Belize celebrates 30 years of independence but major challenges still lie ahead

By Wellington C. Ramos



This September 21, 2011, will make 30 years since Belize became independent from Great Britain but Belize still has major challenges ahead that it is grappling with, such as crime, gangs, political victimization, drugs, poverty, unequal distribution of wealth, lots, land, nationalism, dual citizenship rights and the Guatemalan dispute.

All these issues continue to plague Belize and make it difficult for our country to develop rapidly. Belizeans are not as nationalistic as the Jamaicans are to their country. One of the reasons for this is because Guatemala is still claiming Belize and some Belizeans think that this claim will remain an everlasting dispute until we give Guatemala some land.

Another reason is that there are many Belizeans who are trying to obtain a lot or piece of land and haven’t gotten any, despite all the efforts they have made to obtain them. Yet, they are witnessing foreigners coming into their country taking, squatting and purchasing lands to live and do farming. People identify themselves with land and when they have it, they will be more than willing to put their lives on the line for it.

Our government should now begin the process to make sure that every natural born Belizean be given a piece of land so that he can live with his or her family and grow food to support them. This will also increase Belizean nationalism because they will have something tangible to attach themselves to.

I left Belize to come and live in the United States thirty-three years ago. When I first arrived in New York City, there was a group called the “Freedom Committee” that was being chaired by Mr Compton Fairweather. This group held weekly Sunday meetings at the basement of a Methodist Church on Ocean Avenue in Brooklyn. Alongside of him were his officers: Muriel Laing, Walford Young, Derrick Staine , Leotin Staine-Lewis, Mary Stuart-Flowers, Mr Trapp and several others. The room was packed with mostly elderly people.

These officers would give speeches about their lives when they were living in Belize and how beautiful Belize is. The main purpose of this group was to make sure that Belize remains a free country with all its territory intact. At the end of the meeting, I would go around and engage in discussions with some of the people in the audience and, to my surprise, many of these people were not prepared to go home and some of them had no intentions of returning to Belize and live.

In addition to this organization, there was a “Telephone Belize News” where Belizeans could call every Tuesday at midnight to get updated news, entertainment events and death announcements. Belizeans from all over the country looked forward to this day to make their telephone calls. After years of service to the community, Mr Fairweather retired and went home to Belize to live. The association and the Belize News no longer exist and Belizeans are still talking about the news but have not done anything to replace or upgrade it.

Prior to the independence of Belize, the two main political parties in Belize held different positions. The United Democratic Party wanted independence with a defenbe guarantee from Great Britain. The People’s United Party wanted independence with or without the guarantee and felt that, with world opinion on their side, Belize will survive.

The prime minister of Great Britain at the time, Margaret Thatcher, wanted to get rid of most of Britain’s overseas territories. She felt that the countries created a huge financial burden to the British government and its people.

The Belize prime minister at the time, the Honorable George Cadle Price, was told by the British that Britain will leave their troops in Belize for an indefinite period of time. A couple years after, the British government started to withdraw their forces out of Belize and the Guatemalans started to reclaim Belize up to this day.

Today, Belizeans are living with this constant threat from Guatemalans, who cross the border at will and come into Belizean territory and occupy lands to establish new villages. In addition, they trespass on Belizean soil to steal Mayan artifacts and other valuables from the country. The Guatemalan military does nothing to stop their citizens from crossing the border to come into Belize.

The Belize and Guatemalan governments signed an agreement in the year 2008, to make efforts to send their border dispute to the International Court of Justice. In this agreement, both countries pledged to conduct a referendum in their respective countries to ratify the agreement. If any of these two countries fail to ratify it, then the whole process will be stalled.

The Guatemalan congress just recently ratified it, after the Belize government did so months ago. It will be up to these two governments to now bring this agreement to their people for a referendum vote. Both countries will be having elections soon and whether these governments would like to bring this controversial issue to a vote by their people is still left to be seen.

In the meantime, Belizeans will be jumping and parading all over the country this year but when the jumping up and parades are finished, Belize will still be in the same position it was in before it celebrated this year’s independence.

Belizean nationalism can only come through implementing an ongoing nationalism program to educate our children and people. First, they must be proud to be Belizeans and have reasons to state why being a Belizean is a lot better than being anything else.

For me, I am proud to be a Belizean because this is the country of my birth. The American government can always take away the citizenship they gave to me but the Belize government cannot. In fact, I dare any Belizean to try and take away my citizenship rights and privileges.

Belizeans living in the Diaspora should start thinking positive about Belize especially with what they are experiencing living in America today. If they do not want to have anything to do with Belize, it might be a decision they will regret later on in their lives.

