Independent reformer

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oman of the Year


The INdependent Reformer
Weekly is proud to announce our
selections for Man and Woman of
the Year. Our editorial board has
chosen Jules Vasquez and Lois
Young Barrow this year.
Jules Vasquez is widely
recognizable all over Belize as the
fearless Reporter and News
Director of Channel 7 News. But
this apparently sociable and fearless
journalist was not always able to
express himself, let alone put Prime
Ministers on the spot. a
Jules was born in Born Belize Jules Vasquez Lois Young Barrow
City in 1970 and went to school at
St Catherine's Elementary School, Ysaguirre, now deceased. With a chronically shy, so intractable
St. John's High School and Sixth perfectly straight face he says "The condition it posed a serious there
Form and Florida Atlantic woman saved my life. I was to my continued education. TI
University, where he dropped out ay
at the end of his junior year to get Bef ing I TKO: B lizea fs ge
an education from a TV station. In
1993 he started working seriously At midnight on December 26, just Probably because no one is buying
at his family owned TV station, twenty four hours after Santa delivered anymore.
Channel 7 presently the longest his goodies, Scroogetook over. Regular The rumor mill had been work
serving broadcasting entity in fuelpricesjumpedfrom$9.37agallonto overtime overthe Christmas and wc
Belize, dating back to 1981. In awhopping $9.77. There was no public was prices would go up as soon as t
1994 he started 7 News and he is announcement, no "Merry Christmas holiday was over.
still there. Belize," just a price hike in the night. Can we expect more price increase
He says his favorite teacher was Interestingly, theprice ofdieselwentup locally, even though world prices a
his Kindergarten teacher, Zoila by only 1 cent, and premium not at all. falling?

Foreign Donors a Volunteers

Intimidated by the Government of Belize


Contributed

The people of ToledoDistrict, less than
20,000, have been involved with "self-
help" projects to solve their economic
problems and save the endangered
environment for over 25 years. Duringthat
time, over $60 million of foreign aid not
counting counterpart funds from GOB has
been spent in the Toledo District. USA
Peace Corps has been stationing
volunteers in the district for over 30 years.
Yet the last poverty assessment
indicates that over 70 percent of the
people are poor and over 50 percent are
very poor. It is estimated, by international
agencies that three out often rural children
are malnourished to the point of mental
retardation.
With all this financial andvolunteer aid,
how can the people of Toledo be poorer
nowthan everbefore? Many locals believe
plans for the development and


conservation of the district's rich natural
resources made in abroad, or even in
Belmopan, were unrealistic and/or the
consultants were not truly qualified to
provide helpful advice.
The non governmental organizations,
who actually received the aid from the
funding agencies, say that they had no
choice, if they wanted the aid, they hadto
accept the plans and the consultants. The
government Ministers have also said they
had no choice in the matter; the Peace
Corps volunteers have also indicated they
have no choice butto help the NGOs who
asked for their assistance.
Year after year the funders provide the
money, organizations like the Inter
American Development Bank, Caribbean
Development Bank, the European Union
and many others. The NGO's sign
contracts to implement the plans. The
volunteers help them, and predictably, the
results are the same year after year.
The government Ministers and Area


Representatives involved make the same
old speeches to launch and keep track of
the projects, the volunteers get their
assignments and the money and work
continues to go down the drain. All the
while, the people become poorer. The
resources continue to be lost, more and
more foreigners come in with private sector
money to take advantage of the many
opportunities. Their claim of helping the
local people and economy, is that they
provide employment. Of course they do.
How else can they get the work done?
Too often the profits they make go out of
the country, especially in the country's
largest industry, tourism.
After more than a quarter of a century
of this constant consultant failure, and the
expenditure of many tens of millions,
actually over one hundred million dollars,
the people from all walks of life got
together and developed a comprehensive
eco-development plan, called the Toledo
(Please Turn To Page 3) W


problem? I couldn't get up the nerve
to disturb the din of restless young
minds and mouths to simply raise
my hand to ask the teacher to ask
the teacher a question In a bustling
classroom of more than 30 restive
children, she found time and
consideration to help me out of my
shell.
Congratulations Jules Vasquez;
the man who no longer fears
disturbing others, but asks the
questions everyone else seems
reluctant to ask. Belize is better
because of you.
And as for Woman of the Year,
a the Independent Reformer has
eat selected Senior Counsel Lois Young
he (Please Turn To Page 3) W

t pumped, AGAIN!
; it If we take the words of the Director
General of the International Monetary
ng Fund seriously then not only is gasoline
ord likely to go up but other taxes will also
he increase in 2007.
On December 20, Director Rodrigo
,es De Rato y Figaredo, issued a letter to the
ire "International Financial Community
(Please Turn To Page 3) E


an and


Inside this Issue


Total Madness
pg. 5


Fake Jobs
and Lies

pg. 7


IMF Roadmap
for Belize
pg. 14


Governed by
vested interests
pg. 10







friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 2


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Dsig/ayu
MargodSntrpis


GenralMange


Dear Readers,
Happy New Year to you all and
thanks for finding your copy of
Independent Weekly so quickly after
the holidays. We took a little break,
but not much since the staff and I
were working for most of it anyway
and so were many of our contributors.
I would like to invite you all to
consider submitting letters to the
editor or even articles if you have
something you would like to share.
In this edition Richard Hulse takes
exception to the way "Culture" is
being promoted in Belize and likely
to provoke some controversy, and
hopefully a response from the people
he's referring to in his piece.
Des Parrett has sent us a very
interesting item on how electing
people who think they know about
economics is not the same as
electing people who do, and we have
another article which suggests that
certain government policies are


being acted on in the south simply
because people are too afraid to
suggest anything else.
An international piece on
Honduran society is very likely to
cause many of you to compare their
world to ours and the cartoon may
do the same thing: the comparison
being between the libraries of the
people who are "in charge" and the
ones the rest of us frequent.
I have to admit the most enjoyable
part of this issue was selecting Man
and Woman of the Year. Believe me,
there was some back and forth among
the editorial board members and
some minds were changed then
changed again. Jules Vasquez was a
unanimous selection, but Lois Young
Barrow is one controversial woman.
Sometimes that is exactly the sort of
person you need the most. Belize
could certainly use more people like
them both.
I would like to thank all our


vendors for their tireless efforts to
get this new paper circulating. If this
is the first issue you are reading, you
have one of them to thank for
getting it to you. And now they have
two papers to push early in the week
instead of just one. More business
for them, and the publishers we
hope.
Again, Happy New Year. Let's
make 2007 memorable, starting this
week, shall we?


Babies die while friends get rich


Dear Editor,
Listening to the Minister of
Health explaining the details
of the Government of
Belize's involvement in the
Universal Health fiasco,
itsaddens me to know the
extent to which he and his
cohorts will go, and the


F71YES!


depths they would sink to
gain political favour with a
selected few.
It is a downright shame that
the Government of Belize
can bail out these 'favoured
few' to the tune of millions
of dollars, while that same
Minister could not find a


measly $10,000.00,
comparatively speaking, for
baby Kemora.
Such blatantly shameless
conduct of the Minister and
his CEO -warrants
immediate resignation.

Signed: T. Thompson


independendent.newspaper.bz@gmail.com
P.O. Box 2666
Belic Cit.. Belitc
Send me 6 months of the INdependent Reforner for as little as
BZ$30.00 (US$30 00 international)


11,111, 1 PI L k
. tIId
t- Wh
I m -III 1111.


I llI c id dI iI ic ,IrPri~c .I i tibh.%.rip .i'i-iit w p I w ': 11.11 '1 ir% I t-1 Lih~o i1lrt.-n-iti t-it d, I ;.:It I


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Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 3


Man and
- E (Continued From Page 1) that the
Barrow. The editorial board bigwig
decided that her standing up at the and the
BTL Annual General Meeting in court o
September when a court injunction houses,
was being ignored, when a room full seized
of board members and shareholders gone, s
did nothing, is worthy of national sort of
recognition. that the
For her the issue was justice wealthy
across the board. She told 7 News, order o
"I am really, genuinely concerned am con


e people of Belize s
s ignoring court
'n they are forced
rders; thrown out
land taken away,
for a small debt
ofa set gone, and
( thing. And they
ese people, becau,
y company, can ig
9f the court. That i
ucerned with. I m


man of the
see these very clear last night and I say it private (
t orders again: it is not about Prosser and Lois
to obey Ashcroft, they both deserve each force b(
of their other. Concer
chattels In addition, not only did she take demonst
t, fridge on BTL, she also took on the everytin
all that People's United Party, through an shows.
will see unprecedented injunction against For he
se it is a the Belize Times. Her court action 2006 an
,nore an is forcing a newspaper which Lady J
is what I makes sport of maligning the Indepen
ade that characters of both public figures and Woman


,ear


citizens to think twice.
continues to be a driving
behind the Association for
rned Belizeans and
rates her concern for Belize
ne she calls the morning talk

er contributions to Belize in
d her relentless defense of
justice in Belize, the
dent salutes Lois as our
of the Year.


Foreign Donors & Volunteers

Dated by the Government of Belize


in. (Continued From Page 1)
People's Eco park plan. T.PE.PP
On September 12, 2003
representatives of all the democratically
elected leaders of the Toledo District, who
were sworn into service by the Chief
Magistrate, along with the directors of the
largest conservation, cultural and
economic development NGOs, and the
President of the Toledo Civil Society
joined together and signed a memorandum
of understanding in support of the further
development of the People's plan.
Seeing this unanimous support for the
plan, the US Ambassador to Belize
authorized the US Peace Corps to also
sign in support.
This document was sent to the Prime
Minister who also provided a letter of
support for the plan saying, "I am as
anxious as you are to see the
implementation of the Toledo People's
Eco Park Plan." That was in March of


2004.
The general manager of the Toledo
Development Corporation, who fulfilling
the vision statement of the Toledo
Development Corporation to facilitate the
responsible sustainable development of
Toledo by and for the people of Toledo,
organized the different groups and after
repeated meetings with them drafted the
memorandum ofunderstanding, submitted
the document and plans to the Ministry of
Economic Development, where it was
quickly put down.
The general manager and other political
leaders realized that to further push the
issue could endangertheirposition, so they
were discouraged from doing so. The
Peace Corps, seeing the plan was not
supported by the Ministry of Economic
Development, also backed down,
refusing to allow the Peace Corps
volunteers to help the further development
ofthe People's Plan.


The ministry prefers to continue to
promote the plans the funders and their
consultants from abroad demand. The
US Peace Corps continues to support
the same kinds ofprojects that have failed
so many times before. They know as the
funders do, that in the private sector, if
the way of doing business was failing they
would quickly change it, or else they
would go broke.
However the way foreign aid is used,
they have no incentive to change. It is
obvious they want the aid to be misspent
and for the poor to stay poor. One
definition ofinsanityistodo the same thing
under the same conditions and to expect
different results.
If the funders, NGOs, and the
volunteers really wanted to change
conditions here in Toledo, they would
certainly give the People's plan a chance.
So why won't they? It makes you
wonder, doesn't it?


Boxing Day TKO:
Belizeans get
pumped, AGAIN!
i-. (Continued From Page 1)
on the Belize Situation... at the request of
the Government ofBelize". (find the entire
letter on page 14 of this edition).
This letter needs to be dissected as it is
chock full of interesting nuggets. It is a
roadmap for the future of the PUP
government, for what we as citizen
consumers can expect in 2007...for
starters. The exact url is:
htp:. www.imforg/external/NP/pp
eng/2006/122006.pdf
In the third paragraph, the
Distinguished Managing Directorwrites:
"Accordingly they [Government of
Belize] are targeting a further increase
in the primary fiscal surplus to 3.5% of
GDP in FY 2006/07 and to 4.5% of
GDP in subsequent years. This fiscal
improvement would be achieved by
saving the bulk of projected revenues
from oil production, enhancing non-oil
revenue collection, and restraining
current expenditures."
(Please Turn To Page 15) *E


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friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 4


Thirty Minute
By: Karla Heusner Vernon


Many of us are basking in that post
holiday glow; reluctant to take down the
decorations, wrap them up and pack
them away until next year. Perhaps you
have several Christmas presents in their
boxes under your tree, as yet unopened.
Not only because you want to savor the
season; but because you know full well
the moment you take them out of the
packaging they are on their way to being
ruined.
Yes, many of us are trying to hold
back the inevitable reality ofBelize: you
only have 30 minutes to enjoy anything.
The time limit on happiness begins
with each step we take. Our streets are
so hard on shoes I sometimes wonder
why we bother. How all those ladies can
wear high heels and get to work in one
piece is a mystery to me. Once there,
click, clack, the clamor of spike heels
coming down the stairs. "Whoopa!-"
slipped again by the Crystal water
cooler. No water on the floor mind you,
just raw metal on tile sliding you across
the office. How well one recovers
determines one's poise factor. "Ah
nearly tumble downjust now... heeehee,
what eating "
Back to the shoe repair man again.
For every $40 spent on shoes, Belizean
woman must spend $20 tacking their
heel tips back on again.
Just how many turned ankles can one
woman endure before she has
permanent elephant legs? Sit in parked
car on any street in Belize and watch
how many women's ankles twist
dangerously as they make their way to
lunch. One after the other, one side of
them drops lower than the other. Ouch!
Damn rough street got another one.
After the worst sprain of my life
coming out of a pharmacy I swore never
to wear heels again. I was strong in my
resolve to defy the fashion world until a
coworker pointed out I had been
wearing flats.
Betting is heavier than at the casino
as to how long the buyer can wear a
pair of new, smart looking shoes from
certain stores. I saw a friend limping
down the street one day, the straps on
BOTH her sandals had given way when
she stumbled and hit a drain cover;
another woman was mortified at her
son's graduation when her dress shoes
"burst" on the way into the ceremony.
Admit it now, I know you too have
hobbled your way to another shop or
back home again to towards office
colleagues hoping they had glue or
staples or nails and could put you back
together again.
Like imported automobiles, even
"States" shoes depreciate the minute
they hit Belize. Step outside your front
gate and "Sheesh!" heel, toe, or entire


foot in a mud puddle, overflowing drain
or septic tank, dog poop or soft earth.
The molds and fungi are insidious.
Shoes, belts and purses change before
your very eyes as you eye your closet.
"The better the leather, the greener they
get," goes the joke. One well-heeled
gentleman planted his feet on a bar stool
and both heels fell off! He looked in


disbelief at the expensive shoes he had
worn in the States for years, his favorite
pair. Somehow the composite heels had
just deteriorated until they crumbled
away. He never found out what caused
it.
Kind of like the mystery forces that
invade our video cassette players, cds
and dvd's. Not to mention the
computers which just seem to draw
moisture and warmth seeking critters,
not to mention geckos and ants. If your
computer survives the first year element
attack, its not likely to withstand the


Country
power surges. Even those "guarded" by
a UPS can be struck down by lightening
flashes coming in through the modem
connections on the wall!
Belize is hard on hard drives. So hard
I see one manufacturer is even boasting
its laptops are rugged enough to survive
the rain forest of Belize. There was even
an article featuring a scientific researcher
hanging by ropes in the jungle studying
some life form or another.
Most of us wish ours could just


survive sitting on a desk in an office in
Ladyville or San Ignacio or Orange
Walk.
Okay, so we live under what the rest
ofthe world terms "rugged conditions."
Perhaps we should just accept our lot
and live with it. Perhaps Belizean men
and women should just stop buying nice
things and nice clothes hoping we can
actually use them. Wear fabrics that
won't stick to us or get caught by some
jagged piece of something on someone's
door. Something impervious to mud
splats sent our way by hapless drivers


Acidic soils cost Belizean farmers
millions of dollars in reduced crop
yields. Scientific studies show that acidic
soils (pH < 6) reduces the availability of
important nutrients, creates toxic levels of
aluminum, iron, and manganese, and
damages root systems.


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passingby. "Sonrry Mista! Ahneva mean
fiwetyou."
But no, we are a stubborn lot who
will not relent in our quest to live like
other people in other places. Our
women still feel entitled after a hard
week or month of work to get "made
over" at a salon. To bask in the admiring
eyes and compliments of other female
patrons, to wonder if our better half's
will love "the new you!" We should
make him come with us, to see the
fleeting beauty, but instead we make the
fatal mistake of opening the salon door,
leaving the air conditioning and getting
smacked by a whoosh of wind or the
frizz power that only 90% humidity can
deliver to freshly coiffed hair. Half an
hour later, we are our old selves again
and greeted by "I thought you went to
do your hair?"
Never mind.
Like people just arrived from the
States only to realize their sweatshirts
will no longer be welcome here and their
skin will never be dry again, we sally
forth from home each morning freshly
showered and pressed and powered
only to be drenched by isolated
showers only on our side of the street,
arriving tarred and feathered with dust
and bird doo doo and mud in the rainy
season and dust in the dry.
Everything, but everything seems
doomed to rapid degeneration in Belize.
Tourists actually think the national motto
is "Dat? Dat no work no more."
Followed by "Ah di wait for wan part
come in fid at right now."
The satisfaction of working hard or
establishing credit to purchased new
(Please Turn To Page 13) *M "


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AWttention farmers!

Who se money no grow pan tree?


"Okay, so we live under

what the rest of the terms

'rugged conditions."' I








Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 5


Total madness


By: Trevor Vernon

Not all Belizeans
with university
degrees got a free
ride atUS and other
foreigninsfitutionsof
higherleaming nam,
as many others are,
livingproof Someof
us actually had to
pay for our foreign education, thanks to a
more transparent DFC and a wonderful
individual, afonnerUSAIDrep. He madeit
painfully clear that he was not about to
recommend me for any scholarships being
earmarked for Belizeans because of my
Royal Kriol status. Same kinds of stuff
politicians still pull when trying to be
populist... inanefforttorally voters, or set
up their own children forlife.
So, I paid my way with the aid ofa loan
guarantee and aloan from DFC. No special
treatment, no complaints. And did I ever
repay! That student loan for $30,000 hung
like an albatross around myneck for almost
a decade. Back then 30 grand was serious
money and there was no question IF you
willpay,butHOWFAST...unlikewhatare
seeingwiththeDFC malpagos these days.
They apparently had/have no intention of
everpaying offwhat they "borrowed."
Make you wonder what values their


parents everimpartedtothem, certainly not
the apparent "Royal Kriol" values I was
broughtup with. Like those who skip out on
their loans then bawl haad time, Ihave little
pity forthe fortunate fewwho got somebody
else to pay for their projects, their books,
their tuition, and their every need. I really
don't careto hearhowhardlifewas (in school
or business) and who didn'tlike you or the
color of your skin. You took the scholarship
orfellowship orloans to improve yourlot in


life; stopbitingthehandthatfedyou,willyou?
There are plenty ofyoung people out there,
even reading this right now, who wish they
hadtheopportunitiesyou did... ifthey could
only GET a loan guarantee, especially a
sovereign one.
lam suremy parents had something to do
withmywantingto run away fromBelizeto
go study abroad and wanting to get my
second degree from somewhere outside the
USA, and do the Europe thing. The older
heads always seem to wanttheirchildrento
study law (or medicine) and/or go studying


halfway across the world.
So to please others, I enrolled here and
thereinlawstudyprograms (threein all over
the years) but wasn't impressed by the
impressionable. My early huncheswerelhat
the study of Law leads to unspeakable
predatory practices; I discovered Iwas right
later on. Al-ham-du-le-la. Right away I
realized Ididn't need to suck the lifeblood
out ofthe poor and disadvantagedto make
me feel good and important. I'll leave that
to others who apparently have had more
exoticfamily values impartedtothem.And,
in faimess, it mustbe mentioned that they
don't teach logic in very many other
academic programs; so I guess, the study


oflaw does have some value after all.
Idriftedinand outofvariousfields ofstudy
as a major in foreign universities and
elsewhere: economics, accounting, law,
finance, international relations, until Ifound
my calling: analyzing stuff. Ihave earned an
MBAwhich I am absolutely proud of and
use occasionally; but, don'tfindtheneedto
umbinpeople'sfacestomakelhemfeel smaller
thantheyare. Ipaidthe price by sacrificing
resources and family time to get that
piece of paper... because I accepted
that education family value.


