Vol 2 No 24 (June 15, 2007)

Friday, June 15, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 1

INdependentBelize’s Rebel Paper

Vol. 2 No. 24 Friday, June 15, 2007 $1.00

The

Reformer

100 escape death on100 escape death on100 escape death on100 escape death on100 escape death onHummingbird HwyHummingbird HwyHummingbird HwyHummingbird HwyHummingbird Hwy

FC Belize MVP goalie Charlie Slusher (striped shirt) carries his infant daughter as heclambers from Leslie Rogers’ bus, which ran off the Hummingbird Highway on

Magnetic Hill at mile 27 at 10:30 PM Sunday night.

(See Story on Page 3)

Extremely rough political plays are dominating thecurrent political scene in Belizet. There have been nu-merous cabinet shuffles, at least 10 since Musa/Fonseca took control of the country’s affairs in 1998.And there have been public hearings into the highlydisturbing “money matters” that dominate the admin-istration, especially at the Development Finance Cor-poration (DFC) and the Social Security Board (SSB).

Elsewhere in this edition we have a long list of formerministers who have been shuffled out of the inner circledeck over the past nine years (see page 5). But itdoesn’t begin to tell the true story of the Courtenays’losses in 2007.

First it was brother David, Vice Chairman of theDFC, who died in few weeks ago in a rather mysteri-ous accident where a diesel SUV exploded in a ballof flames and consumed the lone occupant. Police

Monster BallsMonster BallsMonster BallsMonster BallsMonster Ballsforensics assured the public almost immediately thatthe dental records confirmed the identity of the occu-pant. See photo of the vehicle the diesel burnt… pro-vided by an official and credible source.

Then, at the General Assembly of the Organizationof American States in Panama, in front of all the for-eign ministers and US Secretary of State (not to men-tion the international media), brother Eamon is uncer-emoniously defrocked of his lofty ministerial position,representing Belize, the member state.

What’s next? The former foreign minister says hemay run for elected office as a PUP — but after theelections next year. He insinuated that the PUP wouldlose in 08 and he would then have the political latitudeto stake out an electoral division. That is our infer-ence anyway.

Lest we forget, it was former Belize Ambassadorto the USA, Lisa Marie Shoman, who as Chairladyof the SSB (above), informed the Chief Justice thatthe SSB was no longer interested in enforcing the highcourt’s ruling to collect a $3.34 million that the lawfirm of W.H. Courtenay & Co owed. Public percep-tion was that this was a favour to the Courtenays,immediately after the PUP took office in August, 1998.Or was it?

Mr. Eamon, the honorable gentleman he is, suggestsin his local TV interviews that the Honorable formerChairlady of BTL (fourth cap) will have a difficult timeat the Ministry given all that lies ahead. The lady itappears, is ready for the challenge her uncle Assad

New Foreign Minister “International Velvet”

Despecho? Not at all, says former Foreign Minister.

(Please Turn To Page 2)

for the post. Or least, well groomed for it.We have every confidence the lady ambassador will

do well as Foreign Minister with the level of supportshe is expected to get from: Uncle Assad, GodfatherSaid, ex Godfrey, and the host of “Assadistas” in theBelize Foreign Service, specifically and at the minis-

Fish Kill in Orange WalkFish Kill in Orange WalkFish Kill in Orange WalkFish Kill in Orange WalkFish Kill in Orange Walk

Fish kill on the New River near the Tower Hill sugar factory has alarmed Orange

Walk environmentalists.(See story in Tidbits on Page 3)

assumed on morethan one occasionand also the positionher ex, Hon GodfreySmith, assumed inbetween. Seems likeshe was tailor made


Editorial Director

Meb Cutlack

Editor

Karla Heusner Vernon

General Manager

Trevor Vernon

Design/Layout

William G . Ysaguirrre

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Company (of Belize) Ltd.

P.O. Box 2666

Belize City, Belize

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Avoid Camel boy slurs

Dear Editor,I live in Norway and read your paper

every week online. Great graphic andgenerally great paper. This week I takeissue with the Meb Cutlack column,however, viz:

..on page 9 above the zoo ad, lose‘camel’ in “camel boy”, or, apologizein a meaningful way to your Muslim andArab readers.

..keep in mind “we the Europeans”have all the nukes in about the same waythe Nazis had all the gas at Auschwitz,and any sane person looking at the sh—t going on in Iraq and Afghanistan cansee who is waging war on who andwhat.

I see no need to pitch the Indepen-dent-Reformer against any religion norany race. So fix what you can,promptly, this will help ease and curethe damage done. Mistakes are for-givable when fixed. Racism is not.

.then, carry on going after Said Musa...med vennlig hilsen,

with kind regards from Arnt

try. Expect however to see the CEO,Amalia Mai, sent out to an insignificantAmbassadorial posting. And only theLord knows what will happen to formerUN Ambassador Stewart Leslie.

The new Foreign Minister had indi-cated to the journalist Nathan Gothmanfrom El Haaretz in 2002 in Washingtonthat she is anxious to tackle the Israel/Palestine issues if ever provided the op-portunity. We hope she remembersBelize, the country she lives in, shuld

(Continued From Page 1)

Monster BallsMonster BallsMonster BallsMonster BallsMonster Balls

David Courtenay’s Toyota Land Cruiser was charred to a crisp after it is alleged he ranoff the highway and hit a light pole.

come before the country her familycomes from…


International VelvetShe’s smooth as silk, or should we

say velvet? Ambassador to the US LisaShoman slid right over to the chair nextto her in Panama last week and tookover Belize’s Foreign Ministry whenForeign Minister Eamon Courtenay“resigned” in solidarity with his old col-lege roommate and cabinet ally DPMJohnny Briceno. It all happened right inthe middle of the OAS General Assem-bly. The moves left no doubt in theminds of the entire assembly aboutMusa’s inability to keep his governmenttogether and his desperation at havingto recruit relatives of his best friend andadvisor Assad Shoman to step into thebreach. What those on the outsidedon’t know is that Lisa Shoman, asChairman of the Belize Social SecurityBoard, told the courts SSB had no fur-ther interest in trying to recover $3.4Million from W.H. Courtenay andCompany. ..Immediately after the 1998

TOPICAL TIDBITSTOPICAL TIDBITSTOPICAL TIDBITSTOPICAL TIDBITSTOPICAL TIDBITS

elections. Now she is collecting…fancy shoes to walk all over former bud-dies? Lets see how soon the CEO getsstepped on, again.

Trying to unseat theKing?

The Northern Caucus powerhousewas “coronated” last time around at thePUP Orange Walk convention. But nowthe dastardly duo have decided to dis-cipline him for voicing objections to thecarte blanche way in which the BritishLord is allowed to rule over the PUP.Johnny is standing up for core partyvalues so it’s a silly move to give himthe rinse. Johnny’s media empire hasas much clout in the north as the Hydeshave in the City. To take Johnny down,they’ll have to take down the radio &tv stations and SMART. And this isprecisely where the British Lord maybe of assistance. What he has beendoing to KREM is child’s play….

Super Regular Kerosene Diesel

Cost of Fuel $5.4129 $5.2991 $4.8206 $4.5988Import Duty $0.4496 $0.4496 $0.0000 $0.2665RRD $1.7619 $1.7967 $0.0032 $0.6354Environ Tax $0.1040 $0.1018 $0.0923 $0.0879Freight $0.0700 $0.0700 $0.0700 $0.0700Additive $0.0019 $0.0019 $0.0019 $0.0019GST $0.8149 $0.8069 $0.5186 $0.5911

BC Pump $10.00 $9.90 $6.35 $7.30

Gas Prices at the Pump increased againThe Environmental Protection Soci-

ety, NEPS, founded only a year ago isreporting a fish kill in the river betweenthe Orange Walk Toll Bridge and Or-ange Walk Town. It is believed pollu-tion from the sugar processing plant isresponsible. NEPS has spent the past

Fish Kill in Orange Walk

100 FC Belize players and fans re-turning home to Belize City after win-ning the 2007 RFG Cup championshipin Dangriga, narrowly escaped tragedywhen the bus in which they were travel-ling ran off the Hummingbird Highwayon ‘Magnetic Hill’ around 10:30 PM onSunday night.

