The average tourist in Third World countries seldom comes into contact with the real culture that they are lead to believe they are visiting. You fly into an International airport, are picked up and whisked to a hotel where your comings and goings are regulated by the hotel staff – through activity bookings – or the tour or travel companies that take you to allegedly see the “real” country. Even a walk into town on your own reveals little because, if it is a tourist destination, every business, street vendor and beggar in town knows the “tourist” rap. It is a world created and designed exclusively for the tourist trade. Not that you necessarily should escape the tourist confines. It’s a comfortable world and provides a fun way to forget work and responsibility for a while. But if you’re an adventurer who understands risk and it’s potential rewards, or if you are planning on residing for any length of time in a Third World country, then you will learn something valuable by stepping over the fence.
In much of the Third World, the moral framework that governs business, government and personal behavior has little intersection with First World values. Property theft, in some countries for example, is barely a crime, and unless you are a person of some importance, the police will take no interest in a reported theft. It’s tacitly assumed that if you care about your stuff, then you’ll do whatever it takes to hang onto it. If it gets stolen, then it’s your fault for not taking proper care.
In the world of business there is only one moral imperative -caveat emptor – let the buyer beware. If you are cheated in business, then the moral attitude suggests that you shouldn’t be in business, or that you need to get smarter. There is virtually no enforcement of contract law and business fraud of any kind is seldom prosecuted. As with the attitude toward theft, it’s up to you to avoid being cheated. Business people who are defrauded are considered fools, and few such people, in order to avoid widespread contempt, will ever divulge their misfortune.
Anyone who has traveled through Mexico or any part of Central America by car will be familiar with the Federale checkpoints stationed strategically distant from towns or villages. They are ostensibly there to restrict drug trafficking or prevent other crimes, but the soldiers, really, could care less. They themselves smoke the dope and bump the coke that they confiscate, and have far better things to do than uphold the law by standing in sweltering heat and sun for ten hours when they could be napping back at the station. They are there because they have families to support and have to make an honest buck. A cold coke or beer plus ten pesos is usually enough to get waved through, but an incorrect attitude or a false step will invariably result in an unpleasant day for the traveler. A wise traveler familiarizes themselves with the checkpoint protocols and adheres to them.
Likewise, if you have ever lost a wallet, or been robbed or otherwise abused in Central America and go to the police for help, you will be familiar with the blank expressions or bizarre double-talk with which you are greeted. The Police, from their perspective, are dumbfounded that someone disturbed them without proper “documentation”. Documentation is the ammount of paper money that will motivate someone to do something. Proper documentation will get quick results, if only in the form of arresting a random Rasta dude if no other real help can be given. Frequently, though, the results are quick and efficient. The Police know all the thieves and their habits by name and type, and, motivated by the documentation, will do their best. It wouldn’t do, after all, to get the reputation of accepting documentation and not delivering. It would be seen as rude and dishonest.
Or, in some countries, maybe you’ve had to wait in line for a travel permit, passport stamp, or other mindless formality while dozens of people behind you, or lounging to the side are called in ahead of you. You are acknowledged only after waiting a few hours and making a scene. It’s because when you signed in you forgot to pay the “sign-in fee” to the bored looking attendant at the front desk.
There are hundreds of such examples that can make traveling in the Third World less enjoyable than it needs to be.
If you are interested, here are a few telling links about corruption in Belize.
33 responses to “A small description of corruption”
Ow, ow ow ow, its like walking on eggshells going there by private boat or plane.
I will make this short. There is no published entry, exit, customs or immigration fees. An outsider might think so, but you get accustomed to the “shakedown” as a way of life. Of course you must politely refuse to pay anything that is outside the norm. Good luck with that. You pay or argue. Finish quickly clearing or take days. Your trip memories will suck for the private sector facing this because you do it again when its time to leave.
John should be pissed, the corrupt have no problem asking for $500 when it should be $50. One can only take so much. I think John really lost it when a politician had no problem asking for a $2million handout. Arrrgh, matey, a pirates life for me!! NOT!!.