Now I am not into living my life for
the older heads. I figured they had their
choices to make and their lives to live
(however challenging and hard) and I
don't have the time or inclination to be
critical of the generation that came
before mine. I needed to find me, not
my parents and many of my friends were
faced with the same dilemma.
The point is really is to discuss
parenting issues and the dilemmas that
they/we face in passing on values. As a
society we generally value a "good
education", maybe not as much as say
the Orientals who migrated here of late.
It follows then that families generally
tend to push the "good education" value
on their offspring. While some families
are better able to transmit this than
others, oftentimes it is only to the
favorite children for some jib cutting
reason. In everything in life there are
favorites. And no one person will be a
favorite everywhere and at every
pursuit. But the favoritism thing does
help a child in instilling confidence to
face the world when (s)he is no longer a
child. That is not to say that a child needed
to have been a favorite in the parents home
to be successful; that confidence can be
acquired elsewhere. And, in fact, many
non-favored Belizean children are able to
move away and make wildly successful
lives in other countries.
There is a local saying that older
generations espoused: that they are able
to seethe cut ofayoungerperson'sjib almost
(Please Turn To Page 6) MW







friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 6


Culture of exclusion: Belizean Theatre and Art

A view from the street


By Richard Hulse

Often a small glimpse of nostalgia helps
us to reflect on our present. In the not too
distant past (1960's 1970's) even
though Belize was a relatively poor
community, we were entertained by
talented local singers. The collective "we"













means people from a broad cross section
of the society. There were these fabulous
open air concerts and talent parades at
the Memorial Park, The Roman Catholic
Parish Hall, the Bliss Institute, etc. These
concerts were clean fun, where an entire
family could go and enjoy themselves-
"whether you had money or not." People
from all social and ethnic backgrounds
were able to interact at these functions.
The artists of the day stood out clearly as


Total
theM (Continued From Page 5)
from birth. But Ithink what they are really
seeing is a reflection of the treatment that
young person is receiving in the home, at
school, and while in the care ofother family
and family friends. However, that's only my
impression.
Theissueishowthe"child-tumed-parenf'
nowtransmitstheirvaluestotheirownyoung
ones. If they themselves did not please their
parentscare givers, then how canthey expect
to pass ontheirown educationalideastotheir
own child? Do parents today even see this
astheirrolein parenting: transmittingvalues?
Iknowmany who consciously don't attempt
to and others who simply tum to books for
answers.
Too many parents today want to be their
child's best friend for whatever reason andl
find this frightening. Parents are not "best
friends" to childrenwho are then allowedto


professionals; in fact, they were world
class.
Many of our current artists also
measure up to any international standard,
yet it seems clear that no attempt is being
made to market them abroad, I should
further say: not even at home. The
question asked here is why? The main
reason is that Belize has become a T.V
culture, andifyou
are not on T.V.
you are nobody -
and quite frankly
revaminy none of the T.V
stations air much
melocal content, let
alone artists.
ney on Unless it's to fill
space before the
news begins.
The main
topics here are:
who qualifies as a cultural icon? And who
decides that they qualify? As far as the
Arts Council (under the several new
abbreviations they use) is concerned, it
seems like that is their sacred right, not to
mentionifyou are not politically connected
or politically correct in your speaking,
every thing you do will be downplayed.
Many Belizeans have decided that
"Dankeyman" is a cultural icon, but who
really is Dankeyman? Where does he


mnwith"theirownideas"lthattheyinvariably
picked up from TV.... as much as being a
guidingforceuntilthatchildbecomes an adult.
Two adults canbebestfriendsbutnotbefore.
In summary then, we as parents need to
teach our children tobe more responsible
fortheirown lives andtheir own actions.And
we have to be careful not to overly indulge
our childrenintheir every desire soastobetter
prepare them for theirown adulthood, where
every desire has a cost. And the only way
youtruly tansmitvaluesisby example, once
you have a relationship with that child.


come from? Although so many of us in
Belize City plays his CD's, the quest for
information about Dankeyman is
overwhelming. Even the people who are
selling his CD's (Ibelieve pirated versions)
don't know anything. So Dankeyman has
the distinction ofbeing a cultural icon who
nobody knows anything of and who is
making no money offhis own music sales.
There are many other Belizeans who
have to manufacture and sell their own
music because they don't get any help
whatsoever from theArts Council. I don't
think they even get encouragement. To cut
it short, culture has vacated the Southside
and portions of the Northside and taken
up residence in Kings Park and
Buttonwood Bay. Once you are not from
these demographic areas, there ain't no
help for you. If the Southside Artists are
helped, they get the minimum assistance
and maximum exploitation.
The performances that are being held
at the Bliss Centre for the PerformingArts,
are neither geared to, nor targeted for a
wide cross section ofthe community. This
is one of the major stumbling blocks
against promoting culture, and which
creates a culture of exclusion and extorts
money from parents who are trying to
show their children attention. Just the
expensive vehicles parked attheBliss, let
you know who they cater for, with $50


Naturally,this doesnotapply tothetrustfund
familieswhowill leaveuntoldwealthtotheir
childrenthatwere rearedby nice nannies.
Part of the solution for the less fortunate
lies in a mixture of accessible loans, grants,
scholarships, fellowships with a good loan
guarantee program open to all. In a previous
life I chaired a committee in the Technical
Cooperation area ofthe OAS charged with
drafting the statutes of a capital fund for
fellowship that was seeded with US $10
Million. It was general consensus that too
many students across the hemisphere were


and $60 performances which working
Belizeans can ill afford. Proof once more
thatthe performances are never intended
for the average Belizean, even ifhe\she
is a part of it. Culture nowis a business,
just like any other business: and the
objective of any business is to make
money.
Red carpet galas at the end of the
year honouring classic Belizean artists are
good, but surely the people they are
putting up as contemporary artists leaves
a big question mark over their heads. But
at least they are Belizeans, unlike the "high
falutin" sorts from abroad come to display
their work or deformity. Although some
of their "art" looks like ramshackle old
junk, I am sure someone pays them, even
though they don't want to pay Belizeans,
or pay them very next to nothing.
The Belizean artists they bring from
abroad and the other Latinos they bring
from time to time are only fostering the
idea that you have to come from abroad
to be good, or if you go abroad that is the
way you get accepted.
Sadly, there are also many rich
Belizeans who will do anything, and pay
anything, to make sure that they don't rub
shoulders with the average Belizeans. So
much for art, music and theatre being
occasions for people from all walks of life
in Belize to interact.

being excluded from higher studies due to
lack of loan guarantees and such a fund,
properly structured, andwould seekto stem
the adverse tide. (That program is now in
place afterthe committee got approval from
the General Assembly to proceed). I am a
fimbelieverthatapartialloan structure ensures
a stronger sense of commitment and
responsibility in the pursuit of the parents'
dream for you. This, to me at least, teaches
the more importantvalue ofbeing ashamed
of setting outto steal or "borrow" with the
expressed intent to refinance or downright
defraud the good faith lender, orindeed, an
entire nation state.


WVith a


Tropical Tx ist


Anita Tupper

Christine Tuppe


Opening Hours I-
Monday Saturday 6 a.m. 8:30 p.m.
Sunday & Holidays 7 a.m. 7:30 pm.
Breakfast Lunch and Diner


Tel: 822-8014
Res:/Fax: 820-2062
Int.: 501-822-8014


r Mile 31 /4
Western Highway
BELIZE, Central America
Mailing Address: Box 346, Belmopan
E-Mail: chrissy@cheersrestaurant.bz


madness


Comments?
Suggestions?
or want to
share your
thoughts
Email us at
Independent. newspaper.
bz(2qmail.comrn







Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 7


Fake jobs and lies


By Meb Cutlack


Once more the Belizean public has had
the wool pulled overtheireyes. Promises of
jobs,job, andjobswhich nevermaterialize.
It has happened again and again and again
and yet our people still halfbelieve the lies
dished outtothem by theMusagovemment:
Mollejon, Chalillo,BTL, Mahogany Heights,
Ara Macao and now, Stake Bank.
In case you have not heard, there is the
multimilliondollartourismprojectonNorth
Drowned Caye and Stake Bank Caye,
which include the construction ofa 4 mile
long causeway from Belize City to North
Drowned Caye.
BelizeandeveloperMichaelFeinsteinhas
proposed to construct at least three five star
hotels, a casino and marina and residential
condos on the two islands linked to Belize
City by the causeway.
TheU.S. $250 million development plan,
dubbed the Ocean View Grand
Development, also calls forthe construction
of another causeway thatwouldlinkthe two
islands.
In October Feinstein presented an
Environmental ImpactAssessment (EIA)
study on the North Drowned Caye
development to the Department of the
Environment (DOE).
Lastweek engineering experts from the
Feinsteinteammetwithsomefiftly concerned
citizens at the Princess Hotel to discuss the
project as part of a public consultation
process forthe approval oftheEIA study on
North Drowned Caye.
Concern was expressed about theNorth
Drowned Caye development, especially as
itrelatestothemangroveinthatarea,because
themangroveislandsfoinmanimportantbuffer
zoneprotectingBelize City from storms and
also from ocean surges.
According to The Reporter newspaper,
Acting ChiefEnvironmental Officer, Martin
Alegria, said notmuch vital informationhas
been provided about the proposed
causeway, which is ofmajor concern to the
department.
Thedepartmenthesaid, wants anin-depth
geological data study to be conducted on
the sea bed to determine ifitwould be able
to withstand such huge structures as
contemplatedinthedevelopmentplan. There
is also concern about the height of the
causeway, which accordingtotheElAstudy,
will range from 9 feet to 30 feet above sea
level in some areastoalowforbiggervessels
to pass.
Feinstein plans to construct the two-lane
causeway fiomtheManeParadeBoulevard
on north side Belize City
TheNorthDrowned Caye development
whichwill involve 515 acresofland, calls for
the construction of a 260-room hotel, a
casino, amarinaand residential units among
other amenities.According totheEIAstudy,
an ocean beach estate on Drowned Caye
will take up 95 acres of the island while a
marina village will takeup 26 acres.
The size ofthe casino and its conference
room is estimated to be 25,000 square feet
and the project concept is for the


development ofaquiet, isolated community.
Extraordinarily the Stake Bank
development has already been given export
processing zone status, meaningthat locals
will not be allowed to go on Stake Bank
Caye!
Plans call forthe construction ofamajor
marina that will be able to dock as many as
four cruise ships at any one given time and
cruise ship passengers will be able to
commutetoBelize City andplaces beyond,


Fortis. Then, in total control the dam, they
assumed the rightto sell electricity to BEL
(their company) for whatever price they
chose.
Nothing changedwhentheybuiltChalillo
(amidst the same pattern of lies about the
geology of the area and denial ofa major
earthquake fault line exactly where the dam
is placed) and with huge teams of foreign
laborers.
Hundreds of jobs' are part and parcel of
false government promises which go with
every hugeintemational"project". Thesealso


44..l c l il n t b


usingthe causeways.
As Usual, Feinstein saysthe development
will bring employment for Belizeans and
shouldboostBelize's economy.
And that's what all these projects
amount to; Promises! Promises!
Promises, and huge profits forlocal cronies
and foreigners who spend nothing in or
among Belizeans who are even banned
from going to Stake Bank.
Remember Mollej on? It was supposed
to provide hundreds of jobs for Belizeans
.. it didn't. Instead it employed hundreds
of Chinese laborers. It was built amidst
mmours ofhuge cash rake-offs and of design
faults.
And sure enough, soon after it was
completed it was almostwashed away.
Originally Belize and BEL (then
government owned) had an interest in
Mollejon. Thedamwassoldand soldagain
and,bythetimeFortisInc. ofCanadaended
up with it, the dam was wholly owned by


involvemassivepayoffstocronies,hugebites
out of tax payers money and corrupt
construction and finance deals
RemembertheBTL/Intelcofiasco? That's
another example of a long running saga of
government corruption lies and double
dealing
Rememberthepromise overthenew city
ofMahogany Heights? Morejobs again! A
huge housing projectto employ thousands
tobuildanewcityforthoseinneedofhousing!
Aproj ect to ease overcrowding in Belize
City! All lies, lies and lies again. Instead a
German/Salvadoran company moved in
its equipment, with hundreds of
Salvadoran laborers, to build the new city
out of illegally imported paper and
plywood sections.
These simply rottedas quickly as the new
cityitself which, withitsnewly builtbutrotten
structures, soon became a small neglected
rural slum!
What did it cost? The land itself, although


known to be unsuitable for housing, was
bought from a crony for an inflated
$10,000,000 after he had only paid atoken
for it. It was sold without proper title so that
tothis day the home owners have no title and
probably no hope of title!
Total cost? Rangingupwardto $200,000!
And thatjust the beginning of the so called
PUP 10,000 house target which allowed
ministers throughout the country to mint
fortunes from housing 'deals'tobuild afew
inadequate tinroofed shacks inthe districts.
ThenthereistheAraMacaoResort! Just
don'tbelieve government orthe promoters
when they say they willreviewtheprojectto
meet objections. Even in its first stage itwill
demand 15.35 megawatts ofelectricity, more
than half of what is currently used in both
Belize City andLadyville combined!
The hastily done Environmental Impact
Assessment carried outby group friendlyy'
to government is described as "...very
superficial and lacks specific details needed
tomake meaningful determination astothe
magnitude, duration, scale and geographic
extent oftheproject's impact..."
The project will also consist of two nine-
hole courses, including 59 private golfcourse
houses and a club house and accommodate:
A 67-acre marina for up to 400 boats
ofup to 100 feet, dredged to 12-foot deep.
*Acasino and night club 106,250 square
feettobeusedby 1,000 people (notlocals).
It will include over 250 structures
including
Hotels: One 260 room 3-storey condo
hotel with 100,000 square feet of common
area
Villas: 296 in 74, 2-storey buildings
Condos: 458 in 38,4-storey buildings.
Theywill say: "We don'tintendtobuildit
all. We will revise itto suitthe area!" Don't
believethem!
RememberthetouristVillge?
Rememberthe airport?
RememberthePrinters?
Remember the new Port?
Remember Pena's village?
How many more broken promises will
the PUP hand out?
THINK ABOUt IT AND STOP
THEMNOW!


. NatufW G




ecomeTo Natures yG uesthouse



CentralLocation oSea Fron tBreeze

B.ZD Doule. 33
e$,48BZD


off 0busCtloic Chur
_Ma in n' Ch c Streets, w


ll 75 yards to Guestou e








friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 8


Drowning at Sea
Death by drowning,
or simply from going
missing, is becoming a
maj or concern among
critics ofthe cruise ship
industry.
These vessels are
above all ground rules and float free of
international law when
drowned or missing passengers are
concerned. They simply sail on without
obligation ofpolice investigation or even
of reporting losses locally. This leaves
friends and relatives in a legal limbo with
no possibility of finding out the cause of
death of their loved ones. Too easily the
cruise liners shrug off drowning deaths as
"suicide".

Sea and River safety
Our own safety laws relating to the sea
and rivers needs tightening up as incidents
of losses and drowning inland and on the
Cayes continue on an almost monthly
basis. It is up to lodge owners and tour
operators to fully brief their customers on
the dangers of sea currents and of raging
waters on ourrivers. The recentheavy rains
left several canoeists, unaccompanied by
guides, tipped out and stranded in western
rivers. All were rescued by alert canoes
with guides but there's no doubt that in
some cases, when the rivers are swelled
and furious, lodges should ban non guide
canoeing.

Watch that passport
Don't let your passport decline in



Belize

By: Des Parrett

Iwentto seethe Old Onewholives atthe
ruins. I had a question for him. Our
government kept telling us about how Mr.
Ralph was educated and had lots of
knowledge about economics. So I asked
the Old One, "how come Mr. Ralph came
up with all these ways to borrow so many
millions and millions of dollars, but we are
now worse off then we were before we
borrowed all that money, and we don't
seem to have anything to show for it?"
The Old One smiled and then answered.
"You should not consider education,
knowledge and wisdom as the same thing.
Education teaches us facts. Knowledge
is the facts we leam. Wisdom is the ability
to use our knowledge to effectively solve
problems. There are a lot of smart and
educated people who lack wisdom, and
unfortunately that seems to include those
who have controlled our national economic
policy in the past.
"I have never known of a politician who
was elected for his wisdom, but politicians
seem to think if they were smart enough


appearance! Extraordinarily, a Belizean
took his out-of-date passport for renewal
recently an was fined $20 because the
old passport was not in good nick!
Where wontthey seek formoney, money,
money!


The art of hypocrisy.
A journalist we know was recently
chastised on his lavish and inaccurate
praise for the Musa regime. "It served
he said, "I needed a
S favor!"

GST yet again!
1 Not only is it crippling,
beyond recovery,
many small businesses
throughout the country, GOB tax
department doesn'tknowwhatitis doing.
Ifit expects every small business
to issue proper receipts it must issue the
correct receipt books. In Cayo the
GST office can't even advise its victims
which receipts are correct and
which are not!
"Killer GST" makes the old VAT look
very good indeed and also makes the
lies and hysterical screeches of the PUP
when it killed Vat as phony as all their
other promises and pledges. Oh, and that
border tax, which is also killing small
businesses, means a young couple must
pay $70 US just to leave Belize. Money
that could and should stay with lodges
and businesses and not go to enrich the
coffers of the Government and the often
incompetent Border Management.


Emergency in Cayo.