The bus driver lost control when hisbrakes failed as he reversed down thehill. The bus had been pushed to the ex-treme, as in addition to being over-loaded with 100 passenger; it was alsotowing an empty 20-seater tour bus,which the bus owner Leslie Rogers in-sisted on towing to Belize City. Thetransmission of the 20-seater had failedas it returned to Belize City with an un-der-12 boys team, who were to haveplayed an exhibition match before thesemipro championship.

several months on a cleaning campaignin San Jose Nuevo Palmar, Tower Hill,Chan Pine Ridge, and Louisiana Na-ture Park all in the Orange walk Dis-trict. NEPS is a non-governmental andnon profit organization which sustainsitself through fundraising.

The team players, their wives, girl-friends, children, and fans had alreadygot off the bus twice and walked uptwo big hills when the bigger bus wasunable to climb the hills while towingthe smaller bus. They count themselveslucky to have escaped with their liveswhen the bus partially flipped on its sidein the gully beside the road after it ranoff the pavement.

FC Belize striker Jerome “Jaro”James suffered a blow to the head andnumber of other passengers sufferednumerous contusions as the panickedpassengers scrambled madly to exit thebus, which they feared might overturnand fall further. Two U-12 players wereinjured exiting the bus. Some sufferedleg injuries as they jumped from thewindows. The passengers werestranded for hours until help arrived.

100 escape death on100 escape death on100 escape death on100 escape death on100 escape death onHummingbird HwyHummingbird HwyHummingbird HwyHummingbird HwyHummingbird Hwy


By: Karla Heusner Vernon

SenaSenaSenaSenaSenate Sensate Sensate Sensate Sensate Sensationtiontiontiontion

“People who are morally bankruptare bankrupting the nation.”

If you had told me four years ago thatin 2007 Belizeans would be passion-ately debating whether or not this coun-try should have an elected Senate, Iwould not have believed you. WhenGodwin Hulse and Francis Gegg andHipolito Bautista, and a few others, (andforgive me for omitting you) were put-ting forth their positions on the radio andprint media, most Belizeans eitheryawned or tuned out. I admit, I wasone of them.

Perhaps it took some flares beingset off in the Senate itself and thebroadcast of the proceedings to alertus to their plight. It was shocking andeye opening to discover despite their

enthusiasm and zeal to serve their coun-try, some of the senators are beginningto realize there are limitations on whatthey can and can not do. They have

begun to chomp at the bit a bit and pon-der the possibilities of better governance.To ask themselves how they might per-form, if their performance was not al-most predetermined by their very ap-pointment and the interests which ap-pointed them.

They have caused the rest of us towonder too.

As heartening as this all is, it has beenequally disheartening to observe thosesenators who rise and support motionsand bills they do not understand, havenot even read, or asked to read. It isdisturbing to hear some senators dismissthe concerns of their fellows or imply thatit is not their job to question, but rather

their duty to pass anything that isput in their hands. Shut up and doas you are told….

It is a testimony to our increas-

ing political maturity that Belizeans,both inside and outside the Senatechamber, now want more from thisimportant component of the legis-lature. A movement that now hasgrassroots support as well as theof a few elite intellectuals.

Amazingly, the debate has be-come so intense it now consumesa good portion of time on themorning talk shows, and some ofthe evening ones. People are evengetting personal with each otherover it— one host last week im-plying another was an Uncle Tomfor not supporting an elected sen-ate, and wondering aloud whether

Belize was “had the political maturityto handle it.” (I believe the same cau-tion was voiced about Independence.)

The leader of the Opposition is un-der intense scrutiny for his own posi-tion against an elected senate and allof the aspiring alternative parties havebeen forced to state their own stanceon the issue. Interestingly, the PrimeMinister appears to have escaped anyquestions about how he feels. At leastI have missed it if he has…No doubtthey will get around to it, or he willget around to issuing an official posi-tion, as the real election campaignbegins. For make no mistake, theelected Senate issue will be a cam-paign issue in 2008. (Yes, it appearsthe PM is going to hold out onus.sigh!….)

My own view, if you care to knowit, is that yes, an elected Senate mayserve an important role in terms ofchecks and balances in the system,and having these elections in betweenthe General would be key, BUT un-

(Please Turn To Page 13)

Don’t worry, International Velvet will take the jumps easily, just give her free reign.Don’t worry, International Velvet will take the jumps easily, just give her free reign.Don’t worry, International Velvet will take the jumps easily, just give her free reign.Don’t worry, International Velvet will take the jumps easily, just give her free reign.Don’t worry, International Velvet will take the jumps easily, just give her free reign.But, P.M., she won’t make it with all this weight! You guys will have to _ _ _ _ Off!But, P.M., she won’t make it with all this weight! You guys will have to _ _ _ _ Off!But, P.M., she won’t make it with all this weight! You guys will have to _ _ _ _ Off!But, P.M., she won’t make it with all this weight! You guys will have to _ _ _ _ Off!But, P.M., she won’t make it with all this weight! You guys will have to _ _ _ _ Off!

Or resign! whatever!Or resign! whatever!Or resign! whatever!Or resign! whatever!Or resign! whatever!


WWWWWhahahahahat Dreams Are Made Oft Dreams Are Made Oft Dreams Are Made Oft Dreams Are Made Oft Dreams Are Made Of

By: Trevor VernonThe People’s United Party was

founded in the last century by some gi-ants of the time who had to stand up tothe colonial masters. This was their rea-son for banding together and harness-ing the anti-colonial energies in thecolony at that time. Or so it seemed.They so passionately disliked the En-glishman they rushed to go study in Lon-don and marry the Englishman’s daugh-ters. Hell of a paradox.

Most thinking people could be sup-portive of the early PUP’s cause: HomeRule. But although Belize is now inde-pendent of Britain, some things haveremained the same. We are still con-trolled by one man with all the powersof the Governors of old (and then some)who operates with the bold and unre-pentant blessing of a political party thatcontrols the land under the direction ofUK trained lawyers, with British bornwives and children possessing Britishpassports while they are acquiring for-eign owned properties in the US, UKand elsewhere.

Today’s PUP hardly resembles theone created by Goldson, Richardson,Price & Pollard. This is no longer thePUP that drew its support from theunions of the Colony. This modern dayPUP has no use for the labor unions.Absolutely none. They, not unlike otherfascist leaders, have turned their backson their own roots and taken deadly aimat their own history. Those early PUPfounders would never be cutting self-enrichment deals with the British Lords,much less flying in their private planes.Or would they?

For we hear that even Mr. Price,Belize’s first PM, recently accepted spe-cial lifts from the overbearing BritishLord to go pick up awards in the Car-ibbean. We don’t believe it but that’swhat we hear. Hell of a thing. Can youbelieve that? No disrespect to Mr. Priceintended.

But Rt. Hon. Price has been retired;enter the self described Kipling’s manof Palestinian ancestry, Musa. He mas-saged the process to become PrimeMinister with Fonseca, the after darkPM, at his side. One hell of a leaderthey have been within their little cabal.It couldn’t have been an easy task toclimb that far and that fast. Lots of sac-rificial offerings litter that road to gloryand now we have more bodies fallingby the wayside as their old school,Panamanian styled political training,kicks in fully.

