Sunday, September 21, will mark the passing of 44 years since our blue, white, and red flag, the sub umbra floreo, unfurled, in a light wind, at the top of the pole in “government yard” in Belize City. We’ve come a long way since 1981. There have been massive improvements in public infrastructure in Belize: asphalt has replaced dirt roads, and our main bridges rise above major floods. The earnings of Belizeans have increased almost fivefold. According to data from the World Bank Group, the GDP per capita income in 1980 was US$1774, and in 2024 it had increased to US$8429. While that information says nothing about income distribution or the purchasing power of our dollar between then and now, there’s quite a bit more cash in our pockets.
We’ve had our share of troubles these last five years. The pandemic dealt a major blow to our economy, as it did to the economy of every country in the world; unfavorable weather and pests and diseases have decimated a number of our major agro-industries, and cruel inflation has eaten away at our earnings. But there have been blessings too. Our onerous national debt which stifled our growth for over a decade was greatly reduced through a historic debt-for-nature swap, and with our debt-to-GDP ratio halved, our government has “no limit” to the amount it can borrow to invest in infrastructure and development projects. Old friends are coming through with soft loans to help our economy grow and become more resilient.
In his State of the Nation Address on September 16, Prime Minister John Briceño spoke of the many achievements and initiatives of his party, which has held the reins of government since November 2020. Unemployment is lower than it has ever been, the government just gave a substantial raise to all of its employees, and the government promises to raise the minimum wage yet again. Not surprisingly, many Belizeans worry that these increases mightn’t be sustainable. But the IMF thinks so; their latest report said our government is on track.
We are a resilient people. It’s doubtful that any country that became independent through a peaceful process did so with more doubts hanging over its head. Independence was a bold move by Belize, under the leadership of the Father of the Nation, Right Honorable George Cadle Price, because our neighbor to the west and south, Guatemala, maintained/maintains a claim to our land, and our former colonial ruler, the British, promised only to defend us for “an appropriate period.” We had the support of almost all the nations in the world, but that didn’t change the fact that we were (are) fragile in the face of a neighbor with a population more than 40 times greater than ours.
In 2019 the majority of Belizeans agreed to have the International Court of Justice adjudicate Guatemala’s claim to our land, and the case is well underway. While the claim is a relic of a time long gone by, and the judgment of the supreme world body, the United Nations, that we stand in the right is a powerful statement, we still face the fact that judges, men and women who are empowered by the UN to preside over our dispute, will decide if/how we continue as a nation.
On a practical level, Guatemala is hoping that the ICJ will give them something, anything, which would be a win for them, because at present less than a handful of nations see justice in their antiquated claim. Although we face the judges with confidence, Belizeans wouldn’t be human if they weren’t a little nervous about the proceedings at the ICJ. We expect a clear victory, but yes, it’s a court that will rule on the matter.
Our confidence that we will win at the ICJ stems from many sources, prominent among them the 1859 Treaty, the 1931 Exchange of Notes, and the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 35/20 of 1980. Article I of the 1859 Treaty between Britain and Guatemala, which was drafted by Charles Lennox Wyke (British Charge d’Affaires) and Pedro de Aycinena (Guatemala’s Foreign Minister), established that the southern boundary of Belize (British Honduras in 1859) began “at the mouth of the River Sarstoon in the Bay of Honduras” and proceeded “up the mid-channel” of the Sarstoon “to Gracias á Dios Falls.” The last article of the Treaty, Article VII, stated that the two contracting parties “mutually agree conjointly to use their best efforts, by taking adequate means for establishing the easiest communication (either by means of a cart-road, or employing the rivers, or both united, according to the opinion of the surveying engineers), between the fittest place on the Atlantic coast, near the settlement of Belize, and the capital of Guatemala…”
Article VII of the Treaty, effectively, was a financial agreement, a business deal to sensibly increase “the commerce of England on the one hand, and the material prosperity of the Republic on the other …” For various reasons, mainly cash, the parties could not agree on how to forward this rather loose agreement, and subsequently Guatemala has sought to scuttle the entire Treaty over the lapse of Article VII.
But there was no question as to what the borders of Belize were. On page 23 of his book, Guatemala’s claim to Belize, The Definitive History, former foreign minister, Ambassador Assad Shoman said, “In 1929, commissioners from both countries inspected the boundary markers placed in 1860/61 at Gracias a Dios and Garbutt’s Falls and replaced them with concrete monuments”, and he noted that in 1931 there was an exchange of notes “between Britain and Guatemala by which Guatemala recognized ‘the concrete monuments’”. As Shoman explained, the Exchange of Notes “revalidates the 1859 Treaty, and confirms the boundary markers established at Garbutt’s Falls and Gracias a Dios.”
The nations in the Caribbean have always supported Belize’s statehood, and when we got the support of Mexico, Panama, and Nicaragua, there was no stopping our march to independence. Across the globe, nations, including the US, recognized the right of Belizeans to determine their future. In 1980 the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted 139 to 0, with 9 abstentions, that our flag should join those of the other nations of the world at UN Headquarters in New York City. Article I of UNGA Resolution 35/20 of 1980 reaffirmed “the inalienable right of the people of Belize to self-determination, independence and territorial integrity”, and Article V urged “the Government of the United Kingdom, acting in close consultation with the Government of Belize and the Government of Guatemala to continue their efforts to reach agreement without prejudice to the exercise by the people of Belize of their inalienable rights…”
As we celebrate Independence Day in 2025—Belize@44: Stronger Together, Rising Forever – Belizeans, this new people formed over the centuries through the blending of many tribes, have much to be grateful for. Our country is beautiful, and we appreciate its beauty, and our people are unique, special. By the way we live—resolving our differences peacefully, electing our governments peacefully—we show the world that its faith in us was not misplaced. We have our shortcomings, and not least of those is that many of us are still waiting to win. While some Belizeans have become extremely rich and many are doing well, in respect to the promise of independence that there’d be greater prosperity in the land, many are still waiting. On September 21, while we celebrate, we must remember those of us who live “hand to mouth”, and vow to do all in our power so that they too enjoy the fruits of our land, they too realize the independence promise. Happy Independence Day, Belize!