It was one of those situations which cried
out for a quick coordinated respond from
"emergency" crews buy alas, when an
electric line blewin the heart of SanIgnacio
the other day and showered the
surrounding traffic and pedestrians with
sparks and green flashes, minutes dragged
into 10 before a fire engine appeared and
that time doubled before a single policeman
appeared orBEL cut offthe power. A fire
works show which only luck stopped from
turning deadly.

Also in Cayo
It's becoming a long running farce as
downtown and uptown traffic on Bullet
Tree Road continues to be rerouted
around three blocks when Sacred Heart
Junior school is letting students in or out.
The diverted traffic has to pass a busy
playground and the busy route to another
area school. It would take very
little for the land rich school to construct
a simple safe set-down area along its
fence side and a flag boy to do away
with the problem which led to the
diversion in the first place.

Up Mexico way
Mexico is planning to create mixed
police units and check migration status
of the population in southern border
areas and it could effect Belizeans
traveling north. As part of that program,
from Jan 1, Guatemalan citizens will be
able to request to enter Mexico as local
visitors and temporary agriculture


workers, and if they violate those rights
they will lose their rights and be
sanctioned.
Annually two million people cross the
southern border from Guatemala and
Belize to Mexico and vice versa, and
of them 400,000 enter the Aztec nation
illegally.

That old Brit/Saudi/Wahabbi
connection.

L According to UK
press reports, an
investigation into
allegations of
bribery involving
a large British defence contractor and
Saudi Arabia have been quashed. Mr.
Blair took personal responsibility for
stopping the inquiry into a multibillion
pound Saudi arms deal, saying that "If
we had allowed this to go forward, we
would have done immense damage to
the interests of this country."
His concern for the national interest
might, of course, have been to
counter Saudi threats not to buy
British fighter jets if the probe
continued.
It's another example of the old and
still intact Brit/Saudi/US deal, which
allowed the extremist Wahabbis to
create the Taliban, the Al qaida, saw
that all Saudi royal family were quickly
evacuated illegally from the USAafter 911
and continues to turn its usual blind eye
to corruption and human rights abuse in
the antique kingdom.


Economics


to get elected, they mustbe smart enough
to do any job. Our controlling elected
officials sort out the juicy high paid
minister's positions amongstthemselves,
with little or no consideration as to their
abilities to handle the jobs, instead of
seeking highly qualified people for the
critical positions. Aperson is generally
considered to be "highly qualified"
because he possesses the wisdom to get
the job done effectively. Mark Espat is
about our only politician who has history
of effective management in government,
but he stands out like a searchlight in a
cave."
I asked the Old One if the proposed
billion dollar restructure bond would
solve our financial problems?
The Old One frowned then continued.
"Minister Espat himselfhas said that the
Belize restructuring scenarios are 'atthe
outer edge of what forecasts show as
being affordable for the country.' What
he is saying loud and clear is the
proposed desperate bond solution is too
costly and too late.
"There are three serious issues to


consider.
"First: Let's stop and look at the simple
economics of a billion dollar bond. We
have a population of less than 300,000
people, of which 60% are less than 15
years old. Our unemployment figures are
never published because they are so bad,
but being generous in our calculations, we
still have less than 100,000 people
working. Just on the face of it and without
all the other costs, the restructure bond is
only a Band-Aid on ajugular hemorrhage,
but it will still create a $1,000,000,000
debt for 100,000 working people to pay
off. That is $10,000 for each working
person just for this bond, with additional
costs for the bond issue. BUT that is only
the beginning. Interest on the bond is
significantly greaterthan the annual increase
in our earnings as is at least an additional
$45 million a year for the first few years
and $85 million after that until 17 years
have passed... and then we have even
higher interest plus we have to start paying
backthe billion dollars at $125 million a
year. And.... while all this is going on,
the government has already borrowed a


lot more money that also has to be paid
back.
"Second: Certainly the only
justification in ourpresent circumstances
for borrowing such a large sum would be
if the proceeds were used to generate
sufficient returns in the future to be self-
liquidating, but our experience to date
hardly justifies this hope.
"Third: Our"D" credit rating is so low
it has to lookup to see whale poop. For
some time now we have not been able to
service our existing loans, and had to
borrow money to pay the interest on what
we already owed. Any buyer of the
bonds will know that we are in default,
and the probability of Belize repaying the
bonds is less than a politician disclosing
all of his income sources. It is obvious we
can't handle our existing debt, yet... we
are proposing to add another $45 million
a year. The only possible buyers would
bethosewithastranglingpolitical noose, such
as Venezuela, Cuba or Taiwan. We have
already lost our ass and nowwe aretrying to
sell our soul. There may of course be some
(Please Turn To Page 11) 0i n







Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 9



E editorial STAR Newspaper dated Sunday December 17,2006


(Printed with permission of the author)

TENS OF MILLIONS THEN
HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS -
NOW IT'S ONE BILLION!!!
In post independent Belize, successive
People'sUnited Party (PUP)
governments have embarked on a
program of
reckless borrowing with hardly any
tangible benefits for the masses of the
Belizean people.
The reckless borrowing, first in the
ten of millions of dollars, began during
the 1989-93 era of PUP rule with the
arrival of the unelected PUP financial
guru, Ralph Fonseca, the nation's
defacto minister of finance, under the
wings ofPrime Minister George Price.
How can we forget that era's series of
borrowings at ridiculously high interest
rates such as the Italian line of credit
and others, to fund bloated contracts
like the commercial center at the foot
of the swing bridge, the customs house
in the Port Loyola Area and the city
center, all in Belize City? That series of
reckless borrowing resulted in the
shortest-lived government ever in the
political history of the nation. General
election was called 16 months before it
was constitutionally due with then prime
minister George Price's infamous "job
done" pre-election proclamation.
The PUP was booted out of office
and a new United Democratic Party
(UDP) government was faced with the
task of nursing the nation's devastated
economy back to health. The exercise
resulted in the implementation of some
unpopular decisions primary among
which were the downsizing of
government's bloated workforce and
the implementation of the Value Added
Tax.
By the time the UDP left office in
August of 1998 the overall national debt
stood at a manageable 500 million
dollars. In came the PUP Government
headed by a new prime minister in the
person of Said Wilbert Musa, with the
now elected Ralph Fonseca as minister
of finance. It did not take long for the
reckless borrowing to resume only this
time in the hundreds of millions of
dollars.
The 2003 general election campaign
came with unprecedented massive
campaign financing and lavish
spending on propaganda items in every
district town and larger villages. These
items included expensive "love
fests" overflowing with cheap beers and
free food for all along with live
entertainments featuring Supa G, the
caliente dancers as well as expensive
political advertisements on television.
The massive spending resulted in the
return of prime minister Said Musa and
the PUP to government. Within days
of assuming the reigns of government,
the party's chief campaign financier,
Barry Bowen was handsomely


rewarded with the slashing of excise duty
on his beer from $12 per gallon, under
the previous UDP government, to a
measly $1.80 per gallon. Despite this
huge reduction in taxes, the price of
Bowen's Belikin beer and stout
increased and, with the added windfall
of surplus revenue, Bowen embarked
on a massive expansion project. New,
bigger and more sophisticated route
trucks were pressed into service. The
added finances also gave birth to the
erection of impressive Bowen
distributions centers such as the one near
Esperanza Village in the Cayo District
and in other parts of the country. In the
words of PUP's own cabinet minister
Cordel Hyde, this singular decision, on
the part of his new PUP government,
resulted in the decrease of government
revenues from an annual $25 million to


moratorium on borrowing. We borrow
too damn much."
Then in last Friday's sitting of the
house of representatives, the nation was
treated to Mark Espat rising in support
of government's intention to embark on
the historical borrowing of ONE
BILLIONDOLLARS. This is the very
same Mark Espat who, only a few
months earlier, told the nation in the very
same house of representatives that "we
cannot continue to borrow from Peter
to pay Paul". He has taken a full 360
degrees turn. How interesting indeed.
Furthermore, only a few days ago we
witnessed the same Mark Espat signing
off on a $25 million loan from the
InterAmerican Development Bank and
in the process telling the nation that the
proceeds from this loan will notbe going
into any projects.


"...the borrowing has evolved from

increments of tens of millions to hundreds

of millions and now to a whopping ONE

BILLION DOLLARS. In the words of

prime minister Said Musa "that's billion

with a "B"."


a measly $4 million per annum.
In his 2005 contribution to the budget
debate, Cordel Hyde publicly
recommended that the taxes on beer be
restored to the $12 per gallon rate as it
was under the UDP "and let us collect
the 25 million dollars", said Hyde. The
PUP, in campaign mode for the 1998
general election, lambasted the UDP
government for presiding over the
nation's foreign reserves which they said
stood at "only" three months of imports.
Today, after eight years of PUP rule,
that very same foreign reserve stands
dangerously at two weeks of imports
while the national debt has ballooned to
3.3 billion dollars.
With the national economy in
shambles, prime minister Musa was
forced by other members of his
government to remove Ralph Fonseca
as minister of Finance. In terms of
present times, the borrowing has
evolved from increments of tens of
millions to hundreds of millions and now
to a whopping ONE BILLION
DOLLARS. In the words of prime
minister Said Musa "that's billion with a
"B". Call it a direct loan. Call it the
floating of bonds. Call it the acquisition
of finances at concessionary rates. Call
it whatever you want, a lemon by any
name is just as sour. If it is not a grant,
then it's bad news for the Belizean
economy as any more borrowing will
only serve to further mortgage the future
ofBelizeans yet unborn.
Again in the words of PUP minister
Cordel Hyde "We must put a


How on earth did we reach the point
whereby elected politicians can
shamelessly utter these words to a
nation feeling the pinch of ailing
economic conditions where 44% of its
citizens are living in poverty? Amidst
widespread poverty, government
finance officer Joe Waight tells us that
85 million dollars in additional loans is
coming into the country. $25m from
the IDB $25m from the CDB $25m
from the Republic of Venezuela and
$10m from the Republic of China on
Taiwan ALL of which will be used, said
Joe Waight" to help support Belize's
balance of payment" with not even a
dime directly touching the life of a single
poorBelizean.
How did we reach the point when
we can swallow the pronouncement that


disbursement of the second $15 million
of the IDB loan hinges on "the orderly
liquidation" of the nation's only institution
for development financing and the
retrenchment of employees of that
institution?
Notwithstanding, some level of
comfort must be given to the Belizean
people and so it came in the form of
Mark Espat promising the "opening of
a new financing window" whatever that
means. "primarily to finance student
loans" said Espat.
Obviously recognizing that some
degree of hope mustbe given to comfort
the sometime militant student
population, the promise came in the
form of an institution dubbed
"development financing limited" For
some reason this promise reads like a
page torn from Tony Quinn's book
under the heading "Tell them what they
want to hear.
Have we actually forgotten when, a
few months ago, during the heights of
raising fuel prices, former Mexican
president Vicente Fox was brought to
our shores and with the full concurrence
of prime minister Musa, hoodwinked us
with the false hope of cheaper fuel price
by way of the establishment of Mexican
fuel stations in the country. And so we
hanged our collective hopes on Fox's
singular promise. We returned to our
respective corners. We lapped our
collective tails between our legs.
Today, we remain saddled with high fuel
prices. The presidency ofVicente Fox has
gone into the history books and we are
yet to see a single Mexican fuel station
established anywhere in the country.
It is often said that "a promise is a
comfort to a fool."
The year just ending was not an easy
one, all political parties will be in full
campaign mode in the New Year and
so the combs will begin to fall to the
floor. Take that which is rightfully yours.
We have been punishing for much too
long. Remember the promises of
cheaper light, water and telephone
rates? Listen to the promises as they are
made because at the end of the day,
none of us are fools.


0 0


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Belize Zoo


The Best Little


Zoo In The World


I I







friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 10


HO


DU


S: Governed by Vested Interests


By Thelma Mejia San Josd, Costa Rica Monday 18 December 2006


TEGUCIGALPA, (IPS) Traditionally
powerful families and drug traffickers have
enormous political influence in Honduras
today, according to analysts.
The elite families, which have gradually
taken over party structures and decision-
making posts in government, "are the
groups that have what we could call 'legal'
power," political scientist Emesto Paz at
the public National Autonomous
University of Honduras (UNAH) told
IPS.
"But then there are the others, who
work behind the scenes and have links to
organised
crime, e
especially
drug
trafficking,
which has a
strong
presence in
this
country," he
added. "These groups, which not only
paralyse, but influence political reforms
needed in this country, are generating a
crisis ofgovemability and weakening the
party system," he said.
Paz and other analysts who talked to
IPS said the families that exercise the
greatest power in Honduras are Jewish
or of Arab descent, and are involved in
economic sectors like the "maquiladoras"
(export assembly plants), energy,
telecoms, tourism, banking and finance,
the media, the cement industry and trade
and commerce.
The study "Real Integration and Groups
of Power in Central America" by the
Friedrich Ebert Foundation of
Germany says these vested interests have
taken over the spectrum occupied by
political parties in the region.
The study differentiates between
"business governments," like that of El
Salvador, and "pro-business
governments" like the ones that have ruled
Honduras and the rest of the countries in
Central America, in which the link
between government structures and the
private sector have been less direct than
in El Salvador. Investor Miguel Facusse
Barjum, his son-in-law Fredy Nasser,
energy magnate Schucry Kafie, and
banker and industrialist Jaime Rosenthal
are the most powerful men in Honduras.
Another influential businessman is the
Cuban-born Jose Lamas. c
Nasser andKafie control the country's
thermal energy industry, and Nasser's
business interests include concessions to


operate the country's main airports, as well
as shares in telephone companies in
Guatemala.
Influential businessmen in the media,
whose influence has grown since the
1990s, are Rafael Ferrari; Carlos Flores
Facusse, a former president (1998 2002)
and the nephew ofMiguel Facusse; and
Jorge Canahuati Larach.
Jesuit priest Ismael Moreno said these
groups "are so interrelated and closely
linked to the Honduran political system,
where their meddling is very strong, that it
can be stated that they handpickpresidents


and other authorities, dictate the news
agenda in the media, and are the main
contributors to political campaigns."
"The repetitive presence of certain last
names in Congress and the executive
branch is not fortuitous," Moreno, director
of the Jesuit Reflection, Research and
Communication Team (ERIC), told IPS.
"They know howto intervene, request and
demand. The state would seem to be at
their service, and governments are seen
as an instrument for obtaining power and
profits.
"Ifthey used to do abetterjob disguising
their ambition, in the last decade they have
gone over the top, and it would seem that
this plundered and ruined country still has
meat to chew on," he added.
OfHonduras' seven million people, 65
percent lived below the poverty line and
53 percent in extreme poverty in 2005,
according to the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP).
A presidential adviser who asked to
remain anonymous for security reasons
told IPS that "these groups are insatiable,
they make one request after another. Two
months ago, in a meeting with President
Manuel Zelaya, they told him that in the
1980s, the most important political
decisions were put to consultation in the
military barracks, but that now they were
here, the businesspeople and the media."
"You are only temporary, while we are
permanent, they said. We want to be
consulted about decisions, we want
contracts and to participate in the public
tenders, we want to express our opinions


on some appointments of public officials,
andwewant official advertising contracts,
they added," according to the source.
Since then, the Zelaya administration,
which took office in January 2006, has
had friction with some of the country's
most powerful business groups, because
the cabinet includes members ofthe Jewish
business community headed by Rosenthal,
which is atloggerheads with the country's
most influential families ofArab origin.
Rosenthal, who has run unsuccessfully
for the presidency four times, belongs to
the governing Liberal Party and has
interests in areas like the media, the cement
industry, beef exports, banks, insurance


and telecoms. He played a key role in
Zelaya's campaign.
His son,Yani Rosenthal, isnowminister
ofthe Presidency, in charge ofcoordinating
all the ministries and the most important
portfolios of public administrationprojects
and credits.
Given Zelaya'smarked differences with
some power groups, who is he governing
with?
With the Rosenthal family and another
business sector not linked to the traditional
structures, who intend, together with the
president, "to set a distance between
themselves and those who have exploited
this country foryears," said the presidential
adviserwho spoke to TPS.
This group is apparently led by the
president's chief of staffRoberto Babfin,


who has interests in the timber industry.
His camp includes business leaders
involved in the tourist industry, biodiesel
manufacturing which has strong
backing from the present administration
- and the thermal energy industry.
Unconfirmed reports have also pointed
to links between the government and
members of the Guatemalan business
community, who allegedly contributed
substantially to the president's election
campaign.
According to the governing party
deputy to the Central American
Parliament, Gloria Oqueli, this scenario"
endangers the stability of the political
parties,
because
penetration
by these
groups is
s o0

that we are
being left
without
any true political leaders."
"It's not that their participation is a
negativething they should participate. But
they should let the politicians govern and
not the other way around, that is to say,
govern the politicians themselves, as we
are seeing in practice. We should re-think
how to modernize the political system and
make political parties less elitist and more
open to civil society and social
participation,p" she said.
What most concerns Oqueli is what she
calls the coopting ofthe party systemby
drug traffickers, about whom she says
there are "strong indications thatthey have
financed political campaigns. Political
parties must open their books and give
the public information about who finances
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Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 11


HONDURAS:

Governed by
- E (Continued From Page 10)
their campaigns, and in return for what,"
she said.
Alfredo Landaverde, an expert on drug
trafficking issues and adviser to the state
on security, said that narcoo" penetration
in Honduras can be seen in money
laundering, cartheft, forgery of documents,


Vested


interests


trafficking of arms and persons, and the
activities of marsa" or youth gangs. Drug
trafficking has been seen in Honduras since
1977, although the country was mainly
used in the past as a transit point.
However, in the last decade, this has
changed, as indicated by the seizures of
enormous quantities of cocaine by the


Belize Economics


--n (Continued From Page 8)
crazy entitieswhofeelthattheycoulduse
the bond to foreclose on the economy
somehow, but the bond issue makes total
nonsense from a commercial point ofview
"Fit somehow did happen to find a "taker"
the bond is storing up a disastrous burden
on the Belize population in 17 years
time....when of course the responsible
politicos will no longer be around. The
repayments would have to come from
taxation on ourworkers, thought appears
the prospect ofthebonds everbeing repaid
areprettymuchnil. Nodoubta"rollover"in
17 years times what the government has in
mind, but with an already heavily indebted
economy arollovercouldbeapipedream.
"Fourth: Thebilliondollarbond does not
correct the causes of our disastrous
economics. OURPOLITICAL SYSTEM
HASFAILEDUS! Ithas failedtoprovide
justiceforourpeople. Ithasfailedto supply
a decent education system for our children.