Price in his time was a one man show.His deputies came and went like achange of underwear. Now we haveMusa & Ralph, inseparable, likeSiamese twins joined at the head (or isit the tail?). This brings us to the dramawe face in Belize today with constantchange of the generals and troops. Min-isters and ranking supporters (electedor not) have been dropping like konkassince the twins took control of the party.A brief body count:

1) Chanona, A (not a minister yet; wasroughed up at a convention to favorMoises Cal aka Panama briefcase man)

2) Aranda, Ted (former UDP leaderwho had turned PUP)

3) Canton, Henry (retired after oneterm as PUP Minister to take up job incitrus sector)

4) Silva, Dan (walked off into the sun-set)

5) Marin, F (retiring next year, after 8years on the back bench)

6) Burgos, Dave (sunset bound )7) Espat, Jorge (remember him?)8) Hyde, Cordel (owns Lake Eye

Division)9) Court, Eamon (party animal who

owns street & court muscle)10)Espat, Mark (former popular

tourism minister)11)Briceno, John (owns the entire

OW divisions)12)Samuels, Maxx (sunset grill)13) Dolores Balderamos Garcia

(made AIDS ambassador while losingministerial rank)

14) Dickie B (never won at the pollsbut got high posts anyway)

15) Cawich, Agripino (deceased, RIP,a decent man but ran for PUP eventhough dying)

16) Sylvester, Louis (now UDP;former PUP party chairman)

17) Hunter, Federico (still loyal pup;ex- business senator, former works min-ister)

18) Castillo, Valdemar (gone to thefree zone in latest shuffle)

19) Urbina,Lito (kicked out andturned UDP, like Sylvester)

20) Carlos Diaz (he rents out portabletoilets now; party animal)

21) Sam Waight (whatever happenedto him?)

22) Shoman, Assad (on scholarshipin London with incredible perkscourtesry the Belizean taxpayer, formerForeign Minister)

23) Senior Minister Price (forced re-tirement compliments of G. Smith. Noportfolio but who needs none with thepunch he packs?)

24) Patricia Arceo (a charming lady“disappeared” from cabinet 7 shufflesago)

25) Hon Remijio Montejo,(a people’sman... pushed out before he passedaway)

26) RAY Lightburn (never a minister,but squeezed out ...after running hardfor PUP against the super successfulpolitican M. Finnigan nee Myvett)

27) We still have Hon Hector Silva(off and on PUP senator in Musa admin

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but retired from elective politics. Doeshe ever have stories to share. He needsto write a book.)

28) The Great San Perdomo (stillalive and kicking but retired from elec-tive politics. Has businesses inBelmopan.)

29) Moises Cal (retired before therace started because of Panama inci-dent, despite beating Chanona in a con-vention)

30) Glen Godfrey ( former AttorneyGen & Tourism Minister who oversawthe offshore laws that made MichaelAshcroft King almost two decades ago.)

31) Big man Polo Briceno (trulyKipling’s man, now retired.)

Now after all this, the PUP issues agovernment release to say that theirparty will be holding a national conven-tion on July First, 2007, to do what wedon’t know and don’t really care. Letthem figure out it on their own for asthey say: politics is the art of accom-modation.

Who will rise and who will fall isn’teven public spectacle anymore. We’veseen enough and had enough of it. Thepeople deserve to be treated better;they’ve had enough of the charades andthe parades, lower the damn consump-tion taxes, get rid of all these usuriousfees on utilities and set the peoplefree…or the body count will grow ex-ponentially come zero eight. You don’tneed to have a heart to know this, justcheck up on what’s left of your soul,Mr. Party Animal.


1. Too much oil greed2. Too much pollution3. Too much sicknessSince BNE drilled the first well over

a year ago and discovered oil in Span-ish Lookout the flow of oil has notstopped, neither has the polluting smokethat makes the people sick. To date NOmoney has been paid for the roy-alty fees from the oil, even thoughpromises were made from the very be-ginning when BNE moved in and occu-pied the land. The pollution has affectedapproximately 12 families seriously ona daily basis. BNE does not yet knowthe extent of the health damage to thepublic.

For those that are not informed aboutoil business, here is some information.They will drill a hole over 3000 feet inthe ground and put a pipe in and whenthey hit oil, they put a valve on top. Thereis a tremendous amount of pressure thatpushes the oil out of the ground into aholding tank. From here it goes intothe oil truck and is hauled to Big Creekport and sent to a foreign country in abarge. There is an excess of toxic gasesthat comes along with the oil flow whichevaporates into the air by means of apipe coming up which is lit fire to mini-mize the danger of “pollution”. Theflame is approximately 10 to 20 feet inheight and throws off a dark cloud oftoxic smoke that burns day and night.

This has been going on for over a yearamong the residents of Spanish Look-out. Those that live nearby have had tomove away. Many complaints weremade at the BNE’s office and Govern-ment offices. At the very first when theyopened the first well, they tried it with-out burning the gas, and that experimentalmost killed two close-by residents inone night. Then they started to burnthe gases. But the smoke attacks adultpeople’s health to where they get ner-vous and affects the children in differ-ent ways. It also pollutes the rain waterin the whole area so people can’t use itfor drinking anymore.

One of the most serious problems iswhen the wind shifted at night time whilethe people are asleep. The smokeblows into their homes, and they wouldnot have time to evacuate. Every timepeople complain at the BNE office, theysay, “We have checked with the properauthorities and we have the rights to dowhat we do. You guys complain toomuch.” Other times they say, “Thesmoke will stop next month when we

Oil brings No Money just ill EffectsOil brings No Money just ill EffectsOil brings No Money just ill EffectsOil brings No Money just ill EffectsOil brings No Money just ill EffectsSpanish Lookout Gets Hit 3 WaysSpanish Lookout Gets Hit 3 WaysSpanish Lookout Gets Hit 3 WaysSpanish Lookout Gets Hit 3 WaysSpanish Lookout Gets Hit 3 Ways

put a pipe in to pump the crude oil fur-ther away.” Other times they say theywould pay a certain amount each monthfor the damage. This went on monthafter month until the year ended. Nowword goes around saying they will notpay anything because they have movedthe flame two miles out of Spanish Look-out. But now the eastern breeze blowsit right back over the area again. At thispoint no one knows the extent of per-manent damage is being done to thepeople’s health. Slow working toxinstake a while until the disease appears.

Many have been going to doctors inthe process but no money from BNE isas yet visible. The toxins of a well arecalled organic toxins, which are theworst and are known to cause cancer.It seems like the Government can-not afford to hold the company torestrictions and regulations on pol-lution. What about citizen’s rightsand protection?

According to talks it’s more aboutsaving Belize from going bankrupt. Anoil expert from the US visited SpanishLookout. He explained that the gasesshould go back into the well to keep upthe pressure, or the gas could be usedto run a gas powered light plant; notwasting energy nor causing pollution.

The BNE did run a light plant for awhile, then stopped it for some rea-son. There is also a special apparatusto put on the pipe where the fire burnsto minimize pollution which cost some$3,000 but apparently BNE does notwant to spend that money. It wouldseem that BNE is running behind oncommon respect and regulations.They came in as a small company andseemed to be friendly people, kindlyasking for permission to access andpossession of the land. But then theirattitude soon changed. Now lately

they have sped up production to thepoint where record keeping is ques-tionable. At present they are haulingsome 25 semi-trailers loads of oil aday, a market value of 5 to 6 hundredthousand dollars a day.

While searching for oil they do seis-mic testing. It is not a rare thing tosee how they invade any property. Attimes they move their machinery overpeople’s land all over the place. Whenthey meet up with an obstacle, suchas a fence, they break down anddon’t bother to fix it again, causingcattle to come out of the pastures anddamaging neighbors’ property.

Any complaint for damage is lookedon with indifference by BNE authori-ties. Many residents have not evenbothered reporting because they denytheir responsibilities of payments. Onthe other hand their PR are exploitingtheir rights, and try to show the pub-lic how they are making Belize a bet-ter country, even donating money to

hospitals in Belize. They go on head-line news about making Belize better.But forget the damage they are caus-ing to the residents of the area. Theyseem to not think too much about thedevelopment of the country but ratheron the immediate cash money theycan make.

Most company care a lot for publicrelations but this one makes you won-der why oil companies don’t. I amsure they have heard about Belize be-ing a good country and took it forwhat it seems to them. Maybe primi-tive, freedom and tolerance for allmatters, freedom from laws being en-forced, where money and a good frontmeans more than friendship and healthof the people, even to those that helpthem get rich and wealthy in materialthings. Let them go back to theirclassroom for a better PR lesson andmaybe a health and environment les-son and throw in a Social Studies aswell, if they can afford it.

