Last week Wednesday – 7News broke the story
of Minister of State Juan Coy, who wrote a letter to the BDF Camp in Punta Gorda
asking them to release a significant amount of contraband soft drinks, juice
and beer that they had confiscated – items that not only did not pay duty,
but are also prohibited from being sold in Belize. The letter as we reported
was handwritten and signed on February 28 and under that authority the BDF did
release the contraband goods to a man identified to us only as Ruben who had
been intercepted carrying the contraband cargo on - of all things - a school
bus in the Jalacte area. In his letter, Coy told the BDF that the five cases
of Gallo liter beers, five cases of soft drinks and two cases of squirt drink
were for personal use.
In the wider context, veteran politicos tell us it’s not really a huge
deal, but our story caused a huge embarrassment and a mini-political emergency
for the Barrow administration, which was elected on a platform of good governance.
Last week, the Prime Minister told us he would act on it once he was finished
chairing the CARICOM meeting – and he did today. A release issued at the
end of Cabinet today says that Coy has been suspended as Minister of State for
six months, starting today.
The release says that the Prime Minister has decided that Coy’s intervention
on behalf of one of his constituents, quote “constituted a lack of
judgment and could be viewed as an abuse of his ministerial position,”
close quote. It is a strong stand, and for a first term politician, while six
months isn’t an eternity it is a full 10% of his elected term of office.
But still, informed speculation is that if it were another Deputy Minister,
he could have been shuffled out of Cabinet for the infraction – but as
the only Mayan in the House of Representatives and in Cabinet – Coy, it
is felt, was due for special consideration. Also, Coy occupies a strategic position
for government in its battle with the Mayan Leaders Alliance. We know that he
is from San Pedro Colombia which is also the economic and power base of the
Cacao Growers’ Association – which has publicly opposed the Mayan
leaders claim for ownership of communal property. In a recent press conference,
Mayan Leader Greg Choq, all but directly accused Coy of meddling and trying
to undermine the communal cause.
For that reason alone, it is seen as politically prudent that the Prime Minister
keep Coy politically relevant in his Toledo West division. Now the other side
of this story is that there’s a Cabinet post temporarily open, that of
Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Development and Social Transformation.
We’ve heard a name rumoured for this post, but we’ll wait and see.
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