Hope this makes sense, I get quite disturbed remembering, its not just Belize however.
It might help if you first explained to readers how Belize´s political system works. The country of Belize is divided into 31 electoral divisions. By law, the boundaries for these should be divided in such a way so as to have as equal amount as possible of voters in each division, but this is never the case. The pirate descendants who are clustered in Belize City area have since time immemorial jury-rigged the boundaries of the divisions so that that cesspool of corruption and piracy will have more “divisions” or constituencies than any other area. Here is a link to a document with the results of the last general election for support. (Click the “download” button to view a recap of the results. The document is 3 pages long.)
http://www.elections.gov.bz/modules/wfdownloads/viewcat.php?cid=14
If you will notice, the Belize District (Page 1), “Pirate central” (a total of 80,000 inhabitants representing 22% of the country´s population) has a total of 12 divisions (almost 40% of the nation´s electoral divisions), with only the remaining 19 (60% of the electoral divisions) representing the entire remainder of the country – a population of 280,000).
There are two major political parties in Belize, the PUP and the UDP, and a few very minor ones, but for the most part, only the major parties have been able to raise the electioneering capital needed to advertise and publicize their party during election season. Therefore, every government since 1981 when Belize became independent has been won by either the PUP or the UDP.
The system of voting is based on the UK´s “Westminster system” which admittedly, works fairly well in the UK but not so in Belize. In the UK, the citizenry value decency and practice it as a matter of social convention. In Belize, piracy and how much you can “hustle” out of someone else is the accepted social norm.
That said, a political party wins an election if the party´s candidates cumulatively win one more than half of the total number of divisions in an election. Yes, it is one candidate per party, per division. So, in the case of 31 electoral divisions, the party that wins at least 16 divisions wins the election (first past the post system), and the party leader of the winning party automatically becomes the Prime Minister. As you can probably figure out, the Prime Minister is not elected by popular vote of the entire citizenry. He only needs to win his division, and have his party win the election, to become Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is not elected in a Republican system such as the one that exists in the USA, or in any democratic fashion any at all. Less than 1/31 of the nation´s voters vote the Prime Minister in.
That said, you may want to take a second look at the election results I linked above again. The former Prime Minister´s name is Said Musa, and the current Prime Minister´s name is Dean Barrow. If you look at the divisions in which Said Musa (Fort George Division) and Dean Barrow (Queen´s Square) ran in the 2012 election, you will see that they are some of the SMALLEST divisions on record by number of registered voters. A prime reason for the shameful gerrymandering in the Belize District constituencies is so that the candidates only have to “bribe” a small number of people in order to win their seat.
As it turns out, the Prime Minister, Dean Barrow´s division, Queen´s Square, is the most crime-filled, gang-infested division in the entire country. All of the major gangs such as the George Street Gang and Taylor´s Alley Gang flourish right there in that tiny sliver of square blocks known as Queen´s Square. Queens Square is also the murder capital of Belize (City and Country).
You have to ask yourself why. After all, it is the current Prime Minister´s division and he has not lost an election there for more than 20 years. So why can´t such a powerful man in the all powerful position of Prime Minister rid the relatively tiny area of the crime and depravity? He has been Prime Minister for more than 5 years already, but the area continues to deteriorate instead of rehabilitate. Your guess would be as good as mine. But a friend of mine from the Corozal District has this opinion.
