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Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"What I have seen, it is outrageous. I believe somebody sent me an attempted defense by the Mayans. That is indefensible for them to do something like this... they talk about their rights, what about that man's human rights? What about his rights as a Belizean? I don't know how on earth they can ever justify this. In my view they've lost whatever moral high ground they ever had and I want to look carefully at it to see if any of them might not perhaps be criminally liable from what they did to that gentleman. Tying up this man, falsely imprison him, physically assaulting him - that is absolutely intolerable and I am telling you, I mean to find out from the appropriate authorities what if anything they mean to do about it."

Well, that has stirred the leadership of the Mayan community to fire back.

This afternoon, the Maya Leaders Alliance released a statement to restate that Santa Cruz did what it did as a last resort, and only after months of trying with Miles. They say that he destroyed a portion of the Uxbenka Archaeological Site in Santa Cruz Village. The statement says, quote, "…The laws of Belize prohibit building on or damaging any archaeological site…Further, Maya people have lived and worked with many non-Mayas and recognize and appreciate their contributions in the villages. Maya customary law is part of Belizean law and exists to protect the communities." End quote

But, Miles says that the real reason he was roughed up, handcuffed and tied up, is because the Mayans of Santa Cruz did not want to allow black people living in their village. He said that they finally got tired of his defiance, and that's why they detained him. Yesterday, he explained the backstory of how he came to be in the village, and how he weathered their subtle hints that he is unwelcomed:

Rupert Miles, was detained by Mayan Community
"I went to the chairman Aaron Panti, because my wife is from there. I found out from one of the villager how you go about to enter into the village. Because there is an entrance fee that you have to pay when you want to become a villager. So I went to the chairman about 3 times and the third time I met him at his home and I sat down at his door and we started having a conversation and I explained to him that I would want to become a villager. The man said to start with that any female from the village who find any person from out of the village, that girl has to leave the village and go live at her "man" village. He said that she cannot bring the man to live in that village."

"The second thing he said is that he is unhappy when he sees a black man walking through my village - much less than a "kerobi" come and live here."

"I told him that he was offending me. I am a creole man. And not only I he is offending, but other Belizean out here too. He said that they have customary laws and ways in his village and he said that his people here are Maya people. He said that I am a Garifuna and that he doesn't want those things mixing up. So, I ask if I could get accepted and he said no. He said that he personally is the leader of the village and the people put him there. He said that he talks to the village, meaning, that if he says something, its what the people want."

"I ask if he is sure that this is what the people wants and he said yes. So told him that I will contest this, that any female from this village who finds a man from outside have to go. So she is not going and I am coming."

So, what's the response of the Mayans to his allegation of racism as the fuel for the actions they took on Saturday? Well, we spoke with Pablo Mes, the Program Coordinator for the Maya Leaders Alliance, who completely rejects any allegation that Santa Cruz Villagers had racist motivations for trying to kick Miles out:

Pablo Mes - Program Coordinator, MLA/TAA
"The issue of damages to the site is one that is found also in the report or in the letter of the archaeologist that is working in the area from the University of Mexico. He wrote a letter to the Institute of Archaeology expressing great concern over the activities of Mr. Miles portion of the Uxbenka site. The concern he had raised including the bulldozing of a road - to the house that was built by Mr. Miles illegally. He also raised concerns over the clearing of the area and discarding of vegetation in the said area as well."

Daniel Ortiz
"What is the response of the Santa Cruz villagers to this allegation of racism?"

Pablo Mes - Program Coordinator, MLA/TAA
"First of all it is important to establish that the issue of race has nothing to this matter. I want to be very clear in saying that the incident of Saturday June 20th is merely is small part of the contention that Mr. Miles has been having with the community of Santa Cruz. And it has been properly documented and both reports to the Police Department, the Belize Defence Force, the Institute of Archaeology and also to Mr. Miles, the villagers of Santa Cruz along with the village leaders have demonstrated a great deal of tolerance, a great deal of flexibility in trying to have Mr. Miles appreciate and show the slightest bit of respect to rules of the village. He was advised that he was building on an area that for the last decade has been set aside by the villagers for protection as part of the sacred site."

"As opposed to complying with those letters, Mr. Miles choose to ignore them. When he was approached to be inform by village leaders, he threaten them with a firearm."

Today's statement note also that the Mayan Leadership will continue to seek meetings with the Government to avoid further violation of the rights of the Mayan people.

Punta Gorda Police released a statement today saying that Miles has already made a criminal complaint against the villagers, and they are now seeking several persons for questioning.