It has failed to keep our borders secure. It
has failedto makeproperhealth care available
(take a look at the dreadful hospitals in PG
and SanIgnacio). It has failedto give us an
accounting ofhow our national money has
been (mis)spent foryears now. Ithas failed
to give us a properly trained police force we
can call upon forhelp, instead ofone that is
oftenworsethanthecriminals. Ithasfailedto
create obs for our people. It has caused a
300% increase in our cost ofliving over the
last 10 years while failing to increase our
wages. In shortourpolitical systemhas failed
ourpeoplejust as surely and dramatically as
Communism failedtheRussians."
The OldOne shookhishead. "Oursystem
haslongbeen atool forthevested interests,
and corruptpoliticians,"he concluded. "We
have sunk into atype ofFascism under the
guise ofdemocracy where ourpeople now
serve the government instead of the
government serving ourpeople. There must
be change, andthatchangemustcome soon.


police more than 3,000 kg so far this
year.
According to the governmental
Honduran Institute for the Prevention of
Alcoholism and Drug Addiction and
Dependency, drug use is on the rise, and
a majority ofyoungsters between the ages
of 15 and 19 have tried some kind of illegal
drug, especially cocaine.
The Institute reports that in the 1970s,
local drug consumptionwas largely limited
to marijuana. But cocaine, as well as
cmck,nowbothcirculatewidely "And since
2002, small amounts of ecstasy and heroin
have been seized, although their distribution
is still limited," saysthe Institute.
Landaverde said drugtrafficking activity
is concentrated ontheCaribbeanandAltanfic
coasts in the north and northeast, and inthe
extreme western part of the country.
According to the UNAH Observatory on
Violence, thesearetheregionswiththehighest
levels ofviolentcrime.
Drug traffickers laundertheir profits by
"investing in luxury homes, ranches,
companies andfishingboats, as well as small
and medium-size businesses. But they also
do so by investing in politics," said
Landaverde, who clarified that there are no
official statistics on money launderinginthe
country.
Two months ago, Marvin Ponce, a
lawmaker with the leftist Democratic
Unification party, stated that there were


legislators who had gained their seats with
dmgtrafficking money, although he did not
dare name names.
Aformermayorfrom atowninHonduras
toldlPSthatatleastfivemayorsinthewestem
provinces of Copan, Lempira and
Ocotepeque had financed their campaigns
withdrugmoney.But"iflrevealtheirnames,
they'll kill methenextday," he said.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) reportedthat around
100 tons ofcocainemovethroughHonduras
annually, while domestic consumptionlevels
have soared in the last fewyears.
Most of the cocaine comes from
Colombia and is on its way to the United
States, accordingtotheHondumn police and
theDEA.
The DEA plans to establish an anti-drug
military base in 2008 in theAtlantic coastal
region ofMosquitia, one of the main drug
raflickingpointsinHondurasduetoitsremote
jungles, which are unconnectedtothe rest of
the country by road.
The drug lords evadejustice by means of
bribery, threats andmurder, saidLandaverde.
Both the economic elites and the drug
traffickers are consolidating their hold on
powerthanks tothe fragility ofdemocracy in
theregion,which"isin crisis," intheviewof
Paz.
"In the case of Honduras, one of the
solutions to keep the state from remaining
trapped in these networks is
the construction and creation of citizen
networks that strengthen society," the
political scientist argued.


BlB kiKK Le wl iz I


The Jabiru stork is Belize's
biggest bird and one of the
most easily recognized. This
week, Independent Weekly
gives you some more
information on this fascinating
creature, courtesy Jungle Walk
field guide by Katie Stevens.

January is the time of year
when the jabiru stork (Jabiru
mycteria) begins refurbishing
last year's nursery in
preparation for this year's
brood. No mean feat;
constructed of large sticks
intertwining, the jabiru nest is
a platform as many as 8 feet
across! It perches high in a tall,
often dead, usually lone tree
within a pine ridge or above the
jungle bush. This
overexposure of its
whereabouts made this
otherwise shy bird an easy
target in the pre-protection


days when the
jabiru was a
commodity in
the markets of
Belize.
Luckily, 1
today's Belize boasts the 4N
healthiest population of
these storks within its
eight county habitatV
(Central America and
Mexico), although
destruction of some nesting
and feeding areas have
inevitably occurred.
The largest flying bird in
the Americas, the jabiru
is four and a half to
five feet with a
wingspan of nine l
feet. In Spanish it
is known as El Rey
de Ellos, or "King of
them all"; in Belize it is
demoted to "fillymingo" or
even to "turk"! Aside from the


obviousness of its out-
size, its appearance is
also unmistakable. Its
plumage is all white, its
head all black-
including the heavy
duty bill; these are
connected by a
loose skinned
black neck
N bordered below
by a bright red
Sb a nd ,
a' comprising a
I I simple but
t a s t e ful 1
ensemble-
all things
considered.
No one ever
implied that
the jabiru is
just a pretty
face!
The immature
jabiru is an appropriate


brownish gray.
The storks feed in wetlands.
around swamps and ponds,
sometimes flying several miles
in search of a favored food.
These are many to choose
among: fish, frogs and snails,
reptiles and small mammals.
Snakes seem to be high on the
list of delectables, perhaps
because the appetite which is
worked up in the process of
preparation. The jabiru will take
a 6-foot snake and shake it.
throw it up into the air and catch
it, thrash it and bash it and
finally tear it to pieces. Which
it then eats with relish (but
rarely piccalilli).
Jabirus come in solitary pairs
which snare the duties of
parenthood but, when the
nesting season is over, they fly
north with their young (2-4) to
join up with the flocks of
southern Mexico.






'riday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 12


A Crisgtas Story

by Emory King

here is a true storu which happened over the Christmas season a couple of ears ago.
A little old ladc, obviously verm poor, was truing to buu a Christmas ham. The shop was crowded
with people pushing each other and calling out to the assistants behind the counter. several
small bogs were scrambling around, under everybody's feet.
( unable to shout veru loud she hoped to get the attention of one of the clerks bl waving. 5khe
clutched her worn bag in one hand and waved with the other.....
Sinallu one of the clerks leaned over the counter. "Whatfor ou, ladcl?"
"One small ham", sie said. "The smallest ham ou got."
The uoung man went awau and rummaged through the boxes of hams, first weighing one and
*^f~ f then weighing another and at length came back with a ham and said, "Eleven dollars and
twentj-five cents. Ok?
The old woman bit her lip. "No. I am sorru. Don't uou have anything smaller? I have onlu ten
*dollars."
5 he turned awau with a hint of tears in her eues.
^ Tilhe owner, who was at the cashl register during the whole episode, told her to wait and called
back the clerLk. "t's all right, bou. ( ive her the ham forten dollars."
With the ham safely in her shopping bag at her feet the old ladj *.. -
S removed a worn ten dollar bill from her cloth purse and handed it to
"" the owner. "God lesss uou, sir", she said with a catch in her voice.
S"That's all right", the owner said gruffL!, a little embarrassed to show
his Christmas spirit before the crowd of customers.
5uclAenlj someone shouted "l5top that bo," and the old ladj re-
alized one of the little bogs hlad grabbed her bag and run away.
He was fast and smart and before anyone could take action he was
up Water Lane and gone.
Now the tears really came down the old woman's face and she wailed .
piteously. And wrung her iands. And started out of the shop.
r "Come on bous," someone in the crowd shouted. "Let's help the
ladu." -He waved a dollar in the air. 5oon another hand went up and
Then another. And within a minute the mones was collected and paid
and another ham, a little larger than the stolen one, was forthcoming -
from the boxes.
And the owner even gave the little old ladcl a new bag to carru it in.
S.. F erilaps we haven't all gotten moneu-mad and cold to the needs of
*r, -, others.



SFor an online version of the CONGRATULATIONS!
INdependent Reformer Ghscine graduated magna
vi si. usat- cum laude, from florida
visit u t Southern Co ffege th'
http://www.belizenorth.com/ (Decem6er 16th with a
independentreformer.htm MIastersofBusinessAfmins-
OR tration. Congratulations from
httr//etenewsamify, a a
http ://belizenews.com/ Proud parents Lisa & Albert Hoare Sr
I attending the graduation ceremonies of their s witl ourt ture
independentonline.pdf I eldest child Ghislaie Hoare.
endavors.
lllI
ammm mmmm mmm mmmm mmmm mmm








Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 13


Thirty Minute Country


n (Continued From Page 4)
appliances is as short lived as the
appliances themselves. From power
surges to power struggles in the home,
how many family are still paying for items
New Years
resolution for
Primary schools
in Belmopan!
Belmopan havejoined forcesto develop
aComputerLiteracy Initiative intimeforthe
NewYear. Currently there isno computer
teachingwithinltheseprimaiy schoolsandthis
project will initially give over 3,000 pupils
access to resources and skills needed in the
developing age of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT).
Theprogramwill establishanessential long
term and sustainable ICT presence within
these schoolswherethereaftertheBelmopan
project could be the basis for further
expansion to otherBelize primary schools.
Theprojectwill embracethelocalcommunity
by running training classes for parents and
providing access tothe computer services.
Development ofthese networked computer
laboratories will enable the creation of an
Educational Intranet that can be used as an
educational resource and information portal
for pupils, parents and teachers.
Thebenefits of such schemewouldgive
children basic computer skills forwhen they
graduatefrcmprimary school which can then
be developed in secondary school. Teachers
will have accessto much wider spectrum
ofresources for their classes with the use of
theintemetandthe administration of schools
will be much more efficient with the use of
the computers and Intranet. With only 13%
ofBelizeans having access to the internet
compared to over 60% inAmerica there is a
drastic need for an ICT presence in schools
to keep up with the needs for computer
literacy in further education and future
employment. The community will be
influencedby thisproject asparents will have
theabilitytoleamanddeveloptheirccmputing
skillsandenjoythevariety ofbenefitsofbeing
connected! TheoverallaimistobuildBelize's
competence of Information and
Communication Technologies to bridge the
gap ofthe digital divide.
Funding is being sought from the
Commonwealth Foundation campaign
'Commonwealth Connects' and the key to
being successful with the application is
Partnerships. The project is solely run by
volunteers, the support of parents and the
Belize University who will work to
maintain the computer laboratories as part
of the sustainability. To develop the
initiative it needs more support and
collaborations which are vital to secure
funding and to sustain the program. Ifyou
have any business propositions or
partnership schemes that you feel will be
of interest please contact the project
leader, Fiona Fraser.
By working together we can ensure that
thePrimary Schools ofBelmopankeep their
NewYears resolution!


that stopped working just months into
the contract?
How many of us are sitting on sofas
that looked so beautiful in the showroom,
but which barely survived the transfer
home; which, within days of arrival began
to boast rips and tears and stains,
providingwell upholstered dens forbaby
mice and lizards?
How many lovingly selected cups and
saucers cannot ever be placed upright for
fear of some droppings dropping into
them? Brand new, shiny kitchen
cupboards last exactly 30 minutes before
one of the hinges falls off, the draw pull
stops pulling or they become dark scary
places where pots and pans go in, but


never come out the same, where wildlife
of any size may emerge in the night and
scare the beejeezus out of your pet dog
or cat or hubby seeking a nighttime
snack.
I almost had a heart attack when I
opened the washer one morning to find a
baby iguana opening his mouth
aggressively at me. To the day I have no
idea where he/she went. He/she just
disappeared "down there somewhere." I
recently sold that washer, but harbor the
secret fear that the new owner will meet a
fully grown iguana some day when she
sets out to hang out the wash. It's is a guilt
Imust live with.
Just as I live with the remorse of not


taking better car of my car. Of not sleeping
in her every night to guard her against gas
and hubcap thieves and window smashing
vandals. Of not getting out and personally
inspecting the road for potholes the size
of graves in front of Lord's Ridge
Cemetery and trenches the size of bank
vaults across the Lord's BankRoad. I am
sorry, so sorry, my trusty Corolla that you
are rusty, corroding in the salty air and
choking with red dust. That bits and
pieces fall out of you at random and you
rattle like an old Landrover.
lapologizetoyouand alltheotheritemsI
brought her, or bought here. You deserve a
better, longerlife.
Belize does not like to be called a third
world country. But surely we are a30minute
country. If you really like your Christmas
presents, I suggestyouleavetheminthebox.
They're safer inthere.








friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 14


ARIES
.(Mar.21-April20)
Be prepared to neutralize any threats. Praise will
be yours if you have been pursuing your goals.
Your main concern will be to spend as little as
possible of your own cash in the process.
TAURUS
(Apr. 21-may 21)
Use your charm, but don't sign or agree to
anything. Focus on your domestic scene. Get
together with friends or relatives. Be sure to take
care of any minor ailments.
GEMINI
(May 22-June 21)
This is a wonderful day to look into courses or
hobbies that interest you. Travel for business
will not only bring you valuable information but
also profits as well. You can win if you're open
and up front with your boss.
CANCER
(June 22-July 22)
You can enjoy your involvement in organizations
that make charitable contributions. Travel will be
fun and entertaining. It's time to reevaluate your
motives.
LEO
(July 23-Aug 22)
Offers of joint ventures are likely. Romantic
opportunities are evident if you get involved in
large groups or organizations. Take care of the
needs of elders in your family.
VIRGO
(Aug. 23 -Sept. 23)
Take a long look at your present direction and
consider your professional options. You can sort
out any differences you have in an amiable
manner. Be careful if a friend asks you for advice.


LIBRA
(Sept. 24 -Oct. 23)
You may be upset if someone has borrowed
something that belongs to you. You can expect
changes in your financial situation as well as in
your status. Accept the inevitable.
SCORPIO
(Oct. 24 Nov. 22)
Fitness or weight loss pro grams will help your
self esteem. Be innovative. However, be careful
with luggage; it may be rerouted.
SAGITTARIUS
(Nov. 23 -Dec. 21)
Try to be precise in your communications. You
can make money if you concentrate on producing
services or goods that will make domestic chores
easier. This will be a good day for research and
for sitting down with some good, informative
reading material.
CAPRICORN
(Dec 22.- Jan. 20)
It might be best to work on your own; if possible,
do your job out of your home today. Try to join
groups of interest such as ballroom dance classes
or perhaps an internet organization. This may
not be the time to lend or borrow.
AqUARIUS
(Jan. 21 -Feb. 19)
Don't avoid your true feelings. Old friends may
not like your choices. Broaden your horizons and
look into programs that will teach you awareness
and relaxation.
PISCES
(Feb. 20-Mar. 20)
Uncerain getrichquickschemeswillnotbeaslucialiveasyou
anlifcite.Ymuslitohdp.ThelhlowledUgeuhawenill ne
yournqtalcn.


Your weekly


I


Li Chee


Freetown Rd., Belize City

Opposite the Old Technical College, Li Chee (a.k.a Freetown Kentucky) offers quality,
sure value, speedy service and unequalled atmosphere. For just five dollars you can get
several pieces of fried chicken (a.k.a greesy bag, nice-n-nasty) well seasoned and
deliciously cooked to order with enough fries to keep you within the Atkins diet
parameters.

Li Chee's production line is as close to aKFC production of cooked order as you get.
The paint work and fixtures may leave a lot to be desired, and lines will be long at all
times but just holler a carefully constructed fewwords, "Five dollar bress', chop up,
fries, latta peppa" and don't lose sight of your objective, to get outa there with a steamy
hot styrofoam package ofLi Chees.

One US customs officer in Miami once asked (in a southern accent), "Did you bring
any of the Lee Chees?". So no matter whether you are rushing home to Vista Del Mar
with no time to cook, or need to take a remembrance of home to your kin in NYC,
stop off at Li Chee, keep your head down, muscle into the crowd, and get what you
deserve. It is as close to chicken heaven as you can get, and the word is spreading
worldwide.


IMF roadmap
To the Members of the International
Financial Community:
At the request of the Government of
Belize, Iwould liketo inform you of recent
economic developments in Belize and the
country's relationship with the
International Monetary Fund.
Over the past twoye ars, the authorities
have made commendable strideisn
correcting serious macroeconomic
imbalances based on their adjustment
strategy. Tax measures and primary
expenditure cuts havele d to a sharp
improvement n the central government's
primary balance, which has moved from
a deficit of3 percent of GDP in FY2003/
04 (April to March) to a surplus of 3
percent of GDP in FY2005/06. At the
same time, monetary policy was tightened
through the sterilization of social security
deposits and increases in reserve
requirements. These measures have
contributed to a narrowing of the country's
large current account deficit.
However, these efforts alone will not
be sufficient to bring the economy back
onto a sustainable path, and for this reason
the authorities are undertaking further
adjustment efforts during FY2006/07 and
beyond. Accordingly, they are targeting a
furtherincrcase in the primary fiscal surplus
to 3% percent of GDP in FY 2006/07
and to 4-4% percent of GDP in
subsequent years. This fiscal improvement
would be achieved by saving theb ulk of
projected revenues from oil production,
enhancing non-oil revenue collection, and
restraining current expenditures. Aprudent


ymt br Ood tood

With Anthony Hunt


for Belize 2007
monetary policy stancewill be maintained
in order to underscore the authorities'
commitment to the fixed exchange rate
regime. Structural reforms are envisaged
to support macroeconomic tightening.
These reforms center on the fiscal are (a
e.g., tax reform, pension reform, public
debt management), monetary policy
implementation, financial sector regulation
and supervision, and improved economic
statistics.
Even with this additional adjustment
effort, as well as the additional official
financing that is being provided byn
multilateral and bilateral lenders, large fiscal
and balance of payments financing gaps
would remain in 2007 and beyond. It is
against this background that Belize has
sought to engage with its external private
creditors to achieve an orderly and
cooperative debt restructuring. High
participation by private creditors inthe debt
exchange offer that was launched on
December 18, 2006 would help support
orderly macroeconomic adjustment, restore
fiscal and external sustainability, and establish
the conditions for strong economic growth.
The International Monetary Fund has
welcomed the progress the authorities
have sing Belize's serious ma c r o e c o
nic imbalances in the context of a
homegrown adjustment strategy.
Nonetheless, Belize's situationwill remain
vulnerable for quite some time, allowing
little room for slippage in implementing the
policy frame work. We stand ready to
continue to assist the authorities in
implementing and monitoringtheirfinancial
and structural adjustment policies,a nd to
provide technical assistance as needed.






Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 15


What are energy drinks?
Energy drinks are beverages like Red
Bull, Venom, AdrenalineRush, 180, ISO
Sprint, and Whoopass, which contain
large doses of caffeine and other legal
stimulants like ephedrine, guarana, and
ginseng. Energy drinks may contain as
much as 80mg of caffeine, the equivalent
of a cup of coffee. Compared to the 3 7
mg. of caffeine in a Mountain Dew, or
the 23 mg. in a Coca-Cola Classic, that's
abig punch. These drinks are marketed
to people under 30, especially to college
students, and are widely available both
on and off campus.
Are there short-term dangers to
drinking energy drinks?
Individual responses to caffeine vary,
and these drinks should be treated
carefully because of how powerful they
are. Energy drinks' stimulating properties
can boost the heart rate and blood
pressure (sometimes to the point of
palpitations), dehydrate the body, and,
like other stimulants, prevent sleep.
Energy drinks should not be used
while exercising as the combination of
fluid loss from sweating and the diuretic
quality of the caffeine can leave the user
severely dehydrated.
Know what you're drinking. Energy
drinks are not necessarily bad for you,
but they shouldn't be seen as "natural
alternatives" either. Some of the claims
they make like "improved performance
and concentration" can be misleading.
Ifyou think of them as highly-caffeinated
drinks, you'll have a more accurate
picture of what they are and how they
affect you. You wouldn't use Mountain
Dew as a sports drink. And a drink like
Red Bull and vodka is more like strong


Caffeine and Energy
Boosting Drugs:
Energy Drinks


coffee and whisky than anything else.
What happens when energy drinks are
combined with alcohol?
Energy drinks are also used as mixers with
alcohol. This combination carries number
of dangers:
Since energy drinks are stimulants
and alcohol is a depressant, the
combination of effects may be
dangerous. The stimulant effects can
mask how intoxicated you are and
preventyou from realizing how much
alcohol you have consumed. Fatigue
is one of the ways the body normally
tells someone that they've had
enough to drink.
The stimulant effect can give the
person the impression they aren't
impaired. No matter how alert you
feel, your blood alcohol
concentration (BAC) is the same as
itwouldbewithout the energy drink.
Once the stimulant effect wears off,
the depressant effects of the alcohol
will remain and could cause vomiting
in your sleep or respiratory
depression.
Both energy drinks and alcohol are
very dehydrating (the caffeine in
energy drinks is a diuretic).
Dehydration can hinder your body's
ability to metabolize alcohol and will
increase the toxicity, and therefore
the hangover, the next day.


Boxing Day TKO:
Belizeans get pumped, AGAIN!
i-n (Continued From Page 13) issued, at least, not in Belize.
ThatisaseriouswamingforBelizeans But there is more there in Dcotor
in Belize by the IMF, no less. Fuel Rodrigo's letter. I'll sit back and let
prices have already gone up...just the pundits dissect it then we can
six days after the DG's release, talk. But you can't say youweren't
without any official releases being forewarned. Can you?

For an online version of the
INdependent Reformer
visit us at
http://www.belizenorth.com/
independentreformer.htm
OR
http://belizenews.com/
independentonline.pdf
IImmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmml


-Le king .

for your copy of

Independent Reformer

Weekly?

We currently have the following
distributors Countrywide and are
looking for more:


Corozal:
Raidys
Orange Walk:
Peoples Store, Del La Fuenta
Drugs Store
Cayo:
Evas Cafe, Celinas
and street vendors
Dangriga:
Oscar Ramirez
Placencia:
Noldan Brown
Punta Gorda:
Natures Way Guest House
Caye Caulker:
Trends
Belmopan:
Hyde's Mini Mart
and Dakers Stationery
Belize City:
Albert & Queen Street Stalls, Twin
Supermarket and Slingshot on St.
Thomas Street,
Ladyville:
El Ca's Supermarket, Jonze Salon,
Celinas Grocery, Highwayman
Service Station, Celina's, Airport
San Pedro:
seeking a distributor


New Distributors are being added
every week so look out for increased
availability. You can also join our
mailing list, see page 2 for details. J





friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 16


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PAGE 1

Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 1 INdependent Reform for the PeopleVol. 2 No. 1 Friday, January 5, 2007 $1.00 Inside this Issue TheForeign Donors & Volunteers Foreign Donors & Volunteers Foreign Donors & Volunteers Foreign Donors & Volunteers Foreign Donors & Volunteers Intimidated by the Government of Belize Intimidated by the Government of Belize Intimidated by the Government of Belize Intimidated by the Government of Belize Intimidated by the Government of BelizeMan and Woman of the Y Man and Woman of the Y Man and Woman of the Y Man and Woman of the Y Man and Woman of the Y ear ear ear ear ear The people of Toledo District, less than 20,000, have been involved with “selfhelp” projects to solve their economic problems and save the endangered environment for over 25 years. During that time, over $60 million of foreign aid not counting counterpart funds from GOB has been spent in the Toledo District. USA Peace Corps has been stationing volunteers in the district for over 30 years. Yet the last poverty assessment indicates that over 70 percent of the people are poor and over 50 percent are very poor. It is estimated, by international agencies that three out of ten rural children are malnourished to the point of mental retardation. With all this financial and volunteer aid, how can the people of Toledo be poorer now than ever before? Many locals believe plans for the development and conservation of the district’s rich natural resources made in abroad, or even in Belmopan, were unrealistic and/or the consultants were not truly qualified to provide helpful advice. The non governmental organizations, who actually received the aid from the funding agencies, say that they had no choice, if they wanted the aid, they had to accept the plans and the consultants. The government Ministers have also said they had no choice in the matter; the Peace Corps volunteers have also indicated they have no choice but to help the NGOs who asked for their assistance. Year after year the funders provide the money, organizations like the Inter American Development Bank, Caribbean Development Bank, the European Union and many others. The NGO’s sign contracts to implement the plans. The volunteers help them, and predictably, the results are the same year after year. The government Ministers and Area Representatives involved make the same old speeches to launch and keep track of the projects, the volunteers get their assignments and the money and work continues to go down the drain. All the while, the people become poorer. The resources continue to be lost, more and more foreigners come in with private sector money to take advantage of the many opportunities. Their claim of helping the local people and economy, is that they provide employment. Of course they do. How else can they get the work done? Too often the profits they make go out of the country, especially in the country’s largest industry, tourism. After more than a quarter of a century of this constant consultant failure, and the expenditure of many tens of millions, actually over one hundred million dollars, the people from all walks of life got together and developed a comprehensive eco-development plan, called the Toledo The INdependent Reformer Weekly is proud to announce our selections for Man and Woman of the Year. Our editorial board has chosen Jules Vasquez and Lois Young Barrow this year. Jules Vasquez is widely recognizable all over Belize as the fearless Reporter and News Director of Channel 7 News. But this apparently sociable and fearless journalist was not always able to express himself, let alone put Prime Ministers on the spot. Jules was born in Born Belize City in 1970 and went to school at St Catherine’s Elementary School, St. John’s High School and Sixth Form and Florida Atlantic University, where he dropped out at the end of his junior year to get an education from a TV station. In 1993 he started working seriously at his family owned TV station, Channel 7 presently the longest serving broadcasting entity in Belize, dating back to 1981. In 1994 he started 7 News and he is still there. He says his favorite teacher was his Kindergarten teacher, Zoila Ysaguirre, now deceased. With a perfectly straight face he says “The woman saved my life. I was chronically shy, so intractable a condition it posed a serious threat to my continued education. The problem? I couldn’t get up the nerve to disturb the din of restless young minds and mouths to simply raise my hand to ask the teacher to ask the teacher a question In a bustling classroom of more than 30 restive children, she found time and consideration to help me out of my shell. Congratulations Jules Vasquez; the man who no longer fears disturbing others, but asks the questions everyone else seems reluctant to ask. Belize is better because of you. And as for Woman of the Year, the Independent Reformer has selected Senior Counsel Lois Young (Please Turn To Page 3) (Please Turn To Page 3) ContributedTotal Madness pg. 5 Fake Jobs and Lies pg. 7 IMF Roadmap for Belize pg. 14 Governed by vested interests pg. 10At midnight on December 26, just twenty four hours after Santa delivered his goodies, Scrooge took over. Regular fuel prices jumped from $9.37 a gallon to a whopping $9.77. There was no public announcement, no “Merry Christmas Belize,” just a price hike in the night. Interestingly, the price of diesel went up by only 1 cent, and premium not at all. Boxing Day TK Boxing Day TK Boxing Day TK Boxing Day TK Boxing Day TK O: Belizeans get pumped, AGAIN! O: Belizeans get pumped, AGAIN! O: Belizeans get pumped, AGAIN! O: Belizeans get pumped, AGAIN! O: Belizeans get pumped, AGAIN! Probably because no one is buying it anymore. The rumor mill had been working overtime over the Christmas and word was prices would go up as soon as the holiday was over. Can we expect more price increases locally, even though world prices are falling? If we take the words of the Director General of the International Monetary Fund seriously then not only is gasoline likely to go up but other taxes will also increase in 2007. On December 20, Director Rodrigo De Rato y Figaredo, issued a letter to the “International Financial Community (Please Turn To Page 3)Jules VasquezLois Young Barrow

PAGE 2

Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 2 Editorial Director Meb Cutlack Editor Karla Heusner Vernon Design/Layout Marigold Enterprise General Manager Trevor Vernon Published by: Independent Publishing P.O. Box 2666Telephones:(501) 225-3520 Email: independent.newspaper .bz@gmail.comPrinted by:National PrintersCompany Ltd.New Road Belize City, Belize“Quote of the Week” Send me 6 months of the INdependent Reformer for as little as BZ$30.00 (US$30.00 international) INdependentReformer The Name (please print) Address Apt. City State Zip Email Address Payment Included Bill me later Prices for subscription and postage may vary for subscription outside Belize. independendent.newspaper.bz@gmail.com Belize C.A.For an online version of the INdependent Reformer visit us at http://www .belizenor th.com/ independentr eformer .htm OR http://belizenews.com/ independentonline.pdfYES! P.O. Box 2666 Belize City, Belize Letter to the Editor Letter to the Editor Letter to the Editor Letter to the Editor Letter to the Editor Dear Editor, Listening to the Minister of Health explaining the details of the Government of Belize’s involvement in the Universal Health fiasco, itsaddens me to know the extent to which he and his cohorts will go, and the Editorial Note Editorial Note Editorial Note Editorial Note Editorial Note depths they would sink to gain political favour with a selected few. It is a downright shame that the Government of Belize can bail out these ‘favoured few’ to the tune of millions of dollars, while that same Minister could not find a measly $10,000.00, comparatively speaking, for baby Kemora. Such blatantly shameless conduct of the Minister – and his CEO –warrants immediate resignation. Signed: T. ThompsonDear Readers, Happy New Year to you all and thanks for finding your copy of Independent Weekly so quickly after the holidays. We took a little break, but not much since the staff and I were working for most of it anyway and so were many of our contributors. I would like to invite you all to consider submitting letters to the editor or even articles if you have something you would like to share. In this edition Richard Hulse takes exception to the way “Culture” is being promoted in Belize and likely to provoke some controversy, and hopefully a response from the people he’s referring to in his piece. Des Parrett has sent us a very interesting item on how electing people who think they know about economics is not the same as electing people who do, and we have another article which suggests that certain government policies are being acted on in the south simply because people are too afraid to suggest anything else. An international piece on Honduran society is very likely to cause many of you to compare their world to ours and the cartoon may do the same thing: the comparison being between the libraries of the people who are “in charge” and the ones the rest of us frequent. I have to admit the most enjoyable part of this issue was selecting Man and Woman of the Year. Believe me, there was some back and forth among the editorial board members and some minds were changed then changed again. Jules Vasquez was a unanimous selection, but Lois Young Barrow is one controversial woman. Sometimes that is exactly the sort of person you need the most. Belize could certainly use more people like them both. I would like to thank all our vendors for their tireless efforts to get this new paper circulating. If this is the first issue you are reading, you have one of them to thank for getting it to you. And now they have two papers to push early in the week instead of just one. More business for them, and the publishers we hope. Again, Happy New Year. Let’s make 2007 memorable, starting this week, shall we? Babies die while friends get rich

PAGE 3

Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 3 PM Said Musa (Continued From Page 1)People’s Eco park plan. T.P.E.P.P. On September 12, 2003 representatives of all the democratically elected leaders of the Toledo District, who were sworn into service by the Chief Magistrate, along with the directors of the largest conservation, cultural and economic development NGOs, and the President of the Toledo Civil Society joined together and signed a memorandum of understanding in support of the further development of the People’s plan. Seeing this unanimous support for the plan, the US Ambassador to Belize authorized the US Peace Corps to also sign in support. This document was sent to the Prime Minister who also provided a letter of support for the plan saying, “I am as anxious as you are to see the implementation of the Toledo People’s Eco Park Plan.” That was in March of 2004. The general manager of the Toledo Development Corporation, who fulfilling the vision statement of the Toledo Development Corporation to facilitate the responsible sustainable development of Toledo by and for the people of Toledo, organized the different groups and after repeated meetings with them drafted the memorandum of understanding, submitted the document and plans to the Ministry of Economic Development, where it was quickly put down. The general manager and other political leaders realized that to further push the issue could endanger their position, so they were discouraged from doing so. The Peace Corps, seeing the plan was not supported by the Ministry of Economic Development, also backed down, refusing to allow the Peace Corps volunteers to help the further development of the People’s Plan. Barrow. The editorial board decided that her standing up at the BTL Annual General Meeting in September when a court injunction was being ignored, when a room full of board members and shareholders did nothing, is worthy of national recognition. For her the issue was justice across the board. She told 7 News, “ I am really, genuinely concerned Foreign Donors & Volunteers Foreign Donors & Volunteers Foreign Donors & Volunteers Foreign Donors & Volunteers Foreign Donors & Volunteers Intimidated by the Government of Belize Intimidated by the Government of Belize Intimidated by the Government of Belize Intimidated by the Government of Belize Intimidated by the Government of Belize The ministry prefers to continue to promote the plans the funders and their consultants from abroad demand. The US Peace Corps continues to support the same kinds of projects that have failed so many times before. They know as the funders do, that in the private sector, if the way of doing business was failing they would quickly change it, or else they would go broke. However the way foreign aid is used, they have no incentive to change. It is obvious they want the aid to be misspent and for the poor to stay poor. One definition of insanity is to do the same thing under the same conditions and to expect different results. If the funders, NGOs, and the volunteers really wanted to change conditions here in Toledo, they would certainly give the People’s plan a chance. So why won’t they? It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? (Continued From Page 1)that the people of Belize see these bigwigs ignoring court orders and then they are forced to obey court orders; thrown out of their houses, land taken away, chattels seized for a small debt, fridge gone, sofa set gone, and all that sort of thing. And they will see that these people, because it is a wealthy company, can ignore an order of the court. That is what I am concerned with. I made that very clear last night and I say it again: it is not about Prosser and Ashcroft, they both deserve each other.” In addition, not only did she take on BTL, she also took on the People’s United Party, through an unprecedented injunction against the Belize Times. Her court action is forcing a newspaper which makes sport of maligning the characters of both public figures and private citizens to think twice. Lois continues to be a driving force behind the Association for Concerned Belizeans and demonstrates her concern for Belize every time she calls the morning talk shows. For her contributions to Belize in 2006 and her relentless defense of Lady Justice in Belize, the Independent salutes Lois as our Woman of the Year. Man and woman of the year Man and woman of the year Man and woman of the year Man and woman of the year Man and woman of the year Boxing Day TKO: Belizeans get pumped, AGAIN!on the Belize Situation...at the request of the Government of Belize”. (find the entire letter on page 14 of this edition). This letter needs to be dissected as it is chock full of interesting nuggets. It is a roadmap for the future of the PUP government, for what we as citizen consumers can expect in 2007...for starters. The exact url is: http://www .imf.or g/external/NP/pp/ eng/2006/122006.pdf In the third paragraph, the Distinguished Managing Director writes: “Accordingly they [Government of Belize] are targeting a further increase in the primary fiscal surplus to 3.5% of GDP in FY 2006/07 and to 4.5% of GDP in subsequent years. This fiscal improvement would be achieved by saving the bulk of projected revenues from oil production, enhancing non-oil revenue collection, and restraining current expenditures.” (Please Turn To Page 15) (Continued From Page 1)

PAGE 4

Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 4 Many of us are basking in that post holiday glow; reluctant to take down the decorations, wrap them up and pack them away until next year. Perhaps you have several Christmas presents in their boxes under your tree, as yet unopened. Not only because you want to savor the season; but because you know full well the moment you take them out of the packaging they are on their way to being ruined. Yes, many of us are trying to hold back the inevitable reality of Belize: you only have 30 minutes to enjoy anything. The time limit on happiness begins with each step we take. Our streets are so hard on shoes I sometimes wonder why we bother. How all those ladies can wear high heels and get to work in one piece is a mystery to me. Once there, click, clack, the clamor of spike heels coming down the stairs. “Whoopa!—” slipped again by the Crystal water cooler. No water on the floor mind you, just raw metal on tile sliding you across the office. How well one recovers determines one’s poise factor. “Ah nearly tumble down just now…heeehee, what a ting.” Back to the shoe repair man again. For every $40 spent on shoes, Belizean woman must spend $20 tacking their heel tips back on again. Just how many turned ankles can one woman endure before she has permanent elephant legs? Sit in parked car on any street in Belize and watch how many women’s ankles twist dangerously as they make their way to lunch. One after the other, one side of them drops lower than the other. Ouch! Damn rough street got another one. After the worst sprain of my life coming out of a pharmacy I swore never to wear heels again. I was strong in my resolve to defy the fashion world until a coworker pointed out I had been wearing flats. Betting is heavier than at the casino as to how long the buyer can wear a pair of new, smart looking shoes from certain stores. I saw a friend limping down the street one day, the straps on BOTH her sandals had given way when she stumbled and hit a drain cover; another woman was mortified at her son’s graduation when her dress shoes “burst” on the way into the ceremony. Admit it now, I know you too have hobbled your way to another shop or back home again to towards office colleagues hoping they had glue or staples or nails and could put you back together again. Like imported automobiles, even “States” shoes depreciate the minute they hit Belize. Step outside your front gate and “Sheesh!” heel, toe, or entire Thirty Minute Country By: Karla Heusner V ernonfoot in a mud puddle, overflowing drain or septic tank, dog poop or soft earth. The molds and fungi are insidious. Shoes, belts and purses change before your very eyes as you eye your closet. “The better the leather, the greener they get,” goes the joke. One well-heeled gentleman planted his feet on a bar stool and both heels fell off! He looked in disbelief at the expensive shoes he had worn in the States for years, his favorite pair. Somehow the composite heels had just deteriorated until they crumbled away. He never found out what caused it. Kind of like the mystery forces that invade our video cassette players, cds and dvd’s. Not to mention the computers which just seem to draw moisture and warmth seeking critters, not to mention geckos and ants. If your computer survives the first year element attack, its not likely to withstand the power surges. Even those “guarded” by a UPS can be struck down by lightening flashes coming in through the modem connections on the wall! Belize is hard on hard drives. So hard I see one manufacturer is even boasting its laptops are rugged enough to survive the rain forest of Belize. There was even an article featuring a scientific researcher hanging by ropes in the jungle studying some life form or another. Most of us wish ours could just survive sitting on a desk in an office in Ladyville or San Ignacio or Orange Walk. Okay, so we live under what the rest of the world terms “rugged conditions.” Perhaps we should just accept our lot and live with it. Perhaps Belizean men and women should just stop buying nice things and nice clothes hoping we can actually use them. Wear fabrics that won’t stick to us or get caught by some jagged piece of something on someone’s door. Something impervious to mud splats sent our way by hapless drivers passing by. “Sorry Mista! Ah neva mean fi wet you.” But no, we are a stubborn lot who will not relent in our quest to live like other people in other places. Our women still feel entitled after a hard week or month of work to get “made over” at a salon. To bask in the admiring eyes and compliments of other female patrons, to wonder if our better half’s will love “the new you!” We should make him come with us, to see the fleeting beauty, but instead we make the fatal mistake of opening the salon door, leaving the air conditioning and getting smacked by a whoosh of wind or the frizz power that only 90% humidity can deliver to freshly coiffed hair. Half an hour later, we are our old selves again and greeted by “I thought you went to do your hair?” Never mind. Like people just arrived from the States only to realize their sweatshirts will no longer be welcome here and their skin will never be dry again, we sally forth from home each morning freshly showered and pressed and powered only to be drenched by isolated showers only on our side of the street, arriving tarred and feathered with dust and bird doo doo and mud in the rainy season and dust in the dry. Everything, but everything seems doomed to rapid degeneration in Belize. Tourists actually think the national motto is “Dat? Dat no work no more.” Followed by “Ah di wait for wan part come in fid at right now.” The satisfaction of working hard or establishing credit to purchased new (Please Turn To Page 13) “Okay, so we live under what the rest of the terms ‘rugged conditions.’”