My Corozaleno friend opines that the GSU and by extension the government are really the strong-arm enforcers of the crack / cocaine trade, and specificially, the favored distributors, the George Street Gang. It is her opinion that the GSU and the police lock up petty weed smokers because they do not want the crack / cocaine business to have competition. Her reasoning is that in every community, there are crack cocaine dealers, and the entire community knows who these dealers are, but they are never harassed or arrested. In the 5 years since this PM has been the PM, quite a number of citizens have been jailed for one stick of weed, but not a single person has ever been jailed for selling or dealing crack or cocaine. Truth be told, this was the norm long before this PM was elected, the trend just simply continued. The police statics are also quite dismal, more along the lines of depressing, actually. You can view a media report on it here:
http://www.plustvbelize.com/Featured/NewsDetails/tabid/63/ArticleId/1828/PlusNews-analysis-of-2011-Crime-Statistics-for-Belize.aspx
In April 2012, a very feared gangland kingpin of the George Street Gant located in the PM´s Queen´s Square division named Sheldon “Pinky” Tillett was shot to death, allegedly by a rival gang kinpin from the Taylor´s Street Gang, also located in the PM´s Queen´s Square Division, named Arthur Young. The surveillance video of the execution showed someone who appeared to be said Arthur Young performing the execution. You can view the video here, but I warn that it is graphic.
http://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=22338
Immediately after Pinky Tillett was executed, the GSU began a manhunt for the gang kingpin´s rival and alleged killer, Arthur Young. Now Arthur Young was no saint, and I cannot honestly say that anyone much probably mourned his death, but a few days after the execution of Pinky Tillett, Arthur Young was captured by the GSU, at whose hands he met his death. You can read the media stories about it here:
http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/69529
Now back to McAfee … my Corozaleno friend opines that the reason the GSU raided McAfee´s Orange Walk ranch is because they believed he was dealing meth. According to my friend, the GSU don´t want crack cocaine to have any competition, hence the reason to shut that “shop” down right away. In Belize, cocaine / crack rules.
In June 2010, the Prime Minister´s law partner was shot in cold blood as he left his law office one night. Was this a mafia warning to the PM of some sort? A young man was convicted for the attempted murder, but many people believe he is as much a victim as the PM´s law partner. But why would someone … anyone … want the PM´s law partner dead?
http://7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=21866
My friend in Corozal firmly believes that the government is the crack / cocaine mafia and the drug mafia is the government. This came in part because a former drug kingpin who was “extradited” to the US to face charges of drug deling alleged in his testimony that a former Minister of Police was his mafia boss.
http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/42450
Of course, one will never know for sure. But one does have to wonder …
Hello,
I believe Dr. McAfee has stated elsewhere in another article or comment on the blog that these events led to the blog being launched early.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
Well put boet!
Like you more now that I know you are a rugby fan! Hopefully cricket too!
The one forgotten element so far is the other 3rd world truth – the nail that sticks up gets hammered down. John seems to me you be sticking up too far for your own health! Move to Zimbabwe – great scenery, weather and friendly corruption.
Oh, and trust an Englishman to say the English were the better team when they lost to South Africa. You win – you’re better. The English should know that – they lost their empire!
What is so sad about all of this is that people like John seem to have good hearts and they appreciate many of the local people in countries like Belize. If someone like John were treated well or even just left alone in Belize by the government, there is no telling how much he would have donated to local groups and how much effort he would have put into reforming things on a grass roots level. Hopefully this will all end well and he will be able to live peacefully in Belize again one day. The sick politician-gangsters that are in charge there right now need to get a lesson in hospitality.
I am one of the poor Belizean which cannot afford land. I had some family what get some land from the government and it have about 1foot of water over it alla the time. They get charged more than what Vega pay for nice beach land up in San Pedro. I hope that John stick it to alla dem mother ras, as we say in Creole.
Final score South Africa 16, England 15, lucky South Africa, England the better team, 🙂
Goodnight all
John, power to you. Im in the UK, read your blog start to finish just now. What a horrible bunch of fuckers you are dealing with. Anything I can do, anything you need me to do, just fire me an email.
