learn to be self-sufficient. It is one of the cardinal principles of Independence. Recently, President Putin of Russia said that he admired Prime Minister Modi of India and his decision to make India completely self-sufficient by 2030, and that Russia will copy India’s policy.  China has a goal of complete self-sufficiency by 2024. They are nearly there. The United States under Trump and even President Biden is talking of returning to the old days of self-sufficiency which had made the United Sates the greatest nation-state on this Earth. Second, Belize needs to build its own military machines and use the model of Israel to defend our land. No one is coming to save us.  We must save ourselves.

Today, we celebrate our forty-second year of independence.  Let’s us continue the work of an independent Belize.

Long Live a Free and Independent Belize!