We understand that BNE does notbring in any monthly report of theamount of oil being extracted to theSpanish Lookout Community.

Again, it makes you think that if amonthly report cannot be kept howwill we know at the end of year howmuch it is, in this case it would be af-ter two years, because they have notpaid anything as yet for royalties andit is over one year that they have beenextracting. Besides this there is al-ways of the syndrome of forgetfulness.

The above is a Statement from theNational Reform Part y-www.nrpbelize.org

Oil in Spanish Lookout but no royalties yet for this hard working community.

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The Best Little Zoo In The World


By: Ray AuxillouThe incumbent PUP controlling gov-

ernment seems hell bent on doing awaywith socialized medicine, while spout-ing bombast and rhetoric on the ros-trum that they are for the poor, the indi-gent and unemployed.

I gave a ride to a mother, father andsick vomiting boy to the bus stop todayin Santa Elena Town. The family weregoing to Belmopan Hospital to seektreatment, by long bus ride. They hadalready been to the Government Hos-pital across the river of the twin townsin San Ignacio nearby. Apparently thereis no doctor on duty and treatment byCuban nurses was not working overseveral visits. I can empathize with thatas my wife has had the same experi-ence. The majority of people in theCayo West mountainous district, anagricultural area, look to the governmenthospital for medicine. From BritishHonduras colonial days the medicaltreatment was the best thing Belize hasever had. It was FREE, or so low costas to be negligible. It cost $49 Bz formy eldest daughter to be born in a semiprivate ward. I loved it.

Most Belizeans don’t make a lot ofmoney. The majority of people earn

Is socializIs socializIs socializIs socializIs socialized medicineed medicineed medicineed medicineed medicinefffffalling aparalling aparalling aparalling aparalling apart in Belizt in Belizt in Belizt in Belizt in Belize?e?e?e?e?

cash money, about $40 to $60 Bz aweek today and raise their families onit. Growing their own food is a must.This particular family earns about$135 Bz a week, which is $66 USA.Full time worker. Of course the fam-ily is illiterate, and unskilled workers.The man works odd job construction,chops yards with a machete to keepthem clean and the wife in orange treepicking season picks fruit. The restof the time they live on tortillas andbeans. I’ve explained to them overand over about vitamins and malnu-trition which the three children have.But their story is not unusual. Actu-ally, it is the norm. The majority offamilies are like that.

I asked the man what happened at

the Government Hospital? He saidthey had been several times, but hisson was still sick and vomiting. Thereis a private hospital in Santa Elena buthe said he could not afford to go therefor medicine. I suggested a couple ofdoctors that were reasonable and ex-cellent old time diagnosticians. Hesaid they charge too much. My wifestopped going to the Governmenthospital because of the same com-plaints. So she now goes to one oftwo well liked doctors in San Ignacio.They charge a $40 Bz flat visit fee andmedicines can run over another $100,which makes us pause before medi-cal treatment and we are middle class.What it must be like for someone liv-ing on $60 Bz or less a week for a

family of five, I cannot comprehend.One hears of the newspapers talk-

ing about $100 million dollar govern-ment guarantees for private hospitalventures with $1500 deposits beforeyou can get in the door and can onlywonder what is happening to theBEST THING BELIZE EVERHAD. Socialized medicine is great.We seem to be traveling as a countrytoward the European and USA medi-cal business disasters. Medicine inBelize has always been better than inthe USA, and I’ve lived in both coun-tries. It was one of the reasons I re-tired back home in Belize for the bet-ter medical service. But it seems ourmedical system is in trouble also likethe rest of the world? I wonder why?


By: Meb Cutlack

Current IssuesCurrent IssuesCurrent IssuesCurrent IssuesCurrent IssuesCurrent IssuesCurrent IssuesCurrent IssuesCurrent IssuesCurrent Issues

The dismissal of Ministers Espat andHyde and the resignations of DeputyPrime Minister Briceno and ForeignMinister Courtenay, means more thanjust a crisis in the PUP. It signals a shat-tering blow to what was left of democ-racy in Belize.

The PUP is not longer a viable politi-cal party but a mere shell of sycophantssurrounding totally failed leadership.When the few men of stature in theparty, Espat, Hyde, Briceno andCourtenay are ousted from their port-folios and replaced by yes andyesterday’s men, then the time has cometo try and rebirth the PUP.

I was one of those misled into sup-porting the PUP in 1998. I believed thatthe image the presented, of a new, youngPUP was what the nation needed. Itturned out to be neither a new nor ayoung party but the same old corruptPUP under even more corrupt and ve-nal leadership than the ‘old’ PUP.

Whatever happened to the “father ofthe nation?” Stand up? Speak out? Hegave that up a long time ago and yet,spin he must, sometimes in his sleep -

TTTTTime to jump shipime to jump shipime to jump shipime to jump shipime to jump shipas his dreams turn into nightmares.

It is sad to think today that Belize,a country desperate for true democ-racy, must ricochet between the‘hardplace’ of the PUP and the ‘jelly’of the UDP - a party which seems in-capable of promising real electoralreform and is therefore without demo-cratic credentials.

It is not so much that the fate of ournation could rest with some sort ofthird party group being the only validopposition, but the PUP, once proudand dignified, has crumbled into a hol-low shell – like a toadstool or fungi inwhich the centre has rotted out.

The men I call “men of stature” willbe but men of straw unless they nowtake the bold step of rehabilitating thePUP. The four— Johnny Briceno,Eamon Courtenay, Mark Espat andCordel Hyde— and others of likemind within the PUP, should now re-sign from the party and form a newparty distinct from the Fonseca/MusaPUP. A party to accommodate thereforms and the new thinking andideas promised by the PUP in 1998,but which were never delivered.

One of the saddest things our na-tion faces today, since the removal ofsome of the brightest men in the cabi-net, is the total lack of candour,honour and talent among all thosepersons newly inflated to high office.

What a laughing stock Belize mustappear to the world when the placesof those Belizeans were proud of are

taken by corrupt lightweights think-ing only of where their next grubbydollar is coming from.

Belize desperately needs the thirdparties that are now offering them-selves to the electorate. It also, forthe sake of democracy, needs a re-born PUP. The PPR, People’s Partyfor Reform, for example.

Press Release Delta AirlinesBelize. June 2007 – Delta Air

Lines continues its international ex-pansion this week with the additionof nonstop flights from Belize to LosAngeles International Airport once aweek on Sundays. Delta will servewith a Boeing 757 aircraft seating upto 184 passengers.

“We are very pleased of being op-erating during three years in Belize andto announce to our local clients a newnonstop flight to Los Angeles. Ourtwo routes from Belize to Atlanta and– now- to Los Angeles will let us of-fer time-saving alternatives for busi-ness and leisure travelers flying to USAand back”, said Gladys Henríquez,Delta Air Lines Sales Manager.

Delta is already the leading U.S. car-rier and all these new routes furtherposition Delta as a global carrier, add-ing international routes faster than anyother airline and being encouraged bythe response from passengers to ournew destinations all over the world.Belize is an essential part of that in-ternational expansion plan for LatinAmerica.

Delta Airline starDelta Airline starDelta Airline starDelta Airline starDelta Airline starts Nonstopts Nonstopts Nonstopts Nonstopts Nonstopflights Belize-Los Angelesflights Belize-Los Angelesflights Belize-Los Angelesflights Belize-Los Angelesflights Belize-Los Angeles

This new nonstop flight from Belizeto LAX represents one more suc-cessful addition for Delta’s expansioninto Latin America and the Caribbeansince it launched an aggressive planto rebalance its mix of domestic andinternational flying last year.

The frequency of the flights formBelize to Los Angeles will be fromJune 10th to July 15th. After that thereis going to be a frequency from No-vember 17th to April 2008.

