Email

Print

That discussion lasted for almost 4 hours, and of course, we used the opportunity to bring some of the biggest counter-arguments that the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs has raised against the complaints to the FPIC Protocol. Tonight, we explore the disagreement between the government and the leaders of the Maya over who they should or shouldn't consult while trying to implement the 2015 CCJ decision on Maya Customary Land Rights. Daniel Ortiz has that story:

There's a quiet tug o' war that's been going between the Government of Belize and the Toledo Alcaldes Association.

The TAA has already made its point that they are simply the next step in the evolution of the Maya Traditional System of Governance. They insist that with consensus, they make decisions as a collective on behalf of the 41 communities of the Toledo District.

They take issue with what they say is GOB's attempt to equate them with any other NGO organization that works with - and only advocates on behalf of - the communities.

Greg Ch'oc - Commissioner, Indigenous Peoples Affairs
"The argument has been propagated that the alcohol, the system or the system of governance, and the Toledo Alcalde Association are the same. That is not accurate. one, the system, one association."

Cristina Coc - Spokesperson, MLA/TAA
"The TAA is the organ. It's the space in which we deliberate matters that affect the broader Maya community, not one community - all of us. What do we all think about it? Many, many times you have to go back to the village and say 'This is what we are thinking as leaders. What is our decision as a community? What do I represent at the Alcaldes Assembly? And that is how decisions are collectively then positioned."

Greg Ch'oc
"The community, as far as I'm aware, has not seen that authority to any organization, to any association or NGO. That's the crux of this issue here."

Then, there is the disagreement on the list of priority organizations that must be consulted for the ongoing implementation process of the 2015 Consent Order.

The government reps have insisted that the other NGOs are also parties to the successful Maya Land Rights lawsuit and the resulting 2015 Consent Order.

Greg Ch'oc
"The Maya Leaders Alliance, an entity that I established, is an umbrella organization. Its membership is comprised of Mayan organizations working with communities, the villages of the Toledo district. There is claimed 366. That is the second Maya case that is now the CCJ consent order. That second case was appealed up to the Caribbean Court of Justice, and it became the consent order. In that document, the MLA's standing was contested, but the court accepted that because they work with the community. In that document, it explains who the MLA is comprised of, the organizations, and what they do. Likewise, it explains the Alcaldes Association."

Cristina Coc
"The role of the MLA in all of this is to provide advice, to provide support, whether that be technical support, legal support, [or] financial support. That is the role of the MLA. And as you see - I am combining some questions. Juan asked. There are no KCB, SATIIM TMCC. We're all confused, how many organizations sometimes? you hear five. Sometimes you hear, I'm not sure if SATIIM was there. Sometimes you hear maybe Tumulkin was there by error. You are hearing this from a government representative. Let's not forget that. You are hearing this solely from the government representative. You have not heard this from the Maya villages. You have not heard the Maya villages saying, 'We have a TMC. We have a KCB'. You're not hearing it from them because these organizations became defunct."

Greg Ch'oc
"Some of the organization's legal counsel threatened to file claims before the Supreme Court to ensure that their right to be a part of this process is enforced. But why would we, as a government put them through that process when the law when the claim before the court has them listed as a claimant?"

Interestingly, the Commissioner seems to have found a paradox with the inclusion of all of these organizations as parties who need to need to be consulted. It contributed to a delay in finalizing a draft for the FPIC Protocol.

Greg Ch'oc
"The Government of Belize is legally bound to consult with them. It's not a choice. We can't select who we should consult. They fall under the umbrella of the Maya Leaders Alliance. We have consulted with them, extensively, respectfully, and equally because we believe that all of them have the same standing. All these - these are just some of the documents of the exchange of proposal, exchange of the revision of the FPIC Protocol, objections, my response to those objections, the face-to-face meeting transcript. The disagreement and the lack of consensus among the membership proved difficult to overcome. At the end of June, recognizing that the impasse that existed would not result in a revised protocol, the Office of the Commissioner and the Attorney General's Ministry took all these documents that we got, all the revised versions, and consolidated them into one document."

The asserted representatives of the 41 Communities say that the government's approach is not one that they agree with.

Leslie Mendez - Attorney for the Claimants/Appellants
"Much like the previous government, the new government challenges the legitimacy of the TAA and the MLA, and they do this under the umbrella of 'inclusion'. The Ministry insists - and this very much harkens back to the initial strategy of the government, originally in 2016 - was that there have to be more people at the table and you have to include more people in the process as representatives of the community. We have repeatedly said before the court that the TAA or MLA object to consultation with stakeholders. The government is free to do that, but the government simply cannot treat them as representatives of the Maya people in the same way that it would be treating the appellants."