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Well today's predawn operation was no feeble effort, and along with Plus TV we were there to see it happen. Jules Vasquez reports:

Jules Vasquez Reporting:

This morning at 6:00 a.m. when we arrived, police had the entrance to Chetumal Street blocked off - things had not started heating up yet - but they were already hot.

Marta Carillas, Squatter
"I don't know that the government is going to do because, we are Belizean. I read a lot of comments last night, and they were saying that they really have to find out if we are Belizean. Mr. Government, this going ahead, because you will not get a vote from me. And we have two other kids that are 18, and they will not get a vote from us, because we all need a piece of land. We are tired of this."

Hilberto Carillas, Squatter
"We spent $6,000 on that house, and they just broke it down like that, and well I don't know what the plan is."

And because police had the entrance to the street blocked off, we went across the river on Chetumal street in the Belama area where we still could not see what was happening so then we tramped in through Holy Emmanuel street - where the work of mass dismantling was apparent.

As this house was being mauled down, even if it was apparent the wrecking crew wasn't quite first class, families hustled to get their possessions out of the houses

Jules Vasquez
"How many houses will be dismantled? How many houses have been dismantled?"

Felipe Martinez, Leader of Squatters Group
"Well right now they broke down 8 on that side and 5 on this side, that they already are starting to break."

And as households were hastily dismantled emotions were raw and the sentiment bitter.

Squatter
"All of here are Belizeans; We are no illegals! I am nationalized; my daughter is a Belizean. Its the same way how I have to vote, the same way I have to live here. You have no right to come do this. If you are willing to give up you face, at least give us a word. Yesterday you said - you got the balls to say that you will give us a chance not with a letter. Why are you doing this now. This is not fair.

Jules Vasquez
"Ma'am, were you living in one of those houses?"

Squatter "Yes, I was living there!"

Jules Vasquez
"How long?"

Squatter
"Like for 3 months. This is not right. We are humans; we are not dogs. Even the dogs have a goodplace to go sleep. So why is he doing this? When they want your vote, yes, they are there. They promise the moon, the sky, and the heavens for us. Why now they are not here for us?"

And when this roof fell - at 7:00 am it was a clear enough sing that on this day the authiorities would win.

But by 8:00 am when we returned they had set up a fiery roadblaock to block the road - No tyres here this one was firewood fuelled

Felipe Martinez
"Well you see, the people don't feel good they how it is, and this is way how all about the country, they demonstrate, with fire and everything. So people lost their head, when these things go on like that."

Police were blocked off, but not for long, a joint team arrived to drive back the crowd. But their show of force was no match for the emotional power of Maria Menjivar

Maria Menjivar, Squatter
"I have paper for Belize! I have 5 children. You want to kill me; kill me then! You kill all my children. Nobody help me with my house! What happened? You want to kill me; Kill me then!" ?

And right on cue the Belzieans for justice chimes in. The armed forces kept their composure, while riot ready reinforcements came in and pushed the crowd back.

Even if the Belizeans for Justice insisted on defiance and radical engagement - which inspired the crowd

Pedro Vans, Squatter
"You want to hit me? Hit me then! Kill me then!

Indeed everyone was fired up - even me as I had to battle past police just to get back to the frontline area, but the police remained calm and restrained even in the face of frontal assaults -keeping the tear gas gun as a latent threat.

Waiting for the fire truck, which came soon enough, and easily put out the fire

The crowd had gone mostly mute by this time - but they still wanted answers

Marta Carillas
"Let them come out here and talk to us. They same way that they came out here to destroy everybody's house, let's them come out here and talk to us and tell us what's really going on. If they have the balls to come out here and throw everybody's house on the side, let them come out here and talk to us."

Rhenae Nunez, National Perspective Newspaper
"According to a release you were offered - about 3 months ago - a plan for relocation. What happened to that? Did you receive such an offer?"

Felipe Martinez
"Yes, they said that - well they didn't bring it in a paper - they just came and told us that whoever is in the project site, they would remove them to Ladyville."

Rene Garbutt, Squatter
"They need to issue us where we gonna go, or where we supposed to go. They were supposed to give us, from what I heard, 90 pieces of land in the back. All the way in the back where we'd have to cut the bushes and trees down all over again."

Jules Vasquez
"Where will you sleep tonight?"

Maria Menjivar
"On the Street?"

Daniel Ortiz, Amandala Newspaper
"On the Street?"

Maria Menjivar
"Yes, on the Street."

Jules Vasquez
"No ma'am, you must have somewhere to go, some family or -"

Maria Menjivar
"I don't have money right now to pay rent. I collected a little bit of money for my work at BML."

Jules Vasquez
"Now, how many children you have?"

Maria Menjivar
"5 children."

The crowd filtered off and went to assess the damage which was like a mini hurricane had passed through on the first day of June 2011.

Pedro Vans had the biggest house in the area - a four room structure - all on the ground now

Pedro Vans, Squatter
"I spent $9,500 already there. And when I came and I saw my house already there on the ground, It hurt me. It really hurt me. When I came they stopped me in the street, and I saw them with the big hammers, they were breaking the walls. I asked the man why he was breaking it down, and not give me 2 days or so for me to break it down personally. The man cursed me."

Jules Vasquez
"Okay, but at the same time you know that you built on a property that you didn't have title for?"

Pedro Vans
"Yes, I agree with that, but why not give a deadline to me to remove it from there. But not to destroy it that way. That condition its in, that's like an animal."

And all over that's how the ejected residents felt - their possessions cast aside in the bush - their homes in disarray.

One persons who managed to fight them off was this woman. She lost all the siding from her house and her refrigerator is in the bush:

Jules Vasquez
"How is that they didn't break down the entire house?"

Translator
"She said that she stood up for her rights, and that she has receipts and that she paid for everything that she has built. She said that 15 of them came with crowbars, and they were ready to break down the house. They told her to evacuate everything out of the house, so that they could break it down, but she said that she stood up for her rights, and she told them that she will not do that."

Now this single mother and her three children say they will have to sleep in the street as well.

And as the crowd walked out - school children in uniforms as well - with emotions and stakes so high - it was clear this would not be the end of it.