Meanwhile, with the addition of newflights from LAX to Belize, Delta andDelta’s Connection carrier, AtlanticSoutheast Airlines, will offer 9 weeklyflights from Belize with a daily serviceto Atlanta (twice on Sundays) andonce a week to Los Angeles. Belizeis a unique destination for ecotourismdue to its exuberant jungle and be-cause of its second place world’s big-gest barrier reef. It also will bring alot of benefits to the Belizean com-munity living in Los Angeles.

Delta’s new nonstop service be-tween Los Angeles and Belize, fromJune 9th, is scheduled as follows:

Flight Departs Arrives Frequency197 Los Angeles at 01:01am Belize at 6:39 a.m. Only on Sundays196 Belize at 8:00 a.m. Los Angeles at 11:47 a.m. Only on Sundays

Delta’s Boeing 757 will fly up to 184 passengers to LAX non-stop on Sundays only..

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Preface:While many people talk about our gov-

ernment in Belize not working very well,and while many political parties have his-torically proposed political manifestos withvery little detail that sound great but havevery little substance, there is a group ofBelizeans and friends of Belize that havebeen working to write a manifesto thatshould be considered by all political par-ties in Belize.

Even a cursory look at the followingmanifesto will show that much work hasbeen done with much insight provided bythose with experience in government andworking with government. The manifestocame about through the Internet list calledBelize Culture that has daily on-line dis-cussions about Belizean culture and poli-tics. There is also the [email protected] which I ad-minister.

After much discussion, participantBob Brotherton (an engineer who lives inDunedin, Florida) suggested that thegroup stop talking and start writing theirideas down in an organized fashion in theform of a manifesto or what some callplanks in a political platform.

Mr. Brotherton offered some of the ideasand served as the editor of this document.

We believe this manifesto speaks for it-self and presents many ideas about howthis group feels that government in Belizecould be improved. The idea was to notlook to the past and criticize, but ratherlook to the future.

It will be interesting to see how many, ifany, of the planks are adopted by the PUP,UDP, and other political parties in Belizefor the upcoming elections. Many thanksto all those who contributed to this pro-posed “Best Political Platform.”

Over the next several weeks we willpresent the planks developed in Indepen-dent Weekly for public persusal.

-Trevor Vernon---------------------------------Introduction: The platform of this

party shall include the following provi-sions. The party shall insure that theseprovisions are enacted into law as soonas practical after entering into office. Apublic quarterly report on the progressmade to fully enact and enforce thesechanges will be made throughout thisparty’s administration.

Plank No. 1Granting of Powers to Local

GovernmentWhereas, it is recognized by this party

that local town and village governmentis considered as being superior to fed-eral regulation in dealing with certainlocal village matters, and Whereas, eachtown or village is recognized as havingdifferent standards and needs for theprovision of certain services, andWhereas, the ability of the GOB to fi-nance and provide all services to localtowns and villages from funding sources

The Best Political PlatformThe Best Political PlatformThe Best Political PlatformThe Best Political PlatformThe Best Political Platformavailable to the GOB is very limited, thisparty will insure if elected into office that:

1) Local towns and villages will beallowed to petition for incorporation byCharter from the GOB, to be respon-sible for raising local taxes and fees, ifrequired, in the provision of certain ser-vices including but not limited to roadand drainage maintenance, utilities, tele-communication services, solid wasteservices, local police services, and cer-tain other services as may be petitionedby the local town or village.

2) Decisions concerning the quality ofservice and the administration of suchservices, including setting fees and taxesfor chartered services, will be totally theresponsibility of the local elected towncouncil with no oversight or determina-tions by Ministries of the GOB beingrequired.

3) That the GOB will work with localtowns and villages to the extent pos-sible in grant assistance and other co-operation between the town and GOB.

4) That in order to petition the GOBfor a town Charter, that a minimum of51% of local registered voters mustpetition the GOB for a Charter throughthe local town or village council.

5) That all local town and village elec-tions will be nonpartisan in nature andany participation by any recognizedparty will be specifically prohibited bylaw.

6) That local Towns and Villages willhave the specific authority to regulatethe use of land through zoning and landuse designations through the use of ap-propriate planning principals and throughpublic participation in the developmentof such land use regulations.

7) All Chartered Towns and Villagesshall be required to operate with a bal-anced budget each year with an auditof all accounts performed by profes-sional auditors on an annual basis.

Plank No. 2:New Requirements of Elected

OfficialsWhereas, it is recognized by this party

that holding public office is a public trustgranted by the general public, andWhereas, the appearance of wrong do-ing can result in the loss of trust in govern-ment officials, and Whereas, holding publicoffice requires 100% of available timededicated to the office held, this party willinsure if elected to office that:

1) Declaration of Assets - A law shallbe passed requiring that all people run-ning for public office at the national orlocal Town and Village level shall de-clare to the public, in a form to be de-termined, all assets and interest held inany and all businesses both within Belizeand in other countries. The candidateshall also make public their prior year’sincome tax statement. Discovery ofassets not declared shall result in theimmediate termination from office.

2A) Business Interests During theTerm of Office - During the term of of-fice, the elected official (at the nationallevel), shall not participate in any pri-vate business operations directly or in-directly including attending any meetingconcerning the business, presence in theoffice of any personally owned business,work of any kind for the business(s) orgovernment contracting that would lendfavor to any personally owned businessor business of any relative. Local Townand Village elected officials may holdpublic office and continue in their nor-mal business, however, anytime a voteof the council relates to any business orpersonal interest of the local Town orVillage official, that official will withdrawfrom voting on or discussing the issue.Failure to comply with these require-ments shall result in the immediate ter-mination from office.

2B) Any lawyer or other professionalwho is elected to office (at the nationallevel) shall immediately assign all workload to associates of the firm or othercompanies and cease and desist fromany work representing any past, cur-rent, or future client, until such time asthe term of office is over. Any lawyeror other professional who is elected tolocal Town or Village Mayor or Coun-cil Member may continue their practice,however that official will withdraw fromvoting on or discussing any issue thatrelates to personal or family businessand other similar interests. Failure tocomply with this provision in the pro-posed law shall result in immediate ter-mination from office.

3) Campaign Finance Reform - Inorder to improve the public confidenceand reduce the excessive influence ofindividuals or corporations in the elec-tion process for national and local elec-tions, this party shall pass laws that will(a) require the maximum contribution ofany individual or corporation (includingthe candidate themselves) to any onecandidate for office (including the partyof the candidate) a maximum contribu-tion of $1,000 BZ for each electioncampaign, and (b) all contributions shallbe kept in the records of the candidateand such records shall be available aspublic information within 7 days of thecontribution. After the day of the elec-tion, no contributions will be allowed inany amount to any successful or unsuc-cessful candidate until a formal announce-ment is made that the candidate will runfor the same or another elected office inthe next election cycle. Failure to com-ply with these requirements will result inthe immediate termination from that electedoffice. Nothing in this law shall be intendedto limit the reporting by news media onthe status of the election process, newsarticles reflecting the opinions of individu-als or editors of the papers, public meet-ings, or other forms of communication in-

cluding the use of the internet for publicinformation. Political advertisements in theform of ads in various print media, ads onTV or other visual media forms shall bepaid for by the same fees as other similarforms of advertisement. All advertisementsshall be paid for from funds collected andreported as described above.

Plank No. 3 :Implementing the Political

Reform Commission Recommen-dations

Whereas the final report of the Politi-cal Reform Commission contained sev-eral recommendations that have notbeen totally implemented to date, andWhereas there continues to be a lackof accountability of elected and publicofficials, this party pledges to enact orrevise legislation to fully and effectivelyimplement the following recommenda-tions from the 2000 Final Report of ThePolitical Reform Commission:

1) Statutory Instruments - This partyrecommends that the use of the Statu-tory Instrument mechanism be furtherregulated by: (a) curtailing the enablingpower of Ministers to legislate by re-ducing legislation that gives this power;(b) Making it mandatory for all statu-tory instruments to go to the House ofRepresentatives for ratification at thenext sitting of the House.