Eli
TT is right doing a 60 minutes documentary on expats living in “paradise” would have a huge impact. Sadly they would have to interview those who left or disguise current ex-pats identity for their protection. However, corruption is equally bad or worse in Mexico and no one seems concerned about cleaning up Mexico unless you count the war on drugs at the border which is an expensive joke. A lot of people don’t even know where Belize is and if it isn’t “in their backyard” it doesn’t matter to them. A documentary about corruption in Belize however would really get people talking and make the Belize government sit up and listen. Tourism is their biggest source of income and the economy is close to bankruptcy right now.
It would be interesting to hear about your initial entry into Belize – how purchasing land and so forth went with regards to the corruption.
From: Experienced
Who has John’s guns? Police have the slugs that killed dogs, and one slug that killed Mr. Faull. If police have the gun that killed dogs, then it their choice for all bullets to match — or not. Since all was not supervised by an international forensic expert, the only thing we can conclude from coming report, is that high government officials ordered the police report that serves their corrupt purposes best.
Do not doubt that bribery, corruption, and improper influence, controls justice. Law is enforced by highest bidder or most powerful. No one can entirely understand, unless they have personal experience. Obviously John did not pay enough — and he will not survive, if this continues to be in this situation — “I am on the run and sleep less than three hours per night. I have no money and, some days, no food.”
Some things never change, but it’s overdue. Thanks for all you are doing John.. As P.T. Barnum said about publicity,”Just spell my name right”. Well you have given Belize a huge opportunity. Number one clean up its act in so many ways, and nunber two now so many more know about this country and that matters.
John,
BBC Radio 5
http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live/sport/commentaries/
I suggest you let it go and enjoy the sun. Be bigger then them. 🙂
Hit a nerve John, they say the truth often hurts.
Keep smiling 🙂
John,
you have used this blog to tell the world how innocent you are, how the police and government is corrupt and how you had nothing to do with the death of your neighbour.
You started this.
Rugby half time, South Africa 9, England 6.
Wow! That is the Vice President of the country you are in???!!!! That is incredible! The guy is telling a reporter straight out that he got the government to pretty much give away prime land to all his relatives because he and his family all “work hard”. Yeah. They all work hard at stealing! This guy is unbelievable. In many places in the world, the people would be rioting in the streets to get rid of a character like that. And that was a great line where he said that you could believe the other guy because he wouldn’t lie since he is not a politician. John, you are living in the Twilight Zone of countries. These people are shameless criminals in positions of power. It is no wonder you are being attacked like this!
Ok John but the blog itself was launched just after his death and WhoisMcafee.com Whois Record was created on 2012-11-16
“The blog was nor created because of his tragic death. It must be clear from the posts that this blog was many months in the making, with much of the material pre-written.”
You should write a full post (not just a comment) explaining that, because that is definitely not clear or understood by most.
I personally could not tolerate living in those conditions. I live in South East Asia, there is some corruption, but it doesn’t affect your day-to-day living, or safety. I don’t understand the appeal here.
P.P.S. All I have ever asked for is a f**king apology from the P.M. for the April raid. In polite socities, apologies are expected.
P.S. I’d love to watch the game, as you suggest, but I have no television.
Even if John went to Belize looking for lower taxes and a nicer retirement, why should he have to like the corruption there? I have been to Belize a couple times as a tourist and thought it was very beautiful. I even thought about retiring there one day, but not so I could immerse myself in the corruption! And after reading all of what is on this blog, even if only half of it is true, I will wait until there is a substantial change in politics there before I consider Belize as a retirement place in the future.
It might be time for you to stop taking my inventory and start taking yours.
Maybe John moved to Belize because of the beautiful coral reefs, white sand, laid back atmosphere, and the vast interior jungle and wildlife. Why does he have to move there because he liked corruption?? And also, if he had nothing to do with the guy’s death, then that is not going to be his main focus. I am sure he wants to help solve the case, but, knowing the state of Belize’s police force and their massive corruption and/or incompetence, he probably does not expect to go far with that angle. He is trying to focus people on the corruption so they can understand the root of his problem. He is being shaken down and they want to extort him through fear and intimidation. They know that he had nothing to do with the murder. They were just hoping that they could frighten him into shedding some cash. But it looks like he is putting a double reverse on them and getting ready to piledrive them into the ground.