I have placed my life on the line for Belize when I served in the Belize Police Force and have served in the American armed forces to prepare myself to defend my country if it is invaded by Guatemala or any other country on earth. While victory against the enemy might seem impossible, I would not be able to carry on with my life if I stood there and did nothing to be invaded by another country.

A true citizen is one who is willing to pick up arms and shed his or her blood in defence of his country. If we can get more Belizeans to think like this, our country would find a way to solve this dilemma.

This year we heard from three of our country’s prime ministers and they touched on the poverty in Belize but failed to mention that the African Belizeans, Garifuna and Creoles make up the majority of the poor and those who are leaving Belize to come to the United States.

When the Garifuna people were engaged in farming and fishing back in the old days, their poverty rate was low. Giving the citizens land to grow their own food will eliminate poverty in Belize and this is the time to implement such a desperately needed program for our idle black youths in Belize’s cities and towns.

September 17, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

Crime and unemployment could result in changes in government in Belize and the Caribbean

By Wellington C. Ramos:


I have always listened to many world leaders speaking about what they would like to accomplish for the citizens of their respective countries during their tenures in office and have very seldom heard any of them committing themselves to provide full time employment to all their citizens.

Yet, if the citizens of a country are unemployed they will not be in the position to provide for themselves and their families, which will leave the burden on the government. A caring government should always make full employment its top priority. Any government that does not have this issue on the top of there list is embarking on an impossible journey.

Maybe, if the government of Belize had this issue at the top of their agenda when they first came into office, crime would not be escalating in Belize at the rate it is today. I have looked at several studies over the years and it is documented that there is a direct relationship between crime and employment. When a government has failed to provide meaningful employment to its citizens, a majority of the criminals will use that reason as a justification to commit crimes.

Knowing my Belizean people, a majority of them will say but how come when we were growing up we grew up hard and did not have to commit crimes. Well, we grew up in different times and this new generation is a lot different from the people who grew up during our time.

A majority of these young people are exposed to different things that we were not exposed to when we were growing up and the things that they are currently exposed to are what shape their thoughts and influence their actions. Some of the things as parents and guardians we have control of but a majority of them we lack control over.

The common cry in Belize is that this young generation is lazy and they do not want to do anything but beg, sell drugs and steal. There might be some truth to this but time and things have changed in our country, in all the other countries in the Caribbean and the rest of the world.

It is not the responsibility of the private sector to provide full employment to the citizens of a country. That burden lies on the government through a long term plan that gives incentives to private businesses to invest their funds in the economy where they can make profits for themselves and expand their businesses.

A person that has money to invest will not spend his or her money until they have evaluated a government’s incentive package. If they come to the conclusion that there is nothing there for them, then they will just sit on the side and hold on to their money until the government comes out with a package that is favorable to them.

Most businesses are attracted to tax incentives, inducements and business loans. In Belize, there were several of these given to political parties cronies who were not legitimate business people over the years and the taxpayers’ money went to waste, causing DFC to go bankrupt. Some of these individuals still owe the Belizean taxpayers and they are not being pursued for the outstanding debts.

That same money could have been given to a legitimate business owner who would have provided jobs to many citizens. Giving businesses reasonable tax incentives for hiring people is a wise thing to do. The incentive should be measured and monitored because it will take away from the government’s revenue.

The government of Belize came out with a comprehensive plan to combat crime and it was impressive. If this is backed up by a similar plan to deal with unemployment, land reform and lot acquisition, it will be difficult for them to lose re-election.

Belizeans are tired of seeing foreigners come into their country to be given lots and lands, while they are asked to fill out applications wait for years and never hear back anything from the Lands Department. Plus, when they go to Belmopan there is no record that they ever applied for any lot or land while watching the foreigners living in their new homes and forcefully taking lands to do their farming.

There is enough land in Belize to give every Belizean citizen living in Belize, the United States and abroad a lot and farm land so that they can own a part of their country and be proud citizens, so what is causing this big delay?

The Ministers of Trade, Industry, Labour, Agriculture, Commerce and Foreign Investment must now get together and formulate a comprehensive package to tackle unemployment in Belize. I have not seen any statistics on what is Belize’s unemployment rate but my guess is that it is over 25%. When they brought out the poverty rate recently, it was alarming and this is because of the unemployment situation, which has a major impact on most or the citizens’ social and economic conditions.

If the government of Belize can get a commitment to establish about three large industrial factories in each district and offer lots and farm lands to a majority of the unemployed residents of Belize City to build a home and do farming elsewhere, the country of Belize would become a more prosperous nation.