PAGE 5

Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 5 By: T r evor V ernon Total madness Total madness Total madness Total madness Total madness Not all Belizeans with university degrees got a free ride at US and other foreign institutions of higher learning. I am, as many others are, living proof. Some of us actually had to pay for our foreign education, thanks to a more transparent DFC and a wonderful individual, a former USAID rep. He made it painfully clear that he was not about to recommend me for any scholarships being earmarked for Belizeans because of my Royal Kriol status. Same kinds of stuff politicians still pull when trying to be populist… in an effort to rally voters, or set up their own children for life. So, I paid my way with the aid of a loan guarantee and a loan from DFC. No special treatment, no complaints. And did I ever repay! That student loan for $30,000 hung like an albatross around my neck for almost a decade. Back then 30 grand was serious money and there was no question IF you will pay, but HOW FAST…unlike what are seeing with the DFC malpagos these days. They apparently had/have no intention of ever paying off what they “borrowed.” Make you wonder what values their parents ever imparted to them, certainly not the apparent “Royal Kriol” values I was brought up with. Like those who skip out on their loans then bawl haad time, I have little pity for the fortunate few who got somebody else to pay for their projects, their books, their tuition, and their every need. I really don’t care to hear how hard life was (in school or business) and who didn’t like you or the color of your skin. You took the scholarship or fellowship or loans to improve your lot in life; stop biting the hand that fed you, will you? There are plenty of young people out there, even reading this right now, who wish they had the opportunities you did… if they could only GET a loan guarantee, especially a sovereign one. I am sure my parents had something to do with my wanting to run away from Belize to go study abroad and wanting to get my second degree from somewhere outside the USA, and do the Europe thing. The older heads always seem to want their children to study law (or medicine) and/or go studying half way across the world. So to please others, I enrolled here and there in law study programs (three in all over the years) but wasn’t impressed by the impressionable. My early hunches were that the study of Law leads to unspeakable predatory practices; I discovered I was right later on. Al-ham-du-le-la. Right away I realized I didn’t need to suck the lifeblood out of the poor and disadvantaged to make me feel good and important. I’ll leave that to others who apparently have had more exotic family values imparted to them. And, in fairness, it must be mentioned that they don’t teach logic in very many other academic programs; so I guess, the study of law does have some value after all. I drifted in and out of various fields of study as a major in foreign universities and elsewhere: economics, accounting, law, finance, international relations, until I found my calling: analyzing stuff. I have earned an MBA which I am absolutely proud of and use occasionally; but, don’t find the need to rub in people’s faces to make them feel smaller than they are. I paid the price by sacrificing resources and family time to get that piece of paper… because I accepted that education family value. Now I am not into living my life for the older heads. I figured they had their choices to make and their lives to live (however challenging and hard) and I don’t have the time or inclination to be critical of the generation that came before mine. I needed to find me, not my parents and many of my friends were faced with the same dilemma. The point is really is to discuss parenting issues and the dilemmas that they/we face in passing on values. As a society we generally value a “good education”, maybe not as much as say the Orientals who migrated here of late. It follows then that families generally tend to push the “good education” value on their offspring. While some families are better able to transmit this than others, oftentimes it is only to the favorite children for some jib cutting reason. In everything in life there are favorites. And no one person will be a favorite everywhere and at every pursuit. But the favoritism thing does help a child in instilling confidence to face the world when (s)he is no longer a child. That is not to say that a child needed to have been a favorite in the parents home to be successful; that confidence can be acquired elsewhere. And, in fact, many non-favored Belizean children are able to move away and make wildly successful lives in other countries. There is a local saying that older generations espoused: that they are able to see the cut of a younger person’s jib almost (Please Turn To Page 6) “...I have little pity for the fortunate few who got somebody else to pay for their projects, their books, their tuition, and their every need.”

PAGE 6

Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 6 “Quote of the Week” Opening Hours Monday Saturday 6 a.m. 8:30 p.m. Sunday & Holidays 7 a.m. 7:30 pm. Breakfast Lunch and Diner from birth. But I think what they are really seeing is a reflection of the treatment that young person is receiving in the home, at school, and while in the care of other family and family friends. However, that’s only my impression. The issue is how the “child-turned-parent” now transmits their values to their own young ones. If they themselves did not please their parents/care givers, then how can they expect to pass on their own educational ideas to their own child? Do parents today even see this as their role in parenting: transmitting values? I know many who consciously don’t attempt to and others who simply turn to books for answers. Too many parents today want to be their child’s best friend for whatever reason and I find this frightening. Parents are not “best friends” to children who are then allowed to Total madness Total madness Total madness Total madness Total madness (Continued From Page 5)run with “their own ideas” that they invariably picked up from TV…. as much as being a guiding force until that child becomes an adult. Two adults can be best friends but not before. In summary then, we as parents need to teach our children to be more responsible for their own lives and their own actions. And we have to be careful not to overly indulge our children in their every desire so as to better prepare them for their own adulthood, where every desire has a cost. And the only way you truly transmit values is by example, once you have a relationship with that child. Naturally, this does not apply to the trust fund families who will leave untold wealth to their children that were reared by nice nannies. Part of the solution for the less fortunate lies in a mixture of accessible loans, grants, scholarships, fellowships with a good loan guarantee program open to all. In a previous life I chaired a committee in the Technical Cooperation area of the OAS charged with drafting the statutes of a capital fund for fellowship that was seeded with US $10 Million. It was general consensus that too many students across the hemisphere were Often a small glimpse of nostalgia helps us to reflect on our present. In the not too distant past (1960’s – 1970’s) even though Belize was a relatively poor community, we were entertained by talented local singers. The collective “we” A view from the streetCulture of exclusion: Belizean Theatre and Art By Richard Hulseprofessionals; in fact, they were world class. Many of our current artists also measure up to any international standard, yet it seems clear that no attempt is being made to market them abroad, I should further say: not even at home. The question asked here is why? The main reason is that Belize has become a T.V. come from? Although so many of us in Belize City plays his CD’s, the quest for information about Dankeyman is overwhelming. Even the people who are selling his CD’s (I believe pirated versions) don’t know anything. So Dankeyman has the distinction of being a cultural icon who nobody knows anything of and who is making no money off his own music sales. There are many other Belizeans who have to manufacture and sell their own music because they don’t get any help whatsoever from the Arts Council. I don’t think they even get encouragement. To cut it short, culture has vacated the Southside and portions of the Northside and taken up residence in Kings Park and Buttonwood Bay. Once you are not from these demographic areas, there ain’t no help for you. If the Southside Artists are helped, they get the minimum assistance and maximum exploitation. The performances that are being held at the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts, are neither geared to, nor targeted for a wide cross section of the community. This is one of the major stumbling blocks against promoting culture, and which creates a culture of exclusion and extorts money from parents who are trying to show their children attention. Just the expensive vehicles parked at the Bliss, let you know who they cater for, with $50 and $60 performances which working Belizeans can ill afford. Proof once more that the perfor mances are never intended for the average Belizean, even if he\she is a part of it. Culture now is a business, just like any other business: and the objective of any business is to make money. Red carpet galas at the end of the year honouring classic Belizean artists are good, but surely the people they are putting up as contemporary artists leaves a big question mark over their heads. But at least they are Belizeans, unlike the “high falutin” sorts from abroad come to display their work or deformity. Although some of their “art” looks like ramshackle old junk, I am sure someone pays them, even though they don’t want to pay Belizeans, or pay them very next to nothing. The Belizean artists they bring from abroad and the other Latinos they bring from time to time are only fostering the idea that you have to come from abroad to be good, or if you go abroad that is the way you get accepted. Sadly, there are also many rich Belizeans who will do anything, and pay anything, to make sure that they don’t rub shoulders with the average Belizeans. So much for art, music and theatre being occasions for people from all walks of life in Belize to interact. means people from a broad cross section of the society. There were these fabulous open air concerts and talent parades at the Memorial Park, The Roman Catholic Parish Hall, the Bliss Institute, etc. These concerts were clean fun, where an entire family could go and enjoy themselves— “whether you had money or not.” People from all social and ethnic backgrounds were able to interact at these functions. The artists of the day stood out clearly as culture, and if you are not on T.V. you are nobody – and quite frankly none of the T.V. stations air much local content, let alone artists. Unless it’s to fill space before the news begins. The main topics here are: who qualifies as a cultural icon? And who decides that they qualify? As far as the Arts Council (under the several new abbreviations they use) is concerned, it seems like that is their sacred right, not to mention if you are not politically connected or politically correct in your speaking, every thing you do will be downplayed. Many Belizeans have decided that “Dankeyman” is a cultural icon, but who really is Dankeyman? Where does he Comments? Suggestions? or want to share your thoughts Email us at Independent.newspaper. bz@gmail.combeing excluded from higher studies due to lack of loan guarantees and such a fund, properly structured, and would seek to stem the adverse tide. (That program is now in place after the committee got approval from the General Assembly to proceed). I am a firm believer that a partial loan structure ensures a stronger sense of commitment and responsibility in the pursuit of the parents’ dream for you. This, to me at least, teaches the more important value of being ashamed of setting out to steal or “borrow” with the expressed intent to refinance or downright defraud the good faith lender, or indeed, an entire nation state. “These concerts were clean fun, where an entire family could go and enjoy themselves “whether you had money or not.”

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Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 7 By Meb Cutlack Once more the Belizean public has had the wool pulled over their eyes. Promises of jobs, job, andjobs which never materialize. It has happened again and again and again and yet our people still half believe the lies dished out to them by the Musa government: Mollejon, Chalillo, BTL, Mahogany Heights, Ara Macao and now, Stake Bank. In case you have not heard, there is the multimillion dollar tourism project on North Drowned Caye and Stake Bank Caye, which include the construction of a 4 mile long causeway from Belize City to North Drowned Caye. Belizean developer Michael Feinstein has proposed to construct at least three five star hotels, a casino and marina and residential condos on the two islands linked to Belize City by the causeway. The U.S. $250 million development plan, dubbed the Ocean View Grand Development, also calls for the construction of another causeway that would link the two islands. In October Feinstein presented an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study on the North Drowned Caye development to the Department of the Environment (DOE). Last week engineering experts from the Feinstein team met with some fifty concerned citizens at the Princess Hotel to discuss the project as part of a public consultation process for the approval of the EIA study on North Drowned Caye. Concern was expressed about the North Drowned Caye development, especially as it relates to the mangrove in that area, because the mangrove islands form an important buffer zone protecting Belize City from storms and also from ocean surges. According to The Reporter newspaper, Acting Chief Environmental Officer, Martin Alegria, said not much vital information has been provided about the proposed causeway, which is of major concern to the department. The department, he said, wants an in-depth geological data study to be conducted on the sea bed to determine if it would be able to withstand such huge structures as contemplated in the development plan. There is also concern about the height of the causeway, which according to the EIA study, will range from 9 feet to 30 feet above sea level in some areas to alow for bigger vessels to pass. Feinstein plans to construct the two-lane causeway from the Marine Parade Boulevard on north side Belize City The North Drowned Caye development, which will involve 515 acres of land, calls for the construction of a 260-room hotel, a casino, a marina and residential units among other amenities. According to the EIA study, an ocean beach estate on Drowned Caye will take up 95 acres of the island while a marina village will take up 26 acres. The size of the casino and its conference room is estimated to be 25,000 square feet and the project concept is for the Fake jobs and lies development of a quiet, isolated community. Extraordinarily the Stake Bank development has already been given export processing zone status, meaning that locals will not be allowed to go on Stake Bank Caye! Plans call for the construction of a major marina that will be able to dock as many as four cruise ships at any one given time and cruise ship passengers will be able to commute to Belize City and places beyond, using the causeways. As Usual, Feinstein says the development will bring employment for Belizeans and should boost Be lize’s economy. And that´s what all these projects amount to; Promises! Promises! Promises, and huge profits for local cronies and foreigners who spend nothing in or among Belizeans who are even banned from going to Stake Bank. Remember Mollejon? It was supposed to provide hundreds of jobs for Belizeans .. it didn´t . Instead it employed hundreds of Chinese laborers. It was built amidst rumours of huge cash rake-offs and of design faults. And sure enough, soon after it was completed it was almost washed away. Originally Belize and BEL (then government owned) had an interest in Mollejon. The dam was sold and sold again and, by the time Fortis Inc. of Canada ended up with it, the dam was wholly owned by Fortis. Then, in total control the dam, they assumed the right to sell electricity to BEL (their company) for whatever price they chose. Nothing changed when they built Chalillo (amidst the same pattern of lies about the geology of the area and denial of a major earthquake fault line exactly where the dam is placed) and with huge teams of foreign laborers. Hundreds of ´jobs´ are part and parcel of false government promises which go with every huge international “project”. These also involve massive pay offs to cronies, huge bites out of tax payers money and corrupt construction and finance deals Remember the BTL/Intelco fiasco? That’s another example of a long running saga of government corruption lies and double dealing. Remember the promise over the new city of Mahogany Heights? More jobs again! A huge housing project to employ thousands to build a new city for those in need of housing! A project to ease overcrowding in Belize City! All lies, lies and lies again. Instead a German/Salvadoran company moved in its equipment, with hundreds of Salvadoran laborers, to build the new city out of illegally imported paper and plywood sections. These simply rotted as quickly as the new city itself which, with its newly built but rotten structures, soon became a small neglected rural slum! What did it cost? The land itself, although known to be unsuitable for housing, was bought from a crony for an inflated $10,000,000 after he had only paid a token for it. It was sold without proper title so that to this day the home owners have no title and probably no hope of title! Total cost? Ranging upward to $200,000! And that just the beginning of the so called PUP 10,000 house target which allowed ministers throughout the country to mint fortunes from housing ´deals´ to build a few inadequate tin roofed shacks in the districts. Then there is the Ara Macao Resort! Just don´t believe government or the promoters when they say they will review the project to meet objections. Even in its first stage it will demand 15.35 megawatts of electricity, more than half of what is currently used in both Belize City and Ladyville combined! The hastily done Environmental Impact Assessment carried out by a group ´friendly´ to government is described as “…very superficial and lacks specific details needed to make a meaningful determination as to the magnitude, duration, scale and geographic extent of the project’s impact...” The project will also consist of two ninehole courses, including 59 private golf course houses and a club house and accommodate: * A 67-acre marina for up to 400 boats of up to 100 feet, dredged to 12-foot deep. * A casino and night club 106,250 square feet to be used by 1,000 people (not locals). * It will include over 250 structures including, * Hotels: One 260 room 3-storey condo hotel with 100,000 square feet of common area * Villas: 296 in 74, 2-storey buildings Condos: 458 in 38, 4-storey buildings. They will say: “We don’t intend to build it all. We will revise it to suit the area!” Don´t believe them! Remember the tourist Villge? Remember the airport? Remember the Printers? Remember the new Port? Remember Pena’s village? How many more broken promises will the PUP hand out? THINK ABOUt IT AND STOP THEM NOW! “...locals will not be allowed to go on Stake Bank Caye!”