2) Public Debt - This party recom-mends that: (a) provision be made forall details of all loans made to the Gov-ernment of Belize to be published in theGovernment Gazette;

(b) The Government take measuresto ensure that public debt as a propor-tion of national income is kept at a pru-dent level.

3) Government Contracts - This partyrecommends that the following mea-sures be taken with regard to the pro-cess of awarding government contracts:(a) that the Constitution and relevantlaws be amended to require the Houseof Representatives to approve theawarding of all contracts over$100,000, or to any one entity whoseaggregate contract exceeds $100,000;

(b) That internationally recognizedstandards for competitive public con-tracting be adopted by the Governmentthrough legislation such that there bepublic bidding process that is openedto the general public.

4) Auditor-General - To enhance theeffectiveness and independence of theOffice of the Auditor-General, this partyagrees with the Commission that:

(a) the Constitution be amended atsection 109 of the Constitution to re-form the appointment process so thatthe Auditor-General is appointed by theGovernor-general acting on recommen-dation of the National Assembly con-tained in a resolution passed on thatbehalf.To be continued next week


Contributed opinionDuring one of his volatile statements

against Prime Minister Said Musa,the Leader of the Opposition, DeanBarrow, stated that Said Musa has“lost his legitimacy to govern”. Ifthat is so, where does it leave thevoters of Belize?

Dean Barrow certainly cannot assertthat he has shown his legitimacy to gov-ern. For nine years Dean Barrow hascriticized the actions of Said Musa andthe PUP but offered nothing construc-tive to correct the problems. It is easyto criticize, any fool can do it. How-ever, it takes a person with ability andintegrity to provide the solutions. DoesDean Barrow have those qualities? Ifhe has, he hasn’t shown them.

Dean Barrow has previously utilizedpolitical reform as a campaign issue. Buthas he ever moved the legislature forsuch reforms? It appears not. DeanBarrow should clean up his own actbefore he criticizes others.

Manuel Esquivel was a champion ofreform, yet the man he appointed to beChairman of his political reform com-mission, this same Dean Barrow, hasdone nothing in that respect. Whenasked about an elected Senate hespoke against it stating his party wasentitled to their “turn.” Does this meanthat he wants to retain the status quo so

didate does not want the power to bein the people of Belize? Is it that politi-cians wish to retain the dictatorial powerin the Prime Minister so that the cronysystem will continue?

Senators should be elected so thatthey answer to the voters, not to a PrimeMinister who retains a position akin tothat of a dictator, a position he can useto punish the members of his cabinet ifthey do not agree with and support him.

With an elected Senate the Senatewould no longer be a rubber stamp. Anelected Senate gives the power to thepeople.

Political promises are mere rhetoricthat politicians hope will get then elected.It is rare that a politician, when elected,will perform such promises. If DeanBarrow’s criticism of Said Musa is of-fered as constructive criticism he shouldimmediately move the legislature forpolitical reform, including an electedSenate. If he doesn’t when it comes timeto vote in the next National Election thevoters will know that a vote for DeanBarrow is probably not a vote to im-prove the politics of the country. It couldthen well appear that Barrow’s criticismwas mere jealousy, coveting the posi-tion of Prime Minister.

Those members of the Legislaturewho demonstrate the true quality ofleadership will be the ones who imme-

Will Dean Barrow provide abetter form of Government?

that he can become Prime Minister anddo as those before him have done?

By his statements and answers DeanBarrow has indicated that he is not partof the solution, that in fact he may bepart of the problem. He has had nineyears to move before the legislature themany different political reforms thatwere recommended by the PoliticalReform Commission and are necessaryto stabilize the Government and preventcorruption.

Instead it has been the legitimate pressand many leading Belizeans who haveadvocated for an elected Senate. Why?Because they know an elected Senatewould be the best means of stoppingthe corruption of the past 25 years. Cor-ruption that continues to grow in mag-nitude.

Dean Barrow recently stated that hewas not sure that an elected Senatewould work. That was a sick answerto an inquiry. If Dean Barrow has a realinterest in the subject he would knowthat an elected Senate works. Anelected Senate has worked in all of thecountries that have it. In the recent elec-tion in the United States of America thevoters changed Senators so as to curbobjected to activities of President Bush.This was a showing of the power thatthe right to an elect a Senate gave tothe people. Is it that the potential can-

diately move for an elected Senate andother necessary political reforms.

That would be the actions of true pa-triots, however, the actions must be intime to pass the motions before the nextGeneral Election. Promises will not suf-fice as they are seldom fulfilled.

Recently Dean Barrow praised thevirtues of Michael Ashcroft. AfterMichael Ashcroft donated $1,000,000to the PUP’s 1998 election campaign,the PUP also praised Michael Ashcroft’svirtues in an open letter to the BritishPress. Michael Ashcroft had been re-ceiving bad press in England. Press thatsuggested that Ashcroft was exercisingunhealthy control over Belize. Thereaf-ter, it appears that Ashcroft interestsgained with every involvement withBelize’s Government.

Dean Barrow, as an attorney, has re-ceived large sums of money while rep-resenting Ashcroft interests.

Is there going to be a repeat of thescenario that has taken place during thelast nine years if he becomes PrimeMinister? Why did Dean Barrow praiseMichael Ashcroft’s virtues? Should thecountry be governed by an Ashcroftsupporter who doesn’t support anelected Senate? Or should a candidatewho believes in power to people beelected?

Peoples National Party Leader, WilMaheia presented an EnvironmentalAward to the Integrity Strikers of Em-ery Grove at the TIDE Fresh WaterCup on Saturday, June 2, 2007, at theUnion Field, Punta Gorda Town, To-ledo District. Maheia also presenteda cash donation to the player whoscored the most goals.

“Congratulations to TIDE for a jobwell done,” said Maheia at the eventon Saturday. “I encourage the teamsto think about the environment as theycontinue to play football… The purposeof the TIDE Fresh Water Cup is toeducate the young people about theenvironment while having fun and topromote healthy lifestyles.”

When the PNP get into government,we will make sure that young peoplehave sports programs to participate inthat are sponsored by the GOB. Thisis part of our platform, to engage youngpeople in positive recreation

Press release from thePeople’s National Party.

PNP leader prPNP leader prPNP leader prPNP leader prPNP leader presents enesents enesents enesents enesents envirvirvirvirvironmentalonmentalonmentalonmentalonmentalaaaaawwwwwararararard ad ad ad ad at t t t t TIDE FTIDE FTIDE FTIDE FTIDE Frrrrreshweshweshweshweshwaaaaater Cupter Cupter Cupter Cupter Cup

PNP Leader, Wil Maheia (right) congratulates Integrity Strikers


ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20)It might be best to work on your

own; if possible, do your job out ofyour home this week. Take time toexplain your intentions to lovedones. Opposition is present and youshould be prepared to counteract itas best you can. You may betempted to get involved in secretaffairs or love triangles. Your luckyday this week will be Saturday.TAURUS (Apr. 21- may 21)

You have to believe in yourselfand your talents. Rewards for pastgood deeds will be yours. You willmeet new romantic partners throughthe company you keep. Chances toexpress your ideas and beliefs canbring popularity as long as you’renot arrogant. Your lucky day thisweek will be Friday.GEMINI (May 22-June 21)

Keep an eye on your weight. Youwill be in a high cycle regardingwork. Communications with lovedones may be strained. Take a tripor just spend some quality time withyour mate. Your lucky day thisweek will be Friday.CANCER (June 22-July 22)

Be quiet about your intentions orideas that might bring added cash.Your attitude is changing rapidly andyour plate is overloaded. Try not tolend or borrow money this week.Don’t overdo it. You need to enjoyyourself. Your lucky day this weekwill be Monday.LEO (July 23-Aug 22)

Don’t jump into investments tooquickly. It won’t take much to up-set your lover. You can make newconnections if you play your cardsright. Your ability to be practical inbusiness will help. Your lucky daythis week will be Monday.VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23)

Your communication skills are atan all-time high. Loved ones may beannoyed if they feel restricted. Yourhome environment may be hectic,which could result in emotional up-set if you aren’t well organized. Beprepared to deal with groups andorganizations of greater magnitude.Your lucky day this week will beTuesday.LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23)

