Yesterday was a very Historic day in the political life of our Nation.
Regardless of what the PUDP machinery used to get our people to vote yes; it was at the end of the day the choice of our people and it must be respected .
I made no secret of my preference for a No vote; because no matter what anyone says, we all have a right to think for ourselves and make a choice.
I voted No in the interest of our safety and our combined future. I honestly feel that it was our opportunity to say no to the claim, to the bullying, to our weak excuse for diplomacy, No to corruption and so much more… Our people however decided to vote yes and by so doing , take another chance on our Country … A chance that we may well regret in the near future.
The entire road to the referendum was strong armed by our government and it undermined Guatemalan’s recognition of our right to self-determination & Independence ( Aug. 14th, 1991 & Sept. 5th, 1991 respectively )
We acquiesce to Guatemala’s demand and claims over Belize on every opportunity.
We appeased them with the Heads of agreement in 1981; then again with the Communique on joint exploration of EEZ (exclusive economic Zone ) of Sep.16th, 1991.
We then bent over backward with the confidence building measures of July 2000 and cemented that with the Compromise of December 8, 2008.
As if Belize could afford more doubt on our territorial integrity…we signed the Placencia Protocol in 2014 and then amended our referendum act in Feb 2017 to just a simple majority.
The last two nails in Belize’s cross was the new overnight referendum legislation of April 15th, 2019 and the politicizing of the most important and historic Referendum in Belize’s very short history.
The PUDP made a controversy between two states, into a National issue for Belize; then went ahead and made a National issue into a forced referendum, and a forced referendum into a dirty and disgraceful political elections. To add insult to injury this election was made into a very expensive popularity contest between the two political parties.
With all that witnessed first hand…Still they impressed our citizenry and we all know that Governments have no power unless that power is given by the people; we have given them the absolute power to Gamble with our security, our safety, our future and with the very existence of Belize.
I do not support , nor will I criticize those who paid for votes, those who assisted to pay for votes, not those who took the money…those actions showed your priorities, which you have a right to.
I will not continue to say how sickening the two political machinery were, in their efforts to show their individual political prowess …We all experienced it together.
What I will do is stand strong and continue with the BPF’s efforts to win the hearts and trust of our people, To prepare ourselves and our people for whatever may come.
We will stand for the efforts of maintaining presence on the Sarstoon . We will continue our Latin American lobbying for support on all fronts.
Mostly we must prepare to do damage control for our people.
While we work on those efforts I want to say that my personal feeling of what and who our Prime minister, Minister of foreign affairs and minister of National security are; will not fog the fact that they are in those positions because our people still want them there , and we must respect that fact ; as our right to democracy.
With that said, the BPF and I offer our sincere support to our Government (not to the UDP but the Government of Belize.)
It is of utmost importance that as a people, we unite and stay vigilant, focused and strong. This is not a time for violence, nor unrest; Belize cannot afford this to happen. The only way to break corruption is with weapons of peace.
I comfort you with one fact, a gift of our father in heaven is the rainbow that always appears in the heavens after a storm. We must use this promise of hope as an opportunity to unit under one Belizean brotherhood for prosperity and peace. Whatever the future holds, lets be comforted with the fact that we were given a choice and it was our decision.
God Bless and protect the Nation and the State of Belize.