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Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 8 TOPICAL TIDBITS TOPICAL TIDBITS TOPICAL TIDBITS TOPICAL TIDBITS TOPICAL TIDBITS Drowning at Seaappearance! Extraordinarily, a Belizean took his out-of-date passport for renewal recently an was fined $20 because the old passport was not in good nick! Where wont they seek for money, money, money!The art of hypocrisy. A journalist we know was recently chastised on his lavish and inaccurate praise for the Musa regime. “It served my purpose,” he said, “I needed aEmergency in Cayo.It was one of those situations which cried out for a quick coordinated respond from “emergency” crews buy alas, when an electric line blew in the heart of San Ignacio the other day and showered the surrounding traffic and pedestrians with sparks and green flashes, minutes dragged into 10 before a fire engine appeared and that time doubled before a single policeman appeared or BEL cut off the power. A fire works show which only luck stopped from turning deadly.Also in CayoIt´s becoming a long running farce as downtown and uptown traffic on Bullet Tree Road continues to be rerouted around three blocks when Sacred Heart Junior school is letting students in or out. The diverted traffic has to pass a busy playground and the busy route to another area school. It would take very little for the land rich school to construct a simple safe set-down area along its fence side and a flag boy to do away with the problem which led to the diversion in the first place.Up Mexico way Mexico is planning to create mixed police units and check migration status of the population in southern border areas and it could effect Belizeans traveling north. As part of that program, from Jan 1, Guatemalan citizens will be able to request to enter Mexico as local visitors and temporary agriculture workers, and if they violate those rights they will lose their rights and be sanctioned. Annually two million people cross the southern border from Guatemala and Belize to Mexico and vice versa, and of them 400,000 enter the Aztec nation illegally.That old Brit/Saudi/ Wahabbi connection.I went to see the Old One who lives at the ruins. I had a question for him. Our government kept telling us about how Mr. Ralph was educated and had lots of knowledge about economics. So I asked the Old One, “how come Mr. Ralph came up with all these ways to borrow so many millions and millions of dollars, but we are now worse off then we were before we borrowed all that money, and we don’t seem to have anything to show for it?” The Old One smiled and then answered. “You should not consider education, knowledge and wisdom as the same thing. Education teaches us facts. Knowledge is the facts we learn. Wisdom is the ability to use our knowledge to effectively solve problems. There are a lot of smart and educated people who lack wisdom, and unfortunately that seems to include those who have controlled our national economic policy in the past. “I have never known of a politician who was elected for his wisdom, but politicians seem to think if they were smart enough Belize Economics to get elected, they must be smart enough to do any job. Our controlling elected officials sort out the juicy high paid minister’s positions amongst themselves, with little or no consideration as to their abilities to handle the jobs, instead of seeking highly qualified people for the critical positions. A person is generally considered to be “highly qualified” because he possesses the wisdom to get the job done effectively. Mark Espat is about our only politician who has a history of effective management in government, but he stands out like a searchlight in a cave.” I asked the Old One if the proposed billion dollar restructure bond would solve our financial problems? The Old One frowned then continued. “Minister Espat himself has said that the Belize restructuring scenarios are ‘at the outer edge of what forecasts show as being affordable for the country.’ What he is saying loud and clear is the proposed desperate bond solution is too costly and too late. “There are three serious issues to consider. “First: Let’s stop and look at the simple economics of a billion dollar bond. We have a population of less than 300,000 people, of which 60% are less than 15 years old. Our unemployment figures are never published because they are so bad, but being generous in our calculations, we still have less than 100,000 people working. Just on the face of it and without all the other costs, the restructure bond is only a Band-Aid on a jugular hemorrhage, but it will still create a $1,000,000,000 debt for 100,000 working people to pay off. That is $10,000 for each working person just for this bond, with additional costs for the bond issue. BUT that is only the beginning. Interest on the bond is significantly greater than the annual increase in our earnings as is at least an additional $45 million a year for the first few years and $85 million after that until 17 years have passed… and then we have even higher interest plus we have to start paying back the billion dollars at $125 million a year. And…. while all this is going on, the government has already borrowed a lot more money that also has to be paid back. “Second: Certainly the only justification in our present circumstances for borrowing such a large sum would be if the proceeds were used to generate sufficient returns in the future to be selfliquidating, but our experience to date hardly justifies this hope. “Third: Our “D” credit rating is so low it has to look up to see whale poop. For some time now we have not been able to service our existing loans, and had to borrow money to pay the interest on what we already owed. Any buyer of the bonds will know that we are in default, and the probability of Belize repaying the bonds is less than a politician disclosing all of his income sources. It is obvious we can’t handle our existing debt, yet… we are proposing to add another $45 million a year. The only possible buyers would be those with a strangling political noose, such as Venezuela, Cuba or Taiwan. We have already lost our ass and now we are trying to sell our soul. There may of course be someBy: Des Parrett (Please Turn To Page 11) Death by drowning, or simply from going missing, is becoming a major concern among critics of the cruise ship industry. These vessels are above all ground rules and float free of international law when drowned or missing passengers are concerned. They simply sail on without obligation of police investigation or even of reporting losses locally. This leaves friends and relatives in a legal limbo with no possibility of finding out the cause of death of their loved ones. Too easily the cruise liners shrug off drowning deaths as “suicide”.Sea and River safetyOur own safety laws relating to the sea and rivers needs tightening up as incidents of losses and drowning inland and on the Cayes continue on an almost monthly basis. It is up to lodge owners and tour operators to fully brief their customers on the dangers of sea currents and of raging waters on our rivers. The recent heavy rains left several canoeists, unaccompanied by guides, tipped out and stranded in western rivers. All were rescued by alert canoes with guides but there´s no doubt that in some cases, when the rivers are swelled and furious, lodges should ban non guide canoeing.Watch that passportDon’t let your passport decline in favor!”GST yet again!Not only is it crippling, beyond recovery, many small businesses throughout the country, GOB tax department doesn´t know what it is doing. If it expects every small business to issue proper receipts it must issue the correct receipt books. In Cayo the GST office can’t even advise its victims which receipts are correct and which are not! “Killer GST” makes the old VAT look very good indeed and also makes the lies and hysterical screeches of the PUP when it killed Vat as phony as all their other promises and pledges. Oh, and that border tax, which is also killing small businesses, means a young couple must pay $70 US just to leave Belize. Money that could and should stay with lodges and businesses and not go to enrich the coffers of the Government and the often incompetent Border Management. According to UK press reports, an investigation into allegations of bribery involving a large British defence contractor and Saudi Arabia have been quashed. Mr. Blair took personal responsibility for stopping the inquiry into a multibillion pound Saudi arms deal, saying that “If we had allowed this to go forward, we would have done immense damage to the interests of this country.” His concern for the national interest might, of course, have been to counter Saudi threats not to buy British fighter jets if the probe continued. It´s another example of the old and still intact Brit/Saudi/US deal, which allowed the extremist Wahabbis to create the Taliban, the Al qaida, saw that all Saudi royal family w ere quickly evacuated illegally from the USA after 911 and continues to turn its usual blind eye to corruption and human rights abuse in the antique kingdom.

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Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 9 TENS OF MILLIONS – THEN HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS – NOW IT’S ONE BILLION!!! In post independent Belize, successive People’sUnited Party (PUP) governments have embarked on a program of reckless borrowing with hardly any tangible benefits for the masses of the Belizean people. The reckless borrowing, first in the ten of millions of dollars, began during the 1989-93 era of PUP rule with the arrival of the unelected PUP financial guru, Ralph Fonseca, the nation’s defacto minister of finance, under the wings of Prime Minister George Price. How can we forget that era’s series of borrowings at ridiculously high interest rates such as the Italian line of credit and others, to fund bloated contracts like the commercial center at the foot of the swing bridge, the customs house in the Port Loyola Area and the city center, all in Belize City? That series of reckless borrowing resulted in the shortest-lived government ever in the political history of the nation. General election was called 16 months before it was constitutionally due with then prime minister George Price’s infamous “job done” pre-election proclamation. The PUP was booted out of office and a new United Democratic Party (UDP) government was faced with the task of nursing the nation’s devastated economy back to health. The exercise resulted in the implementation of some unpopular decisions primary among which were the downsizing of government’s bloated workforce and the implementation of the Value Added Tax. By the time the UDP left office in August of 1998 the overall national debt stood at a manageable 500 million dollars. In came the PUP Government headed by a new prime minister in the person of Said Wilbert Musa, with the now elected Ralph Fonseca as minister of finance. It did not take long for the reckless borrowing to resume only this time in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The 2003 general election campaign came with unprecedented massive campaign financing and lavish spending on propaganda items in every district town and larger villages. These items included expensive “love fests” overflowing with cheap beers and free food for all along with live entertainments featuring Supa G, the caliente dancers as well as expensive political advertisements on television. The massive spending resulted in the return of prime minister Said Musa and the PUP to government. Within days of assuming the reigns of government, the party’s chief campaign financier, Barry Bowen was handsomely Editorial rewarded with the slashing of excise duty on his beer from $12 per gallon, under the previous UDP government, to a measly $1.80 per gallon. Despite this huge reduction in taxes, the price of Bowen’s Belikin beer and stout increased and, with the added windfall of surplus revenue, Bowen embarked on a massive expansion project. New, bigger and more sophisticated route trucks were pressed into service. The added finances also gave birth to the erection of impressive Bowen distributions centers such as the one near Esperanza Village in the Cayo District and in other parts of the country. In the words of PUP’s own cabinet minister Cordel Hyde, this singular decision, on the part of his new PUP government, resulted in the decrease of government revenues from an annual $25 million to moratorium on borrowing. We borrow too damn much.” Then in last Friday’s sitting of the house of representatives, the nation was treated to Mark Espat rising in support of government’s intention to embark on the historical borrowing of ONE BILLION DOLLARS. This is the very same Mark Espat who, only a few months earlier, told the nation in the very same house of representatives that “we cannot continue to borrow from Peter to pay Paul”. He has taken a full 360 degrees turn. How interesting indeed. Furthermore, only a few days ago we witnessed the same Mark Espat signing off on a $25 million loan from the InterAmerican Development Bank and in the process telling the nation that the proceeds from this loan will not be going into any projects. Visit The Belize ZooThe Best Little Zoo In The World disbursement of the second $15 million of the IDB loan hinges on “the orderly liquidation” of the nation’s only institution for development financing and the retrenchment of employees of that institution? Notwithstanding, some level of comfort must be given to the Belizean people and so it came in the form of Mark Espat promising the “opening of a new financing window” whatever that means. “primarily to finance student loans” said Espat. Obviously recognizing that some degree of hope must be given to comfort the sometime militant student population, the promise came in the form of an institution dubbed “development financing limited” For some reason this promise reads like a page torn from Tony Quinn’s book under the heading “Tell them what they want to hear. Have we actually forgotten when, a few months ago, during the heights of raising fuel prices, former Mexican president Vicente Fox was brought to our shores and with the full concurrence of prime minister Musa, hoodwinked us with the false hope of cheaper fuel price by way of the establishment of Mexican fuel stations in the country. And so we hanged our collective hopes on Fox’s singular promise. We returned to our respective corners. We lapped our collective tails between our legs. Today, we remain saddled with high fuel prices. The presidency of Vicente Fox has gone into the history books and we are yet to see a single Mexican fuel station established anywhere in the country. It is often said that “a promise is a comfort to a fool.” The year just ending was not an easy one, all political parties will be in full campaign mode in the New Year and so the combs will begin to fall to the floor. Take that which is rightfully yours. We have been punishing for much too long. Remember the promises of cheaper light, water and telephone rates? Listen to the promises as they are made because at the end of the day, none of us are fools. a measly $4 million per annum. In his 2005 contribution to the budget debate, Cordel Hyde publicly recommended that the taxes on beer be restored to the $12 per gallon rate as it was under the UDP ”and let us collect the 25 million dollars”, said Hyde. The PUP, in campaign mode for the 1998 general election, lambasted the UDP government for presiding over the nation’s foreign reserves which they said stood at ”only” three months of imports. Today, after eight years of PUP rule, that very same foreign reserve stands dangerously at two weeks of imports while the national debt has ballooned to 3.3 billion dollars. With the national economy in shambles, prime minister Musa was forced by other members of his government to remove Ralph Fonseca as minister of Finance. In terms of present times, the borrowing has evolved from increments of tens of millions to hundreds of millions and now to a whopping ONE BILLION DOLLARS. In the words of prime minister Said Musa “that’s billion with a “B”. Call it a direct loan. Call it the floating of bonds. Call it the acquisition of finances at concessionary rates. Call it whatever you want, a lemon by any name is just as sour. If it is not a grant, then it’s bad news for the Belizean economy as any more borrowing will only serve to further mortgage the future of Belizeans yet unborn. Again in the words of PUP minister Cordel Hyde “We must put a How on earth did we reach the point whereby elected politicians can shamelessly utter these words to a nation feeling the pinch of ailing economic conditions where 44% of its citizens are living in poverty? Amidst widespread poverty, government finance officer Joe Waight tells us that 85 million dollars in additional loans is coming into the country. $25m from the IDB $25m from the CDB $25m from the Republic of Venezuela and $10m from the Republic of China on Taiwan ALL of which will be used, said Joe Waight “ to help support Belize’s balance of payment” with not even a dime directly touching the life of a single poor Belizean. How did we reach the point when we can swallow the pronouncement that STAR Newspaper dated Sunday December 17, 2006“...the borrowing has evolved from increments of tens of millions to hundreds of millions and now to a whopping ONE BILLION DOLLARS. In the words of prime minister Said Musa “that’s billion with a “B”.”(Printed with permission of the author)

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Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 10 “The Airline Of Belize” Fly Tropic Air Fly Tropic Air Fly Tropic Air TEGUCIGALPA, (IPS) Traditionally powerful families and drug traffickers have enormous political influence in Honduras today, according to analysts. The elite families, which have gradually taken over party structures and decisionmaking posts in government, “are the groups that have what we could call ‘legal’ power,” political scientist Ernesto Paz at the public National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) told IPS. “But then there are the others, who work behind the scenes and have links to organised crime, especially drug trafficking, which has a strong presence in this country,” he added. “These groups, which not only paralyse, but influence political reforms needed in this country, are generating a crisis of governability and weakening the party system,” he said. Paz and other analysts who talked to IPS said the families that exercise the greatest power in Honduras are Jewish or of Arab descent, and are involved in economic sectors like the “maquiladoras” (export assembly plants), energy, telecoms, tourism, banking and finance, the media, the cement industry and trade and commerce. The study “Real Integration and Groups of Power in Central America” by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation of Germany says these vested interests have taken over the spectrum occupied by political parties in the region. The study differentiates between “business governments, “ like that of El Salvador, and “pro-business governments” like the ones that have ruled Honduras and the rest of the countries in Central America, in which the link between government structures and the private sector have been less direct than in El Salvador. Investor Miguel Facussé Barjum, his son-in-law Fredy Nasser, energy magnate Schucry Kafie, and banker and industrialist Jaime Rosenthal are the most powerful men in Honduras. Another influential businessman is the Cuban-born José Lamas. c Nasser and Kafie control the country’s thermal energy industry, and Nasser’s business interests include concessions to HONDURAS: HONDURAS: HONDURAS: HONDURAS: HONDURAS: Governed by Vested Interests Governed by Vested Interests Governed by Vested Interests Governed by Vested Interests Governed by Vested Interests By Thelma Mejía San José, Costa Rica Monday 18 December 2006 operate the country’s main airports, as well as shares in telephone companies in Guatemala. Influential businessmen in the media, whose influence has grown since the 1990s, are Rafael Ferrari; Carlos Flores Facussé, a former president (1998 2002) and the nephew of Miguel Facussé; and Jorge Canahuati Larach. Jesuit priest Ismael Moreno said these groups “are so interrelated and closely linked to the Honduran political system, where their meddling is very strong, that it can be stated that they handpick presidents and other authorities, dictate the news agenda in the media, and are the main contributors to political campaigns.” “The repetitive presence of certain last names in Congress and the executive branch is not fortuitous,” Moreno, director of the Jesuit Reflection, Research and Communication Team (ERIC), told IPS. “They know how to intervene, request and demand. The state would seem to be at their service, and governments are seen as an instrument for obtaining power and profits. “If they used to do a better job disguising their ambition, in the last decade they have gone over the top, and it would seem that this plundered and ruined country still has meat to chew on,” he added. Of Honduras’ seven million people, 65 percent lived below the poverty line and 53 percent in extreme poverty in 2005, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). A presidential adviser who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons told IPS that “these groups are insatiable, they make one request after another. Two months ago, in a meeting with President Manuel Zelaya, they told him that in the 1980s, the most important political decisions were put to consultation in the military barracks, but that now they were here, the businesspeople and the media.” “You are only temporary, while we are permanent, they said. We want to be consulted about decisions, we want contracts and to participate in the public tenders, we want to express our opinions on some appointments of public officials, and we want official advertising contracts, they added,” according to the source. Since then, the Zelaya administration, which took office in January 2006, has had friction with some of the country’s most powerful business groups, because the cabinet includes members of the Jewish business community headed by Rosenthal, which is at loggerheads with the country’s most influential families of Arab origin. Rosenthal, who has run unsuccessfully for the presidency four times, belongs to the governing Liberal Party and has interests in areas like the media, the cement industry, beef exports, banks, insurance and telecoms. He played a key role in Zelaya’s campaign. His son, Yani Rosenthal, is now minister of the Presidency, in charge of coordinating all the ministries and the most important portfolios of public administration projects and credits. Given Zelaya’s marked differences with some power groups, who is he governing with? With the Rosenthal family and another business sector not linked to the traditional structures, who intend, together with the president, “to set a distance between themselves and those who have exploited this country for years,” said the presidential adviser who spoke to IPS. This group is apparently led by the president’s chief of staff Roberto Babún, who has interests in the timber industry. His camp includes business leaders involved in the tourist industry, biodiesel manufacturing — which has strong backing from the present administration — and the thermal energy industry. Unconfirmed reports have also pointed to links between the government and members of the Guatemalan business community, who allegedly contributed substantially to the president’s election campaign. According to the governing party deputy to the Central American Parliament, Gloria Oquelí, this scenario” endangers the stability of the political parties, because penetration by these groups is so overwhelming that we are being left without any true political leaders.” ”It’s not that their participation is a negative thing, they should participate. But they should let the politicians govern and not the other way around, that is to say, govern the politicians themselves, as we are seeing in practice. We should re-think how to modernise the political system and make political parties less elitist and more open to civil society and social participation, “ she said. What most concerns Oquelí is what she calls the coopting of the party systemby drug traffickers, about whom she says there are “strong indications that they have financed political campaigns. Political parties must open their books and give the public information about who finances (Please Turn To Page 11) Professional single, nonsmoking, quiet tennant sought for a self-contained, onebedroomed, H&C water, AC apartment in Ladyville. Call 225-3586 anytime FOR RENT “penetration by these groups is so overwhelming that we are being left without any true political leaders.”