Belize City is too old and is suffering from serious urban decay and decline. I used to live in Belize City many years ago and it is a different city today. To live in a city just to say you live in a city, where you feel unsafe and insecure is not worth it. In real estate, a person who has a home is always looking for a peaceful, quiet and enjoyable environment to live.

I still believe that our country of Belize can be a better place than what it is today but, for that to happen, we need to get the Belizeans who are nationalistic, committed, qualified and possess the human resources to be at the helm of our future developmental planning to make it happen. Most of Belize’s resources live in the United States and the sooner they tap them, the faster they will have their problems resolved.

Before America became a powerful nation in the world, the founding fathers sat down and planned out America’s path to world dominance. Who are going to be the Belizeans in the group to sit down and plan out Belize’s path?

June 21, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International

If the Conservative Party wins the election in Britain, Belize could be in trouble

By Wellington C Ramos:


Most Belizeans are not aware of the fact that next month there will be a national election held in Great Britain for the 650 seats in the British House of Commons. The main parties that are competing for these seats are the Liberal Democrats, under their leader Nick Clegg; the Conservative Party, with David Cameron; and the Labour Party, which currently controls the reins of government under the leadership of Britain’s current Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

This election could determine what will be the relationship between Great Britain and Belize for the next five years due to the influence of Michael Ashcroft, who financially supported the People’s United Party in Belize and is doing the same for the Conservative Party in Great Britain. He is angry with this current UDP government for taking over BTL from him and may find a way to influence his party to retaliate against the people and government of Belize.

On March 11, 1981, the Conservative Party was in power under the leadership of their then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, known as the “Iron Lady” due to the British war against Argentina over the Falkland Islands. She forced our country of Belize into independence by sending a representative to our country by the name of Nicholas Ridley with a document titled the “Heads of Agreement.” This document was a proposed agreement to settle the dispute with Great Britain and Guatemala over our country.

When Belizeans saw the document they erupted and was ready to burn down the whole country of Belize. The leader of the People’s United Party George Cadle Price was so much in a rush for independence that he allowed Mr Ridley to riddle his way out of the negotiations and our country ended up with independence on September 21, 1981 without any defence treaty with Great Britain.

Not only did the British not grant our country any defence guarantees but they were thinking about abruptly withdrawing all their forces out of our country after exploiting Belize for a total of three hundred and forty-three years since the arrival of one of their explorers Peter Wallace in 1638.

Luckily for Belize, there was a civil war brewing in El Salvador and the President of the United States at the time, Ronald Reagan, was concerned about the impact it would have on the entire region and persuaded the British to stay. It was even said that the Americans paid for the British to remain in Belize.

The Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher refused to make any commitment to our country and said that the British forces will remain in Belize for an indefinite period of time. The word indefinite will end up being a short period of time.

When the Falklands war started, the British were thinking about doing a major withdrawal of their forces but due to Belize’s strategic location in the region they prepared a phased withdrawal plan. After the war, they ended up withdrawing most of their garrison regiment and left a training center now known as BATSUB.

Belize is now left defenceless and without any defence guarantees from Great Britain or any other major military power in the world. Due to this vulnerable situation that Belize now finds itself in, Guatemala continues to claim Belize and their citizens are crossing our border at will, coming in and out of our country whenever they feel like, as if Belize belongs to them.

Current polls in Britain indicate that the Conservative Party is leading with 39%, the Labour Party at 29% and the Liberal Democrats at 20%. This poll was conducted by the Sunday Times newspaper, which is conservative and is owned by one of their financial supporters Rupert Murdoch. He is another billionaire that finances the Republican Party in the United States and own several newspapers, including the Boston Globe and the New York Post. This poll could be biased but it should not be taken lightly.

Great Britain is going through hard economic times and the British people are angry with the current government over their constant support of the United States in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Prime Minister Gordon Brown wanted to become prime minister so badly, that he asked his colleagues to replace a very popular and charismatic leader Tony Blair for him. Since he became the prime minister the party has become very unpopular because most British people see him as a bland person, who is unable to rally his people behind him and his party’s agenda.

The way politics is turning in Great Britain, the United States, Belize and other countries in the world, there is an urgent need for stiffer campaign spending laws to restrict the amount of money candidates can spend in an election and the amount big businesses and billionaires can donate to the political parties in order to control them and work in their best interest against the working class and the poor.

Recently New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent millions of dollars to force himself into office against term limits that was approved in a referendum by the citizens of New York City for a third term. Now that he has been re-elected, New York City residents are sorry because of the amount of problems that have been resurrected after the elections were held. This type of politics is resulting in unintelligent rich people running for office, who do not have the substance to be good leaders and intelligent poor people, who possess the substance but are being controlled by the unintelligent person and his money.

