Yesterday, 7News told you about the situation in Arenal Village in which a woman's home was destroyed to make way for a football field. It sparks from an issue in which the village's only football field, which is well-known, sits on both Belizean and Guatemalan territory.
The village chairman told us that whenever they've tried to organize sporting events on the field, Guatemalans living near the area cause big problems for the village.
So, they've resorted to building another football field in which the entire length and breadth in Belizean territory.
They had plans for years to create that field, but when they started to bring those plans to reality, they realized that one female resident of the village was squatting on public land.
And when they started working on the field, they destroyed her entire development on the land, which included trees and plants, and her house which was burnt down. That's right, they burnt it down!
7News caught up with her today, and found that she is now without any home along with her 4 children
Here's how she explains the horror of finding the home burnt down:
Sarita Lara - Her Home Was Destroyed
"We were promised help to get the land, proper title, and a house to occupy the land, and start a settlement. The UDP won't allow us to have the land because it was promised by the PUP. So, now they are prejudiced against us, and they are trying to get us off the land. So, we settled here, and tried to make a contract with the Minister and with the Alcalde to notarize the contract, and have it signed by a Justice of Peace. It was so that everybody would know what was happening, but the contract was never signed. And now, they've come and bulldozed the land, destroying everything that was there, house and all. And I want justice because it's not normal. We are poor. They came and saw, and they know that they can persecute us because we're poor. But, we are the same as them, poor or not."
"Here on this land, we're four in my family, 5 with me, and my mother who also has her own land here. She depends on me, and so do my 4 children."
And in every story, there is another side, and the chairman of the village, told us today that they tried to reason with her, but she wouldn't budge. He did admit that they did it unjustly.
Here's an excerpt of how that conversation went:
Lucio Sanchez - Chairman, Arenal Village Council
"It was not our intention to move them unjustly. So, we made a pact with them to give them a piece of lot in Benque, so that they would vacate these lots, and leave them for the community. It's not for me; it's not for any of my neighbors. It's for the community."
"It's is a public area. We want to see papers for leased land. There are no papers for leased land, so this is a public area; that's why we did it."
"This situation has been going for more than a year, and now she's building a house. Why doesn't she build a house on the lot that the Minister is providing for her in Benque."
Lara claims that she's been living at that location for more than 10 years.
The story is more complex than we've excerpted due to time constraints, and tomorrow, we will explore it more fully.
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