As the news ended on Friday, we confirmed that Greg Choc was leaving SATIIM to go study law. What had been reported two days prior and rumored for weeks was confirmed in a press conference Greg Ch'oc held in the village of Midway in Toledo on Friday just before news time.
Though he had been hounded by the media for days, and was surrounded by the press on Friday in Toledo, he delayed the announcement until he was quote, "among his people" in remote Midway – two hours of rough road south of Punta Gorda Town.
He explained that he had been accepted to the University of West Indies Cave Hill Campus:
Gregory Ch'oc - Executive Director, SATIM
"I am not going anywhere, I am here to continue the struggle with the Maya Communities - yes I have been accepted to law school - it's a personal decision that I have taken in consultation with the leaders of these communities. They have given me their trust to lead them and it's only right that I consult with them. When I decide to go, there will be someone that will rise to the challenge to continue to honor the legacy of resistant of our ancestors. For now, I am going to be here - I am related with the highest spirit of the communities whose support I enjoy, whose trust I hold dearly. It will probably be for one year."
But, the truth is Choc leaves an organization in disarray. Not only is SATIIM losing its founding leader, it's also recovering from the embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars. No one has been charged for it and critics have questioned if Ch'oc was really serious about bringing the alleged perpetrator to justice. Here's how he explained the delay on Friday night:
Gregory Ch'oc
"I want to address one of them which is important to the organization, of which I am the executive director, and will continue to be. I filed a criminal complaint with the police, when our external auditors found in appropriate transactions. All the evidence that was needed, that we had before us, we sent it to the police. I have no influence on how the police department conducts its work; perhaps you can help us by asking the police why they are taking over three months to file criminal charges. Is it that the person accused is a former UDP village council? I don't know, I will never know; the facts are before the police and it is for them to make that decision, whether to charge."
Ch'oc told us that if and when the police charge the individual from his organization, he would be willing to share the details of what he called an elaborate embezzlement scheme.
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