There is a true saying in politics: “He who pays the piper calls the tune.” This phrase is true because very few people are going to give you anything in life without expecting something back in return. The recent experience with Michael Ashcroft in Belize getting those tax breaks at the expense of the Belizean people that were given to him by the People’s United Party for their victories over the years, is why we Belizeans should encourage this UDP administration to pass campaign finance spending laws to avoid our government from being bought over and controlled by the rich.

The British elections will be here soon and the best we can hope for is that the Conservative Party and the Labour Party do not gain a majority of seats to form a government. If this happens, then whoever wins will have to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats and arrange a power sharing administration.

The conflict between Argentina and Britain over the Falkland Islands is coming back to life, due to oil deposits on the Falkland Islands and Britain is thinking about commencing drilling. There is oil in Belize and Guatemala but most people are afraid to discuss what impact the oil have on the territorial dispute between these two countries when they know that it does have an impact.

April 10, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International

Belize can become a better place if we focus on crime and economic development together

By Wellington C Ramos:


Belize and the other English-speaking Caribbean countries are all experiencing a significant increase in their crime and unemployment rates. The time is now right for these countries to conduct a comprehensive study in order to examine the impact chronic unemployment has on crime.

I have looked at some studies that have been conducted over the years in most of the large urban centres in the United States of America and they have all revealed that there is a relationship between the two. Our country has too many idle, unemployed and displaced youths.

Currently in Belize many of these youths are members of violent gangs and are engaged in criminal and anti-social activities that are making our country unsafe and discouraging people from other countries to come to Belize as tourists to spend money and boost the economy.

The last time I was in Belize I saw a gentleman dressed in police uniform on a motorcycle and had no police number or name on his uniform while all regular police officers must wear a number on their shirts. I was told by a person that he was a “tourist police,” a new thing that they started in Belize.

This police officer was chasing a suspect around the main bridge in Dangriga town and he pulled out a loaded 38 revolver to shoot at the suspect. Luckily, he did not fire the gun at the time because he probably would have shot an innocent civilian pedestrian passing by and we would have had no way of identifying this police officer. This might be the right time for all police officers to have their name attached to their uniforms in addition to their badge numbers.

Our ministers of government along with the businesses and industries can all sit around the table and convene an economic development plan for the next ten years. This will be to the benefit of the government and the private businesses. When citizens of a country become employed they will possess the means of purchasing their commodities from the businesses and industries and pay their taxes to the government to increase their revenues.

I am not living in Belize permanently and it is hard for me as a Belizean to comprehend how our ministers can go to bed at night only to wake up and hear that a member of their political constituency has lost a loved one. Also, for the business owners to hear that another business was robbed at gunpoint and the owner of the business was shot and killed. How long must we all wait until we ourselves become victims of this ongoing madness?

The Belize government should consider bringing back the traffic police into the department because it will help to generate more income for the economy and reduce the crime rates. Along with the department they should set up police toll stations on our highways to conduct searches for drugs, weapons, ammunition, wanted criminals, illegal aliens, stolen goods and other contraband items. The revenues from the tolls would pay for the maintenance of the highways and to pay the traffic police officers. When I attended the Police Academy years ago, the two areas of law I had most difficulty with were traffic and immigration.

I still cannot understand how the decision was made to take these two departments from the police force and hand it over to civilians. It is easier to control police officers than civilians because it is a disciplined branch. There is nothing wrong with admitting that we made a mistake and acknowledge that something is not working because that is a part of development. Many of our youths who are unemployed would become employed as traffic officers and businesses and industries will have their commodities and cargoes transported safely throughout the entire country.

Belize and these countries have many challenges to deal with but crime and unemployment are the two major thorns they must address quickly. Belizeans are becoming very impatient and intolerant. When our people have had enough of something they will do something about it. Pretty soon they will begin to ask themselves is this UDP Government doing their best to address these two important issues. If they come to the conclusion that the answer is no, they will not hesitate to put back the government in the hands of the People’s United Party or another political party.

Remember that these killings and crimes have Belizeans letting out their emotions and some people are not rational thinkers while they are expressing their emotions. Many nights before I go to bed, I sit in the United States and wonder if our leaders in Belize ever listen to the advice that we the people from the United State are giving them or they just do not give a darn about what we think. Remember also that we have close relatives in Belize and every Belizean has a family member living in the United States.

Let us now conduct this economic development summit to provide employment to our unemployed citizens and reduce these killings and robberies.

February 18, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International