Sunday, December 19, 2010
The Belize Times
1
TINGS DRED! SUNDAY DECEMBER 19, 2010
Issue No. 4724
$1.00 www.belizetimes.bz www.pup.org.bz
It’s the Economy, Stupid…
In 1992 when Bill Clinton used the term – It’s the economy, Stupid – to attack George W. Bush for his economic cluelessness it was a different time and a different location but the phrase holds true for Belize today. Our country is in an economic tailspin and the prime minister has already donned his silken parachute and jumped, leaving his passengers to fend for themselves! The past year was a bad one for our people and there is little or no hope that the coming year will be any better. In the House of Representatives and whenever a photo opportunity presents itself, Mr. Barrow immediately launches into his trail-worn spiel, blaming the previous administration for any and everything related to the economy. Three years after Dean Oliver was elected to fix all the problems, based on his self-proclaimed genius, he has still done absolutely nothing but blame the previous administration. But the Prime Minister can say what he will, any way that he wants but the fact remains that life has never been this hard under a PUP administration. Just ask anybody on the street.
The only Belizeans (and Ethiopian Jewish confused person) who enjoyed 2010 and who truly can say that 2010 was a very good year are the Barrow family, UDP ministers and their families and assorted UDP cronies. As far back as June Mr. Barrow spoke of a light at the end of the economic tunnel but Belizeans have long since dismissed his words as the
usual rubbish couched in the most eloquent of terms. The reality for a vast majority of Belizeans has been too dismal for Barrow’s assurances to be entertained. The S.I.B. which apparently adjusts statistics to suit Mr. Barrow’s message of the day has released statistics indicating a slight growth in G.D.P. But that means nothing to people out here. They are simply not feeling that. Nobody can eat statistics or give statistics to their children at night when they are crying because they have no food. The reality is that every week the newspapers are filled with the names of people who are losing their homes. Every week the newspapers are filled with the names of businesses being closed down. This week alone one of the newspapers listed 26 foreclosures – this translates into hundreds of Belizeans losing their jobs and joining the ranks of the depressed, frustrated and desperate. As we go to press tonight it has been confirmed the Batsub, the British training facility in Belize is scaling down within the month. That means that almost 200 more Belizeans will be on the street. They join 275 Belizeans who
just this week found themselves without the means to support their families… just a week before Christmas. And that is only a tiny hint of the reality out here. Many businesses have gone bellyup in the past months and it has been reliably reported that local banks will move on many more in the weeks ahead. The unemployment figure which traditionally hovers at around 8% has been reported at 14%, and those in the know insist that that statistic has been fudged and is actually much higher. Mr. Barrow seems to have gone north for the holidays, since he has deigned to make comments on the hundreds of Belizeans who have found themselves in dire straits through no fault of their own. But that is trademark Barrow and trademark UDP. This administration seems to have been caught off guard by crisis after crisis, has no clue what to do about anything, so has taken the decision to do NOTHING. Mr. Barrow has been accused of eating steak while we are forced to eat noodles. The reality this Christmas is that many Belizeans will be hard-pressed to put noodles on their tables.
As we go to press, reliable sources have reported that UDP Chairman and Barrow clone Patrick Faber has threatened to resign his post in the Party. That move, we are told, comes on the heels of an overtly hostile confrontation between the Chairman and UDP Deputy Party Leader Gaspar Vega at the mockery of a democratic convention held in Orange Walk East last Sunday. According to reports, things got out of hand when one of Vega’s paid stooges, David Alamilla, attempted to cast his vote. Faber, acting as Chairman, turned him back and told him that he would not be able to vote. Things turned confrontational very quickly and Vega was allegedly called in. That led to a back and forth between Faber and Vega and the Police had to be called in. The
UDP Chairman apparently forgot that he was on Vega’s turf and told the Police to escort Alamilla outside of the voting station. Vega quickly reminded them that he is the big cheese in Orange Walk and Alamilla was allowed to stay inside the voting station. But that was not the end of it, as Vega allegedly told Faber that he would pay for his insolence at the convention. That comeuppance allegedly came very quickly at a meeting of the Party hierarchy on Wednesday, where Vega and Faber got into another shouting match. One highly placed source told the Belize Times that Faber told the Prime Minister that if he has no power to make decisions in the Party then it is pointless that he be the Chairman. We understand that at that point Faber walked out of the meeting even as the Prime Minister told him that if he walked out it would be interpreted as a resignation of his Chairman post. The confrontation between Vega and Faber has been a long time in the making as it is widely known that both of them have their eyes on the top spot. At news-time information is still sketchy and the Belize Times has not been able to confirm if Faber has indeed handed in a formal resignation or is only bluffing. Political observers speculate that it is a bluff and a cry for attention from Faber, since he is believed to be much too ambitious to throw in the towel so easily.
UDP = RICH vs. POOR WILL PATRICK FABER RESIGN?
At the UDP convention held in Orange Walk East on Sunday, Vega’s horse Landy Burns crossed the finish line miles ahead of incumbent Marcel Cardona and new challenger in OW East Denny Grijalva. But even as Vega’s boy Landy Burns stood to receive the bouquet handed to him on convention day, there were cries of vote-buying, voter fraud and padding of the voter lists. In fact, Burns’ entire campaign was conducted under a cloud of money, with campaigners paid $25 per day to put on one of his shirts. On the day of the convention, word is that voters were being paid up to $200 by ‘bagmen’ whose bags had allegedly been filled by Deputy Party Leader Vega. Incumbent Cardona went so far as to point out the money factor when he was interviewed on that day, saying – “this is a show, a show of economic power, economic wealth, economic prosperity and economic dominance over everyone else, over the poor in particular.” Cardona continued to accuse the entire UDP organization of working against the poor people of Belize, stating “it's about the rich trying to monopolize things and trying to control things to make more money and to get richer…so it's basically a situation of what appears to be rich
versus poor." Sources tell the Belize Times that challenger Denny Grijalva, who garnered slightly more votes than the incumbent Cardona and a little more than half those received by Burns, is also allegedly accusing Burns of using his influence with Vega and the UDP bigwigs to play games with the numbers. This is only the second UDP convention on record this year and both have been riddled with controversy, contention and allegations of fraud. As we go to press, there are reports that UDP back-bencher and outgoing Orange Walk East Area Representative Marcel Cardona has announced his intention to resign from the United Democratic Party.