Keep up the good work John. Sorry you are in this mess. I know you want to stay…but my advice is to get your butt back to the US ASAP. If you are caught, they won’t kill you….but your life will be over…
I have sympathy for Mr. Faul’s family and I view what happened as a tragedy. But this blog is not about Mr. Faul. It is about a corrupt government. The blog was nor created because of his tragic death. It must be clear from the posts that this blog was many months in the making, with much of the material pre-written.
How about this one, John? To set this up for readers, Gaspar Vega is the Deputy Prime Minister of Belize, something like a vice president in mixed or non-parliamentarian countries. He is discussing how his family managed to accumulate vast amounts of land FROM THE GOVERNMENT. In Belize, the government is the major landowner and it either leases or sells its land to the people. Connected people get the best deals and everything else tends to trickle down from there, to where a poor person might get a piece of swamp if the are very patient and lucky. Here are his own words and read them carefully. At one point he says that another person has said something and that this other fellow is not expected to have been lying because, “he is not a politician”. This interview is from News 7 Belize:
Hon. Gaspar Vega: No Apologies For “Giving” Land To Family
posted (August 2, 2012)
Last night on the news, you heard the PUP making the case that two UDP Ministers, Gaspar Vega and Rene Montero had given their family members lavish parcels of land easily and inexpensively.
Today, we caught up with Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega in his role as Minister of Agriculture. He was in Blue Creek for a Cattle Sweep – and, thus, had the misfortune of being the first public official to stage an impromptu press conference under a cattle shed. But no matter the circumstance, he was obliging, and remarkably candid about land that he “gave” his relatives. It’s a little long, but bear with us, it’s worth it – here’s how his exchange with Jules Vasquez went:…
Jules Vasquez
“You have set up what they called a friends and family program to bestow your friends and family with pieces of land. How do you respond to that?”
Hon. Gaspar Vega, Minister of Natural Resources
“Jules, I don’t know if you have the list.”
Jules Vasquez
“I do.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega, Minister of Lands
“Maybe we can work with the list.”
Jules Vasquez
“Let’s go to the list. Diana Rosado who they say is your daughter.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“Yes she is my daughter.”
Jules Vasquez
“We see 3 pieces for her.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“I gave her a piece in Mountain Pine Ridge, 10 acres of land. I gave her a house lot in Corozal and one in Belmopan. And Jules I don’t see anything wrong with that. I gave my daughter 2 house lots and 10 acres piece of farm land. I don’t think there is anything wrong. I myself don’t see anything wrong with that. It’s not like I am giving her land to sell so she could have a party or whatever the case may be. I think she can build a house and I think eventually she can have a little farm. Nothing wrong with that.”
Jules Vasquez
“Then we go on to Zamir Vega your brother, which is in San Pedro Town.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“That’s a house lot. Yes I gave him a house lot in San Pedro.”
Jules Vasquez
“But as you know land in San Pedro is very expensive and we see the purchase cost here is $2,000.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“All house lots we selling in San Pedro is between $2,000 – $2,500. All caye land, once it’s a house lot. So that is the going price.”
Jules Vasquez
“Then we have 3 parcels for Omir Vega; San Estevan, Burton Canal and Mount Pleasant, that’s Belmopan again.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“San Estevan, thats a land that he had a long time ago. All he did was push it through and finalize the thing. In Burton Canal – I gave him a lot in Burton Canal and one in Mount Pleasant. He lives in Belmopan.”
Jules Vasquez
“Leticia Vega, that’s 2 lots. Leticia is your?”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“Yes Leticia Vega, that’s 30 acres in San Estevan if I am not mistaken. Its cane fields Jules. I mean they are getting so petty. I wanted to go to German Vega because that’s the main focus.”