You need to refrain from being thegenerous one in the group. Don’t bedisappointed if you don’t get yourway emotionally. Don’t be tooquick to let friends and relativesknow what you’re up to. Romanticopportunities will develop throughfriends or relatives. Your lucky daythis week will be Saturday.SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)

You could have a need to makesome changes this week. Real es-tate investments could be to yourad vantage. You will probably haveto defend your mate. You may wantto take a look at the personal pa-pers of elders in your family. Yourlucky day this week will be Friday.SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21)

Your partner may blame you foreverything. You need to look intonew philosophies. If you havetreated them equitably, you mightbe able to count on their loyalty.You will be uncertain of your feel-ings. Your lucky day this week willbe Friday.CAPRICORN (Dec 22.- Jan. 20)

Express your interest if you wantthe relationship to progress. You willhave no problem getting your pointacross to those in a position to helpyou. You are best to put your ef-forts into redecorating or invitingfriends over. Your emotional life maybe up in the air if your mate hasbeen going through a change ofheart. Your lucky day this weekwill be Monday.AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19)

You may be able to impart knowl-edge that’s innovative to thosesearching for a new angle. Plan yourday thoughtfully, but try not to relyon others. Refrain from arguing withyour mate. Advancement can beyours if you put your efforts intowork related matters. Your luckyday this week will be Friday.PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20)

Opportunities may come up atprestigious affairs. Go out withfriends and avoid the situation onthe home front. You can meet newfriends who will let you know justhow valuable you are. Self-decep-tion is likely. Your lucky day thisweek will be Sunday.

Teen ly

PageBy: Julia Heusner

What Is A Dad?A dad is someone whowants to catch you before you fall

and picks you up, if you do,brushes you off,and let you try again.A dad is someone whowants to keep you from making mis-

takes but let you find your own way,even though his heart breaks in silencewhen you get hurt.

A dad is someone who holds youwhen you cry,

scolds you when you break the rules,shines with pride when you succeed,

and has faith in you even when you

fail...Shout outs to fathers.

My father gave me the greatest giftanyone could give another person, hebelieved in me. —Julia C.. Heusner ,age 13

My dad is the most perfect dad ofthe world! —Emily Rose Vernon , age5

My dad is the most protective per-son you’ll every meet, but 1 love himanyway! —Francesca Sharp, age 13

He always there for us .. .if u never

know how much we respect and ad-mire yo,u, we want you to know it nowDad, we think you’re the best father anychild ever had

—Chelsea ,Kelsie & Artie Huge

My daddy’s always with me, eventhough we are apart ,1 know becausehe told me, he’ll forever be in my heart.

—Abigail Marshal, age 13

My Daddy is one of the biggest com-puter nerds I’ve ever came in contactwith 1 think he might be a bigger nerdthen bill gates he just not as rich Butyou just got to love him. —AngelicaAlderman ,age 15

1 know he is working ‘cause he wantsthe best for me. — Benjamin Hidalgo,age 12


AP--Costa Rica’s president has criti-cized Taiwan for being stingy with aidto its handful of allies, while other LatinAmerican nations struggled withwhether to remain loyal to the demo-cratic island or strengthen ties withTaiwan’s diplomatic rival, China.

Taiwan is lobbying to hang on to its24 remaining diplomatic partners afterCosta Rica announced June 5 it wasswitching relations to China. Taiwan’sallies, many of them poor countries inLatin America and the Caribbean, helpbolster its claims of international legiti-macy.

Self-governing Taiwan and Commu-nist China split amid civil war in 1949and China insists that the island remainsa part of its territory. In the battle forfriends around the world, the two sidesroutinely offer generous grants and otherinducements.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister JamesHuang accused China of offering CostaRica “an astronomical figure” to ditchTaipei. He did not specify what it was.

Costa Rican President Oscar Ariasacknowledged that the decision to gowith Beijing was related to Costa Rica’sdesire to bolster its economy, and hecriticized Taiwan for giving “insufficient”aid to its allies. “I was always critical ofthe Taiwanese, and I can say now that Ialways told them ... if you want to havefriends in the world, you should be moregenerous,” he said. “Considering thefew friends they have, they don’t treatthem very well,” Arias said of Taiwan,adding: “Without a doubt, we will getmore help from China.”

Alarmed Taiwanese diplomats metlast month in Belize with Central Ameri-can officials, hoping to shore up sup-port after Costa Rica voted against dis-cussion of Taiwanese membership in theWorld Health Organization.

Taiwan had achieved a victory onMay 1 when the tiny Caribbean nationof St. Lucia announced it was shiftingits relations to Taiwan. As China’s mar-ket grows, many Latin American nationsworry that allying with Taiwan will cutthem out of important trade with China.

“No one can dispute that having bet-ter commercial relations and investmentwith China is positive,” Arias said. “I’msure they will give us external aid. That’ssomething we have discussed, and it willprobably be more than Taiwan gave us,but what we really want is more tradewith China.”

Taiwan has tried to battle that by sign-ing free trade agreements with Panama,Guatemala and Nicaragua. It recentlyadded pacts with El Salvador and theHonduras and is negotiating with theDominican Republic.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokes-woman Jiang Yu said the ties with CostaRica have “paved the way for friendlyand beneficial cooperation” and she

called on other countries to follow suit.Huang, meanwhile, said he had or-

dered Taiwanese embassies in LatinAmerica “to take extreme precautionsagainst any further pressure by the Chi-nese communists.”

Many leaders are walking a fine linebetween recognizing Taiwan and open-ing the door to China. Panama andHonduras issued statements Thursdaythat they would maintain diplomatic re-lations with Taiwan and commercial tiesto China. The Dominican Republic haspledged to maintain relations with Tai-wan through at least 2008, but it hasquadrupled its trade with China in thepast three years. Paraguay is solidlybehind Taiwan, which funded construc-tion of the country’s congressionalbuilding and a new, $20 million housingproject for the poor. The DominicanRepublic has pledged to maintain rela-tions with Taiwan through at least 2008,but it has quadrupled its trade with Chinain the past three years.

In May, Nicaragua’s Vice PresidentJaime Morales raised the possibility ofcutting ties with the island when he told

Costa Rica criticizes Taiwan as stingyCosta Rica criticizes Taiwan as stingyCosta Rica criticizes Taiwan as stingyCosta Rica criticizes Taiwan as stingyCosta Rica criticizes Taiwan as stingyBy: Marianela Jimenez Huang that “we as a sover-

eign country choose whoour friends are” and that he“doesn’t deny the realitythat China represents eco-nomically, commerciallyand geopolitically.”

Analyst Andrew Yang ofthe Taipei-based ChineseCouncil of AdvancedPolicy Studies said theCosta Rican decisionwould likely create a chainreaction. “Probably Nica-ragua and Panama are nextand then maybe Paraguay,”he said.

Taiwan cut 70 mln usd inaid to Costa Rica in reac-tion to San Jose’s switch-ing diplomatic recognitionCosta Rica’s President Oscar Arias takes a hard line.

from Taiwan to China.Taiwan’s embassy informed Costa

Rica on Thursday that it was endingcooperation programs in the wake ofPresident Oscar Arias’s decision theday earlier to establish relations withBeijing after four decades of siding withTaipei in the longstanding dispute be-tween the two.

Taiwan had committed 35 mln usdto the construction of a 30 kilometerstretch of road in tourism-heavy north-ern Costa Rica.

It had also offered 15 mln usd to con-struct a building at the CalderonGuardia Hospital after it was burneddown four years ago.

Taiwan was also supporting farm pro-duction programs and had offered afleet of vehicles for Costa Rica’s po-lice as well.

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less we start examining the characterof persons elected to office and stopvoting purely for political party loyal-ists, senate elections will bear no bet-ter fruit than area representative elec-tions.

Corruption and the now pervasivemafia mentality—not the mechanismsof election and recall— are at the rootof our current evil. People who aremorally bankrupt are bankruptingthe nation.

