7 News Belize

Meheia And Volunteers Will Protest At House
posted (March 3, 2016)
At the top of the news we told you about the opposition seating for the House of Representatives next week Tuesday, but while that's playing out inside, outside the house, Wil Maheia and the Belize Territorial Volunteers will be picketing the meeting.

Maheia and the volunteers don't believe that the Government's response to the aggressive tactics of the Guatemalan Navy in the Sarstoon River is enough. So, they're calling all Belizeans who feel the same to join them on Independence Hill.

But, he might not get the support of the 39 Mayan communities in the south. That's because they say he misspoke this weekend when he suggested that illegal Guatemalans have been welcomed freely into Mayan Communities, without the same level of strict scrutiny that non-Mayan Belizeans are subjected to.

The Program Coordinator for the Maya Leaders Alliance told us via phone today that Maheia's suggestion that Guatemalans are allowed into Mayan communities is completely wrong:

Pablo Mis, Program Coordinator, MLA
"My communities are defending the territory of Belize. You will recall that when the Belize/Guatemala dispute was heating up some time ago when Guatemala made the claim that they would protect the land for the Maya people of southern Belize. Our communities, our leaders were among the first to categorically deny any such aspersion made Guatemala. We've always consistently made it clear that our struggle is to defend the lands of Belize and this is where our Maya communities are and this is where the allegiance of our communities are and this is where we want to become an integral fabric of Belize."

"We have followed the efforts of the Belize Volunteers, particularly the efforts of brother Wil Maheia and we have admired the courage our people, in fact many of our leaders have accompanied them on some of the missions, including the mission to the Sartsoon Island, because we believe it is important that as Belizeans we collectively make statements that we will defend our territory."

"Now to say that Guatemalans can free range within the Mayan communities is not only false, but disrespectful to our communities. At every swearing of the alcaldes, one of the rule that is always reiterated to all alcaldes as carriers of the laws of Belize, is that no persons who do not have Belizean citizenship, the nationalities should be accepted in the Maya communities. That is a policy."

Pablo Mis also went on to explain that they understand and appreciate the nationalist sentiments that Maheia and the Territorial Volunteers have made. He says that Mayans have even accompanied him on different treks to the Border. Mis told us, however, that Maheia's agitation at the Sarstoon has caused tense confrontations between the Mayan Communities located at the Western Border, and their Guatemalan Neighbors. If that sounds familiar to you, it's because the BDF General, David Jones, told the press in August of last year that the actions of the Volunteers are endangering the lives of soldiers who have to operate in the Sarstoon and at the Cadenas Observation Post. Mis explained the similarities to us this evening:

Pablo Mis, Program Coordinator, MLA
"Every day our communities have been vigilant, have been reporting incursions, they have reported where there are violations happening within our territories, within the community lands along the Belize/Guatemala border. We have in the past collaborated with the respective authorities to relay these messages and the authorities have their own process in place as to how they go about dealing with those matters and even if it takes months, we have seen where the authorities have acted to defend the lands of Belize. We firmly believe that the Belize/Guatemala issue cannot be resolved based on the motions. This is an issue that is very serious. This is a matter that particularly if we do not follow a process that has been clearly planned, it begins to infringe upon the safety of those communities that live or find themselves along Belize/Guatemala border."

"There have been retaliations for some of the efforts that BTV have carried out in those areas; retaliation where families of alcaldes of leaders are threaten and in fact they have been assaulted on numerous occasions. So, for that matter we have reported some of these incidents to the authorities. We have said time and time that there is much more that we desire to see happening. That while we try to decide if the referendum will happen or not, if we will support it or not, there are practical measures that must be put in place to address daily the violations that are happening along the border."

"Our leaders are constantly reporting that the aggressions made by Guatemalans coming into the adjacency zone. Our communities have tried very hard to respect the government of Belize's instruction to refrain from carrying out activities within the adjacency zone to the dismay of our community leaders in our communities."

Mis tells us that the Mayans living near the Adjacency Zone have had to show great restraint in the past, so as avoid an international incident.

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