BELIZE Still Struggling for Independence
Jamail, Milton
Belizean politics have been dominated by one man and one issue for over 20 years. The man is Prime Minister George C. Price, founder of the ruling People's United Party (PUP) and the issue has...
...Belizean politics are known for acrimonious mud-slinging...
...The UDP, which has never won a national election, is an amalgam of political parties to the right of the PUP...
...It has traditionally found a great deal of support from the Creole, or AfroBelizean middle class centered in Belize City...
...As Dean Barrow, a UDP leader, explained in a 1982 article, "The last thing the U.S...
...Sugar represents 60% of the current export earnings, but this percentage is likely to decline as expansion in citrus, bananas and other non-traditional agricultural crops-such as melons-increases, and sugar production levels off...
...However, in 1979 the PUP won an impressive victory in the national elections after a similar sweep of the Belize City elections by the UDP...
...Sunburn, Syphilis and Mosquitos In response to Guatemalan bellicosity, the British rushed in troops in 1972, 1975 and 1977 and now have a regular force of some 2,000 soldiers plus four Harrier fighter jets...
...Courtenay, minister of home and foreign affairs and attorney general...
...Rumors that the government had agreed to let the DEA set up spraying operations in Belize created such a stir that it appears at press time that there will be no further spraying this year...
...In Guatemala the Belize issue is highly charged, and often used to whip up nationalist sentiment...
...That is my problem...
...Belice es nuestro--Belize is ours-can be seen from time to time on bumper stickers or in flashing neon signs...
...Having waited so long for nation status, what Belize needed most was the time and space to test out that new status...
...and future relations with the United States...
...Great Britain agreed to provide for the new country's defense for "an appropriate period' '-deliberately left illdefined...
...The so-called Left, which is more accurately described as center-Left or social democratic, is led by V.H...
...Few Guatemalans know how many people live in Belize, where they are from or what they do...
...But more important, it is an idea that is implanted in Guatemalans at an early age and reinforced throughout their lives...
...Like other maps of Guatemala printed by the government, Belize is included as any other administrative unit...
...That enthusiasm for the new Belize is still there, but seriously dampened by the realities of charting a viable and independent path amid an economic downturn and regional conflict...
...There are dynamic factions in both the UDP and PUP that are attempting to redefine Belizean politics, leaving independence and personal issues behind...
...By his own account, he's at the center of a Left-Right split within the PUP...
...Instead, the young country has found itself inundated with political refugees, courted by a United States eager to step up its regional military presence and, increasingly, unable to steer clear of nearby warfare...
...In his early 60s, the prime minister is said to be a private man, living alone in a spartan one-room house...
...This legacy of not working the land lives on among a significant portion of the Belizean population and today foodstuffs represent 25% of all imports...
...For the first time, the United States voted with Belize...
...Discussions with Price and leading members of the PUP and UDP in late 1983 revealed several major issues of concern, all of which are interrelated: the economy...
...The marijuana issue recently hit the front pages when some farmers reportedly fired on U.S...
...Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) helicopters that were spraying paraquat on the marijuana fields...
...Yet a Guatemalan invasion of Belize remains unlikely...
...Our second article will consider these pressures...
...Textbook Colonialism Settled by the British in 1638, the territory became a provider of logwoods (used as a dye) and mahogany, and a consumer of British commodities...
...Perhaps the country's most important export crop is marijuana...
...And as long as George Price is around, his personalistic style is likely to dominate the political scene...
...This should serve to limit somewhat personal attacks in the next campaign...
...In December 1983, the UDP swept the Belize City Council elections...
...In reality, the conflict dates back much further...
...Price skillfully led the nation to independence in 1981, but now he is faced with a much greater challenge: redefining Belize's new relationship A Mayan pyramid provides a picturesque backdrop for a British military PR photo...
...Harvesting eUoir ic rcnnidered Ilnlttractive to many Belizeans...
...Since no accord could be worked out, the British decided to grant independence anyway, and on September 21, 1981, Belize became an independent nation...
...But perhaps more important is the fact that much of the marijuana is grown by small farmers whc depend on the revenue for survival...
...Some estimates place the crop's value at $100 million yearly-an amount almost equal to all legal export earnings in 1982...
...There is much concern that the poisonous defoiliant is landing in the sugar cane fields...
...British forces are rotated on a six-month basis, many coming directly from Northern Ireland...
...Because the logging season overlapped with the harvest, slaves and settlers were not permitted to work their own plots, thereby freeing them up to work in the logging industry...
...With such a small population, politics takes on a personalistic nature...
...desires is a Guatemalan military adventure in Belize that would divert Guatemalan resources...
...This also created a shortage of basic foodstuffs which were filled by imports...
...Since the road was not built, the Guatemalans claim that the treaty lapsed, and that Britain has no sovereignty over Belize...
...Although the Spanish never settled the area which is now Belize, they did lay legal claim to the territory...
...But in its public statements the government of General Oscar Mejia Victores has taken a decidedly aggressive stance toward the former colony, and this pressure keeps alive the possibility of a cession of part of Belize's territory...
...The British thus gained from both ends...
...But the large marijuana earnings have no impact on Belize's sizeable balance of payments deficit...
...providing for defense after the British leave...
...This seems to open the door to some sort of defense agreement with the United States...
...It's a bit of an exaggeration," he told me in late 1983 when I asked if this were true...
...The British were not anxious to maintain a colony in Belize, and the main delay to independence was the lack of agreement with Guatemala...
...Guatemala's claim is based upon the earlier Spanish one...
...This is difficult in a country where gossip and rumor are major sources of information-and misinformation...
...But the PUP, still perceived by many Belizeans as unconcerned or unable to grapple with crucial issues facing the country, will face a serious challenge trom the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) in the next general elections...
