...and the truth shall come to light!

On the night before the general elections on February 7th, I had a dream; perhaps it was not as profound or poetic as Martin Luther King's, but all the same, I felt that it bore some salient symbolism. I dreamt that I while I was petting my cat, I noticed that she was struggling to scratch her ears. No matter how many times she scratched with her hind legs, she just couldn't seem to put an end to the itching in her ears. I got a tweezer and when I checked her ear, I discovered an enormous "wahry tick". It was fat and grey and had situated itself deep within the confines of a fold in her ear. I attempted to remove it, but it refused to budge. My cat began to fidgit and I found it difficult to get a hold of the creature. After a few tugs however, I dislodged it and I knew that my cat had found relief.

When I heard the results of the elections, I felt that indeed, the people of Belize had gotten rid of its parasites - those that had tried to hide within the financial and social folds of their party and those who had sought to use the law to their advantage. The breaking news over the past few days relating the sordid scheme of using public funds to act as security for private debts has only made me accutely aware of the blood-sucking that had been taking place in this country. (Who knows, maybe if I'd checked the other ear of my cat, I would have found even more of the little suckers hiding there too!)

It has been a long time coming, but the truth has finally surfaced and the criminals have been exposed for what they are and what they have been. It gives great comfort to know that my perceptions of the former government were indeed right - I wasn't crazy when I agreed that they were a criminal organization - Belize's own mafia.

In the Prime Minister's two press conferences, I had scoffed at the restrained tone with which P.M. Barrow outlined the past government's numerous scams and infractions. He should be visibly livid, I thought; he should be banging his hand on the podium - I would have given him all rights to pontificate if he so desired. But, he kept his cool. Fine. Let him keep his cool when he talks to the press, but when he deals out justice, just make sure he "buhns fiah" and put those scurvists in Hattivelle.

I have a demand...
SEND THEM TO HATTIVELLE!!

Lying by Omission

We all lie. Some of us more than others. I always feel guilty when I lie -- remnants of a semi-strict Catholic upbringing. I remember when I was a little girl in Religion Class; we were learning about lying one day. The Religion teacher and Parish priest taught me that even thinking about committing a sin was in itself sinning. And they also taught me that by withholding the truth, by knowingly saying nothing to someone when I knew the truth was indeed contrary to their thinking, I was lying. This kind of lie has a special name. To lie by omission.

I watched the news broadcast yesterday very attentively. We were told by the PM that not only was $20 Million Belize Dollars from the Venezuela Government used to pay UHS debt, but also another $20 Million Belize Dollars from the Taiwanese Government given in September of last year was spent on the same purpose! Now, it's not as though Belize has excess money to waste and give away. We're barely making it. And the world out there is getting harder. Food and Fuel are becoming more scarce and more expensive in the Global Market. We unwisely have our dollar pegged to a currency that is rapidly losing value. Our imports still far exceed our exports and the atmosphere in the country currently is not especially conducive to
entrepreneurship.

Yet, with all these external forces challenging us, we still had a greater internal threat. Because for the past ten years under our previous government... in addition to the bold face and brazen lies we, the Belizean people, the people they SWORE to protect and help, were told, they have also lied to us by omission. Secret deals with under-the-table additions. Time and time again they used our public monies for private interest. The moved the wealth of this country into their own hands and pockets instead of the hands and pockets and bellies of all of us!

We all suspected it... but now, in the face of real evidence, I'm just in shock. In a 6 month span $40 Million Belizean Dollars which was gifted to the people of Belize was diverted to a private enterprise. We, the Belizean people, pay and we get NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING.

I'm furious. I'm offended. And I wonder, how many millions, or dare I say billions, have been diverted away from our national coffers and into private hands?

I demand compensation. I am happy that the current GOB is looking into the possibility of legal action and implications for these actions that can be described by no other word but evil. And I pray, my Belizean people, that you feel as shocked and offended as I, and fight, along with me, for what is truly and justly ours.

All comments are welcome... enjoy the blog, and feel free to share it.

~The Voice