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Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 11 Jungle Walk Jungle Walk Jungle Walk Jungle Walk Jungle Walk crazy entities who feel that they could use the bond to foreclose on the economy somehow, but the bond issue makes total nonsense from a commercial point of view. “If it somehow did happen to find a “taker” the bond is storing up a disastrous burden on the Belize population in 17 years time....when of course the responsible politicos will no longer be around. The repayments would have to come from taxation on our workers, though it appears the prospect of the bonds ever being repaid are pretty much nil. No doubt a “rollover” in 17 years time is what the government has in mind, but with an already heavily indebted economy a rollover could be a pipedream. “Fourth: The billion dollar bond does not correct the causes of our disastrous economics. OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM HAS FAILED US! It has failed to provide justice for our people. It has failed to supply a decent education system for our children. It has failed to keep our borders secure. It has failed to make proper health care available (take a look at the dreadful hospitals in PG and San Ignacio). It has failed to give us an accounting of how our national money has been (mis)spent for years now. It has failed to give us a properly trained police force we can call upon for help, instead of one that is often worse than the criminals. It has failed to create jobs for our people. It has caused a 300% increase in our cost of living over the last 10 years while failing to increase our wages. In short our political system has failed our people just as surely and dramatically as Communism failed the Russians.” The Old One shook his head. “Our system has long been a tool for the vested interests, and corrupt politicians,” he concluded. “We have sunk into a type of Fascism under the guise of democracy where our people now serve the government instead of the government serving our people. There must be a change, and that change must come soon. Belize Economics (Continued From Page 8)their campaigns, and in return for what,” she said. Alfredo Landaverde, an expert on drug trafficking issues and adviser to the state on security, said that “narco” penetration in Honduras can be seen in money laundering, car theft, forgery of documents, HONDURAS: HONDURAS: HONDURAS: HONDURAS: HONDURAS:Governed by Vested Interests Governed by Vested Interests Governed by Vested Interests Governed by Vested Interests Governed by Vested Interests (Continued From Page 10)trafficking of arms and persons, and the activities of “maras” or youth gangs. Drug trafficking has been seen in Honduras since 1977, although the country was mainly used in the past as a transit point. However, in the last decade, this has changed, as indicated by the seizures of enormous quantities of cocaine by the police — more than 3,000 kg so far this year. According to the governmental Honduran Institute for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction and Dependency, drug use is on the rise, and a majority of youngsters between the ages of 15 and 19 have tried some kind of illegal drug, especially cocaine. The Institute reports that in the 1970s, local drug consumption was largely limited to marijuana. But cocaine, as well as crack, now both circulate widely. “And since 2002, small amounts of ecstasy and heroin have been seized, although their distribution is still limited,” says the Institute. Landaverde said drug trafficking activity is concentrated on the Caribbean and Atlantic coasts in the north and northeast, and in the extreme western part of the country. According to the UNAH Observatory on Violence, these are the regions with the highest levels of violent crime. Drug traffickers launder their profits by “investing in luxury homes, ranches, companies and fishing boats, as well as small and medium-size businesses. But they also do so by investing in politics,” said Landaverde, who clarified that there are no official statistics on money laundering in the country. Two months ago, Marvin Ponce, a lawmaker with the leftist Democratic Unification party, stated that there wereThe Jabiru stork is Belize’s biggest bird and one of the most easily recognized. This week, Independent Weekly gives you some more information on this fascinating creature, courtesy Jungle Walk field guide by Katie Stevens. January is the time of year when the jabiru stork (Jabiru mycteria) begins refur bishing last year’s nursery in preparation for this year’s brood. No mean feat; constructed of large sticks intertwining, the jabiru nest is a platform as many as 8 feet across! It perches high in a tall, often dead, usually lone tree within a pine ridge or above the jungle bush. This overexposure of its whereabouts made this otherwise shy bird an easy target in the pre-protection days when the jabiru was a commodity in the markets of Belize. Luckily, today’s Belize boasts the healthiest population of these storks within its eight county habitat (Central America and Mexico), although destruction of some nesting and feeding areas have inevitably occurred. The largest flying bird in the Americas, the jabiru is four and a half to five feet with a wingspan of nine feet. In Spanish it is known as El Rey de Ellos, or “King of them all”; in Belize it is demoted to “fillymingo” or even to “turk”! Aside from the obviousness of its outsize, its appearance is also unmistakable. Its plumage is all white, its head all black— including the heavy duty bill; these are connected by a loose skinned black neck bordered below by a bright red band, comprising a simple but tasteful ensemble— all things considered. No one ever implied that the jabiru is just a pretty face! The immature jabiru is an appropriate brownish gray. The storks feed in wetlands, around swamps and ponds, sometimes flying several miles in search of a favored food. These are many to choose among: fish, frogs and snails, reptiles and small mammals. Snakes seem to be high on the list of delectables, perhaps because the appetite which is worked up in the process of preparation. The jabiru will take a 6-foot snake and shake it, throw it up into the air and catch it, thrash it and bash it and finally tear it to pieces. Which it then eats with relish (but rarely piccalilli). Jabirus come in solitary pairs which snare the duties of parenthood but, when the nesting season is over, they fly north with their young (2-4) to join up with the flocks of southern Mexico.legislators who had gained their seats with drug trafficking money, although he did not dare name names. A former mayor from a town in Honduras told IPS that at least five mayors in the western provinces of Copán, Lempira and Ocotepeque had financed their campaigns with drug money. But “if I reveal their names, they’ll kill me the next day,” he said. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported that around 100 tons of cocaine move through Honduras annually, while domestic consumption levels have soared in the last few years. Most of the cocaine comes from Colombia and is on its way to the United States, according to the Honduran police and the DEA. The DEA plans to establish an anti-drug military base in 2008 in the Atlantic coastal region of Mosquitia, one of the main drug trafficking points in Honduras due to its remote jungles, which are unconnected to the rest of the country by road. The drug lords evade justice by means of bribery, threats and murder, said Landaverde. Both the economic elites and the drug traffickers are consolidating their hold on power thanks to the fragility of democracy in the region, which “is in cris is,” in the view of Paz. “In the case of Honduras, one of the solutions to keep the state from remaining trapped in these networks is the construction and creation of citizen networks that strengthen society,” the political scientist argued.

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Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 12 For an online version of the INdependent Reformer visit us at http://www .belizenor th.com/ independentr eformer .htm OR http://belizenews.com/ independentonline.pdf A Christmas Story Here is a true story which happened over the Christmas Season a couple of years ago. A little old lady, obviously very poor, was trying to buy a Christmas ham. The shop was crowded with people pushing each other and calling out to the assistants behind the counter. Several small boys were scrambling around, under everybody’s feet. Unable to shout very loud she hoped to get the attention of one of the clerks by waving. She clutched her worn bag in one hand and waved with the other..... Finally one of the clerks leaned over the counter. “What for you, lady?” “One small ham”, she said. “The smallest ham you got.” The young man went away and rummaged through the boxes of hams, first weighing one and then weighing another and at length came back with a ham and said, “Eleven dollars and twenty-five cents. Ok?” The old woman bit her lip. “No. I am sorry. Don’t you have anything smaller? I have only ten dollars.” She turned away with a hint of tears in her eyes. The owner, who was at the cash register during the whole episode, told her to wait and called back the clerk. “It’s all right, boy. Give her the ham for ten dollars.” With the ham safely in her shopping bag at her feet the old lady removed a worn ten dollar bill from her cloth purse and handed it to the owner. “God Bless you, sir”, she said with a catch in her voice. “That’s all right”, the owner said gruffly, a little embarrassed to show his Christmas spirit before the crowd of customers. Suddenly someone shouted, “Stop that boy,” and the old lady realized one of the little boys had grabbed her bag and run away. He was fast and smart and before anyone could take action he was up Water Lane and gone. Now the tears really came down the old woman’s face and she wailed piteously. And wrung her hands. And started out of the shop. “Come on boys,” someone in the crowd shouted. “Let’s help the lady.” He waved a dollar in the air. Soon another hand went up and then another. And within a minute the money was collected and paid and another ham, a little larger than the stolen one, was forthcoming from the boxes. And the owner even gave the little old lady a new bag to carry it in. Perhaps we haven’t all gotten money-mad and cold to the needs of others. by Emory KingGhislaine graduated magna cum laude, from Florida Southern College this December 16th with a Masters of Business Administration. Congratulations from her parents, family, and friends. Much success with your future endeavors. CONGRA TULA TIONS! Proud parents Lisa & Albert V. Hoare Sr. attending the graduation ceremonies of their eldest child Ghislaine Hoare.

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Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 13 appliances is as short lived as the appliances themselves. From power surges to power struggles in the home, how many family are still paying for items that stopped working just months into the contract? How many of us are sitting on sofas that looked so beautiful in the showroom, but which barely survived the transfer home; which, within days of arrival began to boast rips and tears and stains, providing well upholstered dens for baby mice and lizards? How many lovingly selected cups and saucers cannot ever be placed upright for fear of some droppings dropping into them? Brand new, shiny kitchen cupboards last exactly 30 minutes before one of the hinges falls off, the draw pull stops pulling or they become dark scary places where pots and pans go in, but never come out the same, where wildlife of any size may emerge in the night and scare the beejeezus out of your pet dog or cat or hubby seeking a nighttime snack. I almost had a heart attack when I opened the washer one morning to find a baby iguana opening his mouth aggressively at me. To the day I have no idea where he/she went. He/she just disappeared “down there somewhere.” I recently sold that washer, but harbor the secret fear that the new owner will meet a fully grown iguana some day when she sets out to hang out the wash. It’s is a guilt I must live with. Just as I live with the remorse of not taking better car of my car. Of not sleeping in her every night to guard her against gas and hubcap thieves and window smashing vandals. Of not getting out and personally inspecting the road for potholes the size of graves in front of Lord’s Ridge Cemetery and trenches the size of bank vaults across the Lord’s Bank Road. I am sorry, so sorry, my trusty Corolla that you are rusty, corroding in the salty air and choking with red dust. That bits and pieces fall out of you at random and you rattle like an old Landrover. I apologize to you and all the other items I brought her, or bought here. You deserve a better, longer life. Belize does not like to be called a third world country. But surely we are a 30 minute country. If you really like your Christmas presents, I suggest you leave them in the box. They’re safer in there. Thirty Minute Country (Continued From Page 4)Belmopan have joined forces to develop a Computer Literacy Initiative in time for the New Year. Currently there is no computer teaching within these primary schools and this project will initially give over 3,000 pupils access to resources and skills needed in the developing age of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The program will establish an essential long term and sustainable ICT presence within these schools where thereafter the Belmopan project could be the basis for further expansion to other Belize primary schools. The project will embrace the local community by running training classes for parents and providing access to the computer services. Development of these networked computer laboratories will enable the creation of an Educational Intranet that can be used as an educational resource and information portal for pupils, parents and teachers. The benefits of such a scheme would give children basic computer skills for when they graduate from primary school which can then be developed in secondary school. Teachers will have access to a much wider spectrum of resources for their classes with the use of the internet and the administration of schools will be much more efficient with the use of the computers and Intranet. With only 13% of Belizeans having access to the internet compared to over 60% in America there is a drastic need for an ICT presence in schools to keep up with the needs for computer literacy in further education and future employment. The community will be influenced by this project as parents will have the ability to learn and develop their computing skills and enjoy the variety of benefits of being connected! The overall aim is to build Belize’s competence of Information and Communication Technologies to bridge the gap of the digital divide. Funding is being sought from the Commonwealth Foundation campaign ‘Commonwealth Connects’ and the key to being successful with the application is Partnerships. The project is solely run by volunteers, the support of parents and the Belize University who will work to maintain the computer laboratories as part of the sustainability. To develop the initiative it needs more support and collaborations which are vital to secure funding and to sustain the program. If you have any business propositions or partnership schemes that you feel will be of interest please contact the project leader, Fiona Fraser. By working together we can ensure that the Primary Schools of Belmopan keep their New Years resolution!New Years resolution for Primary schools in Belmopan!

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Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 14 “The Airline Of Belize” Fly Tropic Air Fly Tropic Air Fly Tropic Air Hunt for good foodWith Anthony Hunt Freetown Rd., Belize CityOpposite the Old Technical College, Li Chee (a.k.a Freetown Kentucky) offers quality, sure value, speedy service and unequalled atmosphere. For just five dollars you can get several pieces of fried chicken (a.k.a greesy bag, nice-n-nasty) well seasoned and deliciously cooked to order with enough fries to keep you within the Atkins diet parameters. Li Chee’s production line is as close to a KFC production of cooked order as you get. The paint work and fixtures may leave a lot to be desired, and lines will be long at all times but just holler a carefully constructed few words, “Five dollar bress’, chop up, fries, latta peppa” and don’t lose sight of your objective, to get outa there with a steamy hot styrofoam package of Li Chees . One US customs officer in Miami once asked (in a southern accent), “Did you bring any of the Lee Chees?”. So no matter whether you are rushing home to Vista Del Mar with no time to cook, or need to take a remembrance of home to your kin in NYC, stop off at Li Chee, keep your head down, muscle into the crowd, and get what you deserve. It is as close to chicken heaven as you can get, and the word is spreading worldwide. Li Chee ARIES (Mar. 21April 20) Be prepared to neutralize any threats. Praise will be yours if you have been pursuing your goals. Your main concern will be to spend as little as possible of your own cash in the process. T AURUS (Apr. 21may 21) Use your charm, but don’t sign or agree to anything. Focus on your domestic scene. Get together with friends or relatives. Be sure to take care of any minor ailments. GEMINI (May 22-June 21) This is a wonderful day to look into courses or hobbies that interest you. Travel for business will not only bring you valuable information but also profits as well. You can win if you’re open and up front with your boss. CANCER (June 22-July 22) You can enjoy your involvement in organizations that make charitable contributions. Travel will be fun and entertaining. It’s time to reevaluate your motives. LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Offers of joint ventures are likely. Romantic opportunities are evident if you get involved in large groups or organizations. Take care of the needs of elders in your family. VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23) Take a long look at your present direction and consider your professional options. You can sort out any differences you have in an amiable manner. Be careful if a friend asks you for advice. LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23) You may be upset if someone has borrowed something that belongs to you. You can expect changes in your financial situation as well as in your status. Accept the inevitable. SCORPIO (Oct. 24 Nov. 22) Fitness or weight loss pro grams will help your self esteem. Be innovative. However, be careful with luggage; it may be rerouted. SAGITT ARIUS (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21) Try to be precise in your communications. You can make money if you concentrate on producing services or goods that will make domestic chores easier. This will be a good day for research and for sitting down with some good, informative reading material. CAPRICORN (Dec 22.Jan. 20) It might be best to work on your own; if possible, do your job out of your home today. Try to join groups of interest such as ballroom dance classes or perhaps an internet organization. This may not be the time to lend or borrow. AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19) Don’t avoid your true feelings. Old friends may not like your choices. Broaden your horizons and look into programs that will teach you awareness and relaxation. PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20)Uncertain get rich quick schemes will not be as lucrative as you anticipate. You must try to help. The knowledge you have will enhance your reputation.To the Members of the International Financial Community: At the request of the Government of Belize, I would like to inform you of recent economic developments in Belize and the country’s relationship with the International Monetary Fund. Over the past twoye ars, the authorities have made commendable strideisn correcting serious macroeconomic imbalances based on their adjustment strategy. Tax measures and primary expenditure cuts havele d to a sharp improvementi n the central government’s primary balance, which has moved from a deficit of3 percent of GDP in FY2003/ 04 (April to March) to a surplus of 3 percent of GDP in FY2005/06. At the same time, monetary policy was tightened through the sterilization of social security deposits and increases in reserve requirements. These measures have contributed to a narrowing of the country’s large current account deficit. However, these efforts alone will not be sufficient to bring the economy back onto a sustainable path, and for this reason the authorities are undertaking further adjustment efforts during FY2006/07 and beyond. Accordingly, they are targeting a further incrcase in the primary fiscal surplus to 3% percent of GDP in FY 2006/07 and to 4-4% percent of GDP in subsequent years. This fiscal improvement would be achieved by saving theb ulk of projected revenues from oil production, enhancing non-oil revenue collection, and restraining current expenditures. A prudent monetary policy stancew ill be maintained in order to underscore the authorities’ commitment to the fixed exchange rate regime. Structural reforms are envisaged to support macroeconomic tightening. These reforms center on the fiscal are (a e.g., tax reform, pension reform, public debt management), monetary policy implementation, financial sector regulation and supervision, and improved economic statistics. Even with this additional adjustment effort, as well as the additional official financing that is being provided byn mltilateral and bilateral lenders, large fiscal and balance of payments financing gaps would remain in 2007 and beyond. It is against this background that Belize has sought to eng age with its external private creditors to achieve an orderly and cooperative debt restructuring. High participation by private creditors in the debt exchange offer that was launched on December 18, 2006 would help support orderly macroeconomic adjustment, restore fiscal and external sustainability, and establish the conditions for strong economic growth. The International Monetary Fund has wrelcomed the progress the authorities have sing Belize’s serious ma c r o e c o nic imbalances in the context of a homegrown adjustment strategy. Nonetheless, Belize’s situation will remain vulnerable for quite some time, allowing little room for slippage in implementing the policy frame work. We stand ready to continue to assist the authorities in implementing and monitoring their financial and structural adjustment policies,a nd to provide technical assistance as needed. IMF roadmap for Belize 2007

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Friday, January 5, 2007 The INdependent Reformer Page 15 Lookingfor your copy of Independent Reformer Weekly? We currently have the following distributors Countrywide and are looking for more: Corozal: Raidys Orange Walk: Peoples Store, Del La Fuenta Drugs Store Cayo: Evas Café, Celinas and street vendors Dangriga: Oscar Ramirez Placencia: Noldan Brown Punta Gorda : Natures Way Guest House Caye Caulker: Trends Belmopan: Hyde’s Mini Mart and Dakers Stationery Belize City : Albert & Queen Street Stalls, Twin Supermarket and Slingshot on St. Thomas Street, Ladyville: El Ca’s Supermarket, Jonze Salon, Celinas Grocery, Highwayman Service Station, Celina’s, Airport San Pedro : seeking a distributor New Distributors are being added every week so look out for increased availability. You can also join our mailing list, see page 2 for details. T otally eensIf you are between the ages of 11 and 18 and would like to express your opinions email us at: independent.newspaper .bz@gmail.comT What are energy drinks? Energy drinks are beverages like Red Bull, Venom, Adrenaline Rush, 180, ISO Sprint, and Whoopass, which contain large doses of caffeine and other legal stimulants like ephedrine, guarana, and ginseng. Energy drinks may contain as much as 80 mg of caffeine, the equivalent of a cup of coffee. Compared to the 37 mg. of caffeine in a Mountain Dew, or the 23 mg. in a Coca-Cola Classic, that’s a big punch. These drinks are marketed to people under 30, especially to college students, and are widely available both on and off campus. Are there short-term dangers to drinking energy drinks? Individual responses to caffeine vary, and these drinks should be treated carefully because of how powerful they are. Energy drinks’ stimulating properties can boost the heart rate and blood pressure (sometimes to the point of palpitations), dehydrate the body, and, like other stimulants, prevent sleep. Energy drinks should not be used while exercising as the combination of fluid loss from sweating and the diuretic quality of the caffeine can leave the user severely dehydrated. Know what you’re drinking. Energy drinks are not necessarily bad for you, but they shouldn’t be seen as “natural alternatives” either. Some of the claims they make like “improved performance and concentration” can be misleading. If you think of them as highly-caffeinated drinks, you’ll have a more accurate picture of what they are and how they affect you. You wouldn’t use Mountain Dew as a sports drink. And a drink like Red Bull and vodka is more like strong coffee and whisky than anything else. What happens when energy drinks are combined with alcohol? Energy drinks are also used as mixers with alcohol. This combination carries a number of dangers: ·Since energy drinks are stimulants and alcohol is a depressant, the combination of effects may be dangerous. The stimulant effects can mask how intoxicated you are and prevent you from realizing how much alcohol you have consumed. Fatigue is one of the ways the body normally tells someone that they’ve had enough to drink. ·The stimulant effect can give the person the impression they aren’t impaired. No matter how alert you feel, your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is the same as it would be without the energy drink. Once the stimulant effect wears off, the depressant effects of the alcohol will remain and could cause vomiting in your sleep or respiratory depression. ·Both energy drinks and alcohol are very dehydrating (the caffeine in energy drinks is a diuretic). Dehydration can hinder your body’s ability to metabolize alcohol and will increase the toxicity, and therefore the hangover, the next day. Caffeine and Energy Boosting Drugs: Energy Drinks For an online version of the INdependent Reformer visit us at http://www .belizenor th.com/ independentr eformer .htm OR http://belizenews.com/ independentonline.pdfThat is a serious warning for Belizeansin Belize by the IMF, no less. Fuel prices have already gone up...just six days after the DG’s release, without any official releases beingBoxing Day TKO: Belizeans get pumped, AGAIN!issued, at least, not in Belize. But there is more there in Dcotor Rodrigo’s letter. I’ll sit back and let the pundits dissect it then we can talk. But you can’t say you weren’t forewarned. Can you? (Continued From Page 13)

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