03/06/2026
SoBel thought of the day: The Midas Touch.
Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it.
In response to the spectacular display of disrespect towards Garifuna territorial claims in Southern Belize, I join the Collective in the pushback being urged by our local leaders.
We must examine, however, how we got here. It is easy to blame the ‘Gr**go’ for his boldness. But we fall short in taking responsibility for our role in making him become so bold among us, especially when it comes to our ‘lebenstraum’. Keep in mind also, that there is another set of Gr**go with claims to the exercise of our collective rights, the British, who stayed out of our way after September, 1981, but can stand with their own to remind us how this Belize project came into existence! These people support each other. These Gr**gos have also come to learn that we are not serious about preserving our lands, we are simply interested in selling them.
A prospector knows when people are serious about keeping their lands; they know also, from their history of subjugating people around the globe, how to locate, close with, and destroy a people’s will to live independently in their own territories. This is what the Maya have come to recognize, this is the reality the Garifuna are now waking up to, this is what the Gr**go is finally bold enough to express to us!
His motive, to bring development and employment to our people, can now be regarded as a smokescreen for something more sinister. Our leaders should have been keen to this. But, when the attention is solely on the prospect of acquiring wealth untold, like the mythical King Midas, we wake up one day to some unpleasant realities.
The Council is front and center in this passing moment. This is SoBel’s view. It never occurred to me that Sittee River and Hopkins would be the topic of discussion in a land demarcation dispute. Strange words, like homogeneous and annexation of territory have taken the place of a home that is common to Garinagu, Maya and Creole. How did we get here? We must put a stop to this.
Since the claim is made of the shocking effect to our sensibilities by this gr**go spewing his nonsense, take the necessary actions against him, to answer for his boldness. Review his holdings in the territory, rescind his right to land ownership in Southern Belize, and deport him. Examine also, National Garifuna Council (NGC), your role in the sham of an outrage. Pay attention to the lives of the people you claim to be crying wolf for. There is a document in SoBel’s possession with actionable evidence of unaccounted funds from your treasury. Where is the noise about that?
Clear evidence of what is taking place with us, among us, by us, can be found in the history of peoples around the globe. This is not new, hence the reason SoBel is surprised by the outrage. We should have seen this coming. Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it.
Courtesy of Southern Belize Media(SoBel)
Published by permission.
