By Wellington C. Ramos

As a citizen of Belize, it is hard for me to read the news to know that the citizens from Guatemala have been constantly crossing the Guatemalan border at will for years now to cut logwood, rosewood, mahogany and take out other natural resources from our country as if Belize belongs to them, and our government and people are just sitting idly by and taking this abuse and do nothing.

Plus, they have been crossing the border for years, coming into Belize to squat on private and government lands to create new villages and settlements and we must wait for years before we can remove them from our territory. This is a new concept that is taking place that can be described as “Population Invasion”.

No Belizean can cross the Guatemalan border to do what the Guatemalans are currently doing in our country; otherwise they would be shot and killed that same day by the Guatemalan military.

A Guatemalan citizen, despite the fact that he or she was born in Guatemala, cannot even think about doing the things they are doing in Belize in their own country because they would suffer the same fate like Belizeans who trespass on Guatemalan soil. This is the reason why Guatemalans and other citizens from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and the other Central American Republics, choose to come to Belize and live.

While they are getting away with this, thousands of Belizeans have been putting in their applications to own lots and farmlands in Belize but have gotten none. Belizeans in the United States and in Belize have been watching the unfair treatment of native Belizeans for years now and their patience is running thin. Some black Belizeans are afraid to raise this issue because they do not want to be accused of being racist towards Latin Belizeans. The Latin Belizeans are quiet about this issue, which makes many black Belizeans believe that they condone this type of behaviour from their Latin brothers and sisters from the neighbouring Central American countries.

In the last twenty years, the Latin population has grown tremendously and has surpassed the black population by many percentages as was revealed in the last census report. This will give the Latin population a big advantage over the black people in political, economic and social power.

Many black people have left and continue to leave Belize because they do not see this situation getting better but worse. At the trend this population is growing, in the next twenty years black people might only number about 15% of the population.

The only way to counter this population imbalance is to bring in people of African descent from other countries to balance this population. Knowing my people, I would not be surprised to see that some black Belizeans might be against this proposal.

Another plan would be to have a program for black Belizeans living in the Diaspora to go back home and live by providing them with some incentives. Economic conditions facing black people are the main cause for them leaving Belize to come to the United States. Statistics have confirmed that poverty is higher among the Garifunas and the Creoles, the two largest black ethnic groups in Belize.

While the blacks are leaving, the other ethnic groups and people from other countries are coming to Belize and they are planning to take advantage of the land opportunities that the Belizean citizens are being deprived of. It is in the best interest of this government to make lots and lands available to the black people in Belize to stabilize the population and decrease this disparity that currently exists between the ethnic groups.

The Guatemalan government will not do anything to their citizens who are invading Belize because it works to their advantage. When their citizens leave for Belize, more land becomes available to the wealthy families who own and control Guatemala.

Belizeans, Latin and black alike, must realize that, if Guatemalans continue to come to live in Belize, their lives will not be the same because we have already seen some changes in the political, social and economic relations among the various ethnic groups in our country.

Belize must create a plan to address this crisis immediately. This issue will require holding the Guatemalan government accountable for allowing their citizens to freely move back and forth across the border to be constantly engaged in illegal activities.

Also, to lift the freeze on the amount of forces Belize can have to patrol its borders and add about ten thousand more soldiers along that border in the Chiquibul Forest region. The United States government can be of great assistance to Belize because they have a vested interest in the region. Belize does not have the resources to combat this problem by itself and will need foreign assistance. If we cannot do the job by ourselves, we should be appreciative of the countries that are coming into our country to get the problem resolved.

These people are criminals that are engaged in a criminal activity daily. Yet, their illegal actions are affecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all Belizeans. I now call on our fellow comrades who are patriotic to our country, to take this matter seriously before the Guatemalan population invasion takes its toll on our beloved country Belize.

November 23, 2011