We complain about this, but no oneholds our elected officials’ well heeledshoes to the fire hearth or makes themrespect rules and laws already on ourbooks. Specifically I am referring tothe Integrity in Public Life Act andoffice. Those officials who declaretheir assets are the exception ratherthan the rule and it is widely perceivedthat many of those who do complyGROSSLY understate their own per-sonal wealth and acquisition of wealthwhile in office.

Like junior customs officers whosuddenly build mansions to replacetheir moderate income bungalows andpurchase SUV’s not only for them-selves but wives and sweethearts, soour politicians, men and women whoare paid extremely modest salaries byinternational, and I daresay, domes-tic standards build and buy homes hereand abroad, live a lavish lifestyle and/or stash money away in offshore ac-counts. We, the general populace, donothing more than gossip about themlike as North Americans do the morn-ing after they watch “Lifestyles of theRich and Famous.” We feel resentfuland angry, but we do not channel thatoutrage into any insistence or demandfor investigation or accountability.

We do not ask politicians on thecampaign trail if they have declaredtheir assets, nor do we tell them wecannot vote for them until they do.

The members of the Integrity Com-mission resigned in disgust when theyrealized they were being used asposter kids for integrity and charac-ter. The response to their protest wasto replaced them with a rubber stampgroup even more ineffectual than ourSenate. Rather than resign, I wish theprevious commission had raised aruckus. But that is water under theoverpriced, contractor kickbackbridge now…

So what will happen if the govern-ment changes and legislation is intro-duced to change the constitution to al-low for the election of Senators? Willwe just have 12 more people whocan be bribed or bought or skive offlucrative contracts or sales of nation-ality? Will 12 more people have the

(Continued From Page 4)

SenaSenaSenaSenaSenate Sensate Sensate Sensate Sensate Sensationtiontiontiontionopportunity to get rich quick, at ourexpense? Twelve more people tolaugh at the suggestion they declaretheir wealth for all to see?

How do we protect ourselves fromadditional corruption unless we tacklethe current problems and enforce ex-isting laws? How do we screen ap-plicants for these, the most importantjobs in the land, for their qualificationsand character? For example, do weput rules in place that exempt peoplefrom running for office if it has beenproven they lied to the public either inthe House or a local village or towncouncil? Just think about if we had thatrestriction right now…we might havesaved ourselves a lot of grief, par-ticularly recently. Do we put rules inplace that the immediate family mem-bers of public officials are also sub-ject to financial review? Would sucha policy have saved us from any ofthe recent featherbedding? Do wemake a law insisting that no privateentity can receive a government guar-antee, or that government cannot takeover any private entity without a publicdisclosure of the financials and infor-mation about the personal assets ofshareholders, and silent partners?

The list goes on and on. The les-sons we are learning now could serveus well in the future. The current tur-moil does not have to be for naught.

Right now, it seems the only rulethose in power seem to care about isthe one concerning crossing the floor.Because this protects the cohesionand power of the ruling party; it doesnothing to protect the people. On thecontrary, it PROMOTES blind alle-giance to party, the supremacy of pri-vate interest at the expense of the

public and national interest.Should we continue on this road?

Should we allow our party system—which is supposed to be the symbol ofdemocracy—to instead be the instru-ment of exploitation and dominance?Can Belize and our lawmakers and law-making bodies ever improve unless weenforce protective mechanisms alreadyin place and enact new, necessary re-forms to our system?

If we cannot dismantle the partysystem can we at least put the brakeson what has become a runaway trainrunning over everyone and everythingon either side of the tracks?

It is a positive development to see

the debate on the elected senate growso passionate, although we could dowithout the personal attacks. If wecan stay focused on the issues and notpersonalities we could push this thingthrough and make the politicians re-spond to the will of the people, in-stead of the other way around.

Reforms are critical, checks andbalances imperative.

But most of all, we must begin tochoose men and women of characterwith a desire to serve, over men andwomen of flawed character and self-serving greed. Elect the Senators yes,but only if we ensure they serve thepeople and not the parties only.

FFFFFor Saleor Saleor Saleor Saleor Sale

Car Trolley

Asking Bz$1,000 O.B.O.Contact Independent Weekly


Guest GallerGuest GallerGuest GallerGuest GallerGuest Galleryyyyy

Marty Casado sent this photo of darling water babies at the cayes.

Celeste McCain caught this Wahoo.... (photo submitted by her proud father)

Stalagtites and stalagmites in a cave in the Chiquibul reserve dwarf visitors.(Photo by Marty Casado)

The sherds of Mayan clay pots found in a Mayan Cave, portals to the underworld.(photo by Marty Casado)

Casado was struck by the color and pattern of tiles in a swimming pool at Turtle Inn.

FFFFFor Saleor Saleor Saleor Saleor Sale

Two Yamaha propellers:1) for 115 Enduro (Aluminum)

2) for 200- Stainless Steel- 19 pitch

Asking Bz$600 O.B.O.Contact Independent Weekly


Needed: Mountain Bike Tour Opera-tor wanted in Cayo with equipment. Tel: 663-5580Cayo Adventure Tours Ph# 824-324Need help with cleaning, ironing, paint-ing or other household chores at yourLadyville home? Then call me at 624-3652. Reasonable rates, mature female.For sale: Home overlooking SitteeRiver w/1/3 acre. Info/photos at:http://web.mac.com/nadjablz 609-5632 3-5pm daily. (Photo below)“Free international real estate and

investment blog and podcast. Goto http://investtheworld.blogspot.comas we travel the world for fun, invest-ment and profit.”For Rent: A (2) bed-room flat located in King’s Park, BelizeCity $800/monthOne commercial building (4 offices,conference room, reception area) inKing’s Park $1800.00/monthComputers $800/each Call: 223-1668/602-9182Free Ads! The INdependent Re-former is offering free classified adsfor the month of June:1) 20 words or less2) one ad per person in the promotionalperiod for free(additional ads are only $10 each)3) with photo (first time free...$10 ad-ditional for photo ads)

INdependent Classifiedsjpeg or tiff formats only. Must beemailed, no disk pickup or drop off4) business card –first run is free formonth of May, 2007, $20 a run there-after5) All classified ads must be emailed toindependent. newspaper. bz@gmail.

Mentors WantedMentors WantedMentors WantedMentors WantedMentors WantedPress Release--Spouses of staff mem-

bers of the U.S. Embassy, in collabora-tion with the George Price Centre, areorganizing a creative reading programmefor Belmopan primary school children.

The programme is now in search ofreading mentors who will lead a groupof children with reading and related ac-tivities. The aim is to stimulate the chil-dren to enjoy reading and to gain confi-dence in their ability to read. There willbe three 2-week sessions; each sessionwill be daily Monday through Fridayfrom 9am to 12pm (3 hours). Volunteerscould choose to participate in all of thethree sessions, or in one or two of them,be it for an entire week or selected daysonly.

Session 1: July 9 - July 20Session 2: July 23 - August 3Session 3: August 6 - August 17A manual of suggested activities is

being developed for use by the readingmentors. If you would like to help uswith reading to the children, or with

ideas for games and other fun activitiesbased on reading and books, we andthe children would love it! Call us at822-1054 or e-mail [email protected]

Thus far the programme has receivedfinancial assistance from the J. KirbySimon Trust and the Belmopan Inter-national Womens Group for the pur-chase of books. We would appreciateany additional donation towards thisprogramme, which we plan to continueduring the school year.

com with cc tokheusner@yahoo. com and checks toPO Box 2666, Belize City.Please note: We must receive your adby Friday at mid-day for inclusion infollowing Tuesday issue.

70 acres in Burrell Boom for [email protected]

Land FLand FLand FLand FLand For Saleor Saleor Saleor Saleor SaleSuitaSuitaSuitaSuitaSuitabbbbble fle fle fle fle for Conseror Conseror Conseror Conseror Conservvvvvaaaaationtiontiontiontion


Documents

Vol 2 No 24 (June 15, 2007)