Jules Vasquez
“Ok, lets jump ahead. We have Eduardo, Karen…..”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“Karen is German Vega and Ignacio. Karen has 2 house lots that they say she got for $300. These 2 house lots that they are talking about Jules are 2 house lots that he bought right behind his present house. Everybody in Orange Walk knows that those lands belong to BSI from in the 1950s when they built the factory. He bought the 2 lots from someone who had bought it from BSI. They had a little alley in between the two lots that ended right behind his present house lot where he lives. Under the PUP, German Vega/Ignacio Vega started the process of acquiring that little alley. It was the PUP mayor at the time that approved it. Johnny Briceno was the minister of lands. All I did was finalize the process and for that little alley is what he paid $300.”
Jules Vasquez
“Then we see that Ignacio Vega has another 7 holdings here in Indian Hill East Progresso registration.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“Indian Hill; that’s a cane field that my father, since he was the youngest of all nine of us. All the cane fields that my father owned were left to him. That’s a cane field. The 3 or 4 lots in Progesso that had come up in the news when we had just gotten in office in 2008 and you can check with Mr. Albert Burns who my brother bought these lots from because they are all lagoon frontage and he bought the land from Albert Burns.”
Jules Vasquez
“So you are saying that’s a private transaction?”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“I guess that’s what I am saying.”
Jules Vasquez
“They have a purchase price here for $800. That Progresso registration section .026 acres.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“I don’t know what the $800 is for. That must be wrong.”
Jules Vasquez
“Maybe it’s the tax arising.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“All the Progresso lands that he has he bought from Albert Burns. Albert Burns is a gentleman that is not in politics so he wouldn’t lie. I’ll tell you what I gave German/Ignacio Vega. I gave him 65 acres to Karen Vega, I still say German Vega because that’s his wife and I gave him 135 acres of land in the Carmelita area. Out of those 135 acres – 50 acres was his that the PUP had cancel in 1998.”
Jules Vasquez
“Is that lot 01574?”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“Yes this one is it. All the rest of lands that he has were bought through the private sector. What I want to say is that these people know about it – like the lots they say that I sold for $300. They know that those lands were for BSI I guess from just around when I was born.”
Jules Vasquez
“Now are these lands – from your defense of it – are they fair market value?”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“Yes, you think I should charge my brother more than the rest?”
Jules Vasquez
“Cosme Hernandez has 8 as well. Without tediously going through the entire list – would you accept that 11 people in your family circle…..”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“Jules, my family are the biggest cane farmers in San Estevan. San Estevan is the biggest sugar cane branch in the whole country. My family doesn’t sit down and gossip around the corners. We work ever since. That’s why we are successful – we work hard you know Jules – my family, I have like Cosme Hernandez delivered more than 2,000 tons of cane. You know how much land have to be cultivated for you to deliver that amount of cane and I am talking about one member. This is what people must understand and he did not start to produce that type of cane 2 years ago since I became minister of lands and I think that is what the people must try and acquire the proper information. You are a cane farmer that delivered 3,000 tons of cane – more or less how much acres of land you need to develop.”
“So how come now that they realize that they this now it’s me who gave it to them.”
Jules Vasquez
“Would you accept the characterization that – this is what the PUP said; normal people have to wait in line, have to jump through hoops for years to get a piece of land.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“Jules I am not a normal person in Belize. I work much harder than a lot of other people.”
Jules Vasquez
“Yes but your family is normal people.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“My family is as hard working as me.”
Jules Vasquez
“But they are getting preferential treatment.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“They are not getting preferential treatment from me. They’ve been able to do this ever since Jules. It’s not now that they acquiring it. That’s what I am trying to tell you. He is not a cane farmer of 2,000 plus tons of cane today. He has been a cane farmer. Every single Hernandez in San Estevan is a cane farmer and they are the biggest cane farmers of that village ever since, not since in the last 2 or 4 years.”