...Guatemala's claim to Belizean territory...
...It appears that once again Price has been able to breathe REPORT ON THE AMERICAS 8Steve Benbow/lCamera Press London A billboard on the Guatemala-Belize border, "Belize Is OursY new life into the PUP when it appeared to be inflexible and complacent...
...and Said Musa, minister of education and economic development...
...The Thatcher government has made it known that it would like to end this arrangement in the near future, probably by February 1985...
...Thus far this has been the only invasion of Belize by Guatemala, although the potential for the real thing remains very much alive...
...Much o the government's budget comes in the form of grants from Great Britain and concessional loans, or loans at reduce interest rates, from Great Britain, th MAY/JUNE 1984 9 iUnited States, Canada and the European Economic Community...
...The New York Times reported in 1981 that Prime Minister Price "has come to know almost all local adults by name...
...The British viewed this as a boundary treaty setting the limits to an area to which British title was already established...
...Great Britain and Guatemala have been embroiled in a dispute over Belize since the mid-19th century...
...The Belizeans launched a worldwide campaign to explain their position, and in November 1980 the UN General Assembly voted 139 to zero for a resolution calling for the secure independence of Belize, with all its territory, before the next UN session...
...I know all the family names and I know who belongs to each family...
...Although Price has had discussions with Mexico, Canada and several former British colonies in the West Indies, he has not been able to find a suitable replacement...
...The agreement which is the basis of discussion of the Guatemalan claim today is the Anglo-Guatemala Treaty of 1859...
...According to the British-style constitution, the contest must be held before February 1985...
...presence...
...Guatemala has massed troops along the border and threatened to invade Belize on several occasions in recent years...
...Price is notorious for keeping election plans a secret-even from fellow party members--until 30 days before the match...
...troops to provide for their defense, there seems little doubt that a majority of Belizeans would welcome the U.S...
...The Guatemalans, however, saw it as a treaty of cession which was conditional upon Great Britain helping the Guatemalans build a road to the Caribbean...
...Belizeans are very concerned about a Guatemalan takeover and if given a choice between what is perceived as a real threat from Guatemala and the stationing of U.S...
...Price, who once studied for the priesthood, is respected by most Belizeans and admired even by many of his political opponents...
...Yet only 15% of the arable land is cultivated and much of this is foreign owned...
...Belize, formerly British Honduras, has a population of only 150,000 in an area the size of Massachusetts-or El Salvador, which accommodates 5 million...
...Peter Griffiths/United Kingdom Land Forces with the United States within the volatile Central American context...
...On that there is almost unanimous consensus...
...Requiring 100 years to reach maturity, reforestation of mahogany is not feasible...
...During my interview with Price he leaned across his desk and drew a box which he divided into three equal parts labeled Left, center and Right...
...The new leader of the UDP is Manuel Esquivel, who like Price is noted for his honesty...
...This manifestation of British might is estimated to cost $50 million annually...
...In the late 1970s when Guatemalan President Kjell Laugerud Garcia stated that since Belize is part of Guatemala, Belizeans should be given the same treatment as other Guatemalans, the Belizean magazine Brukdown commented: "Since such treatment includes discrimination, intimidation and deprivation of basic rights (not to mention murder) we are not exactly thrilled with the President's offer...
...Likewise, Belizeans are not terribly well informed about Guatemala...
...The man is Prime Minister George C. Price, founder of the ruling People's United Party (PUP) and the issue has been independence from Great Britain...
...In 1982 the spraying was done by DEA planes based in Mexico...
...Belizeans danced in the streets on that 1981 night when the Union Jack was lowered for the last time and the flag of free Belize was raised over Government House...
...Synthetic dyes long ago ruined the market for logwood and the mahogany supply has been depleted...
...In 1975 a British military spokesperson explained to me that the major difficulties facing soldiers in Belize were sunburn, syphilis and mosquitos...
...On January 9, less than three weeks later, Price announced a reshuffling of his cabinet with the Left ascending and the Right descending...
...Professor, what do you do when you have a left and a right wing of your party that are of equal strength and are irreconcilably opposed...
...Today's economy is based on tourism and exports of sugar, citrus fruits, bananas, beef and seafood...
...Belice es Nuestro" In a park near downtown Guatemala City there is a huge relief map--more than half an acre in size-of Guatemala...
...Assad Shoman, minister of health, housing and cooperatives...
...These farmers are upset with the government for allowing the spraying, anc it is likely that this will become ar important issue for the PUP in the northern districts in the upcoming elec tions...
...These shows of force were usually to divert Guatemalans' attention from domestic issues, or to respond to turns in Guatemala's negotiations with Britain which might lead to Belizean independence...
...Land is Belize's most important resource and its economic future lies in agriculture...
...But apart from an occasional training accident, the soldiers face little danger...
...The Belizean government encourages foreign investment, but potential investors are leery because of the long-standing claim to the country by neighboring Guatemala...
...The Right, which favors closer ties with the United States, is led by Frederick Hunter, minister of works, and Louis Sylvester, minister of local government...
...Although an observer was sometimes present, Belize did not participate in the negotiations leading to independence...
...Even though there is more than 14% unemployment nationwide, during the sugar harvest alone some 5,000 seasonal workers are brought in from Mexico...
...This faction favors a more non-aligned position internationally...
...There used to be a ceremony once a year during which a government official would walk onto the map and place the Guatemalan flag in the area occupied by Belize...
...They just know that it is theirs...
...They do know that they do not want to become Guatemala's 23rd department...
...Although Guatemala City houses an Office of Belizean Affairs, there is very little understanding for their Caribbean neighbor in Guatemala...
Vol. 18 • May 1984 • No. 3