Jules Vasquez
“Now, Florencio Marin Jr. says he has – they are in his name apparently 128 parcels in San Jose Palmar. The chairman came and said that that can’t be. My point is he says that there is no way that’s really his name in the lands registry.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“Jules I would have to check that. I have not checked that yet to tell you the truth. I don’t watch CTV3. I don’t watch Channel 5 and I don’t read the Belize Times. I can look into that to tell you the truth.”
Jules Vasquez
“It would be very irregular if 128 parcels are for him?”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“He didn’t deny the ones in Sarteneja that in his company.”
Jules Vasquez
“He did, he said that he is not a director. I ask him is his father was and he also denied that.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“I could deny anything. But people like yourself, if you really want to do a documentary since this is going back and forth, go to San Estevan and visit the parcel numbers then you will see the cane fields, then you will decide – then you will be able to figure – they just plant this cane today or you can get some advice or somebody to guide you or can say if this cane field is 10 years old and 15 years old – just so that you can make your math.”
Marion Ali, reported
“How about the allegations against the lands that have been allocated for Rene Montero? Part of the Elijio Panti Reserve being de-reserve to allocate lands.”
Jules Vasquez
“Block E13601 Mountain Pine Ridge.”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“Like I say that I would have to look into. I would deny if I did it Jules like I clearly came out and told you I gave my brother that 100 plus acres, I gave my sister in law 65 acres and if that is the case with Montero I will assume responsibility. But I have to look into it.”
Jules Vasquez
“Looking at this, do you think this will deal you a fatal blow from a political perspective or even within your own party?”
Hon. Gaspar Vega
“I have faith in God. I only fear him because I can’t hide from him, the rest, future will tell. I am not scared.”
John,
nicely pointed out, corruption in third world countries is not new, nor is it hidden, its out on the table unlike First World Countries where its under the table, insider trading being just one example.
Tourists today travel to third world countries because its cheap, they can buy fake good, cheap booze and cheap entertainment, they can “check” their sensibility, morals, concerns, safety, judgement, rational, discernment and observations at immigration when they leave their country.
You move from the main objective here, there is a dead man, a body and someone killed the man, third world or not, his dead, not breathing, gone. This you seem to obscure constantly with telling the world the Belize System is corrupt. You dam well knew that before you moved there, it was the attraction for you, wasn’t it????
It might be time for you to take the 1st step again and recall the 12th step, well now that I think of the steps, you best do them all, it will remind you of who you are.
Enough, I’m off to watch England V’s South Africa in Rugby, starts in an hour. Go…………well, I don’t support either, so I’m in it for a good game of Rugger instead. A great game watched by gentlemen and played by gentlemen.
Go watch the game yourself John.
Cheers. (cool)
I found this comment on an expat formum (link below) from an American expat who lived in Belize but no longer…. Very interesting perspective and backs up everything that John as been saying about the corruption, bribes and retribution and in addition, the poisoning of dogs by police..it seemed at that time to be a regular occurance. See below. Sorry it’s wordy but interesting.
http://www.topix.com/forum/world/belize/TCLABVC7PPKBG42PQ
Been There–Never Again
Miami, FL: Reply »
Jun 8, 2009
Palidan wrote:
What can I expect in Belize? Are people friendly? Is it safe? How much money does it take to live comfortable? Are there many Americans living there? Is there good health care?
Been There–Never Again
Miami, FL: Reply »
There is way too much crime in Belize. I lived there and was “jacked” everywhere, including my home several times. Everyone has their hand out–especially the law enforcement, which is completely and utterly criminal. I witnessed a lot of beauty there–but also four different cultures that despise one another, and one would not be off-the-mark to say it is so lawless there that it is like the wild, wild west. Go at your own risk–but believe me–you will get taken if you are American. The Government is totally against the American there–do not believe the propoganda. I went through their bogus “programs” for Americans, and they ripped me off over and over. Everyone–absolutely everyone–wanted paid off. It is the norm there, and everyone knows it. It is not just initially either–it continues and continues. Many (not all) Creole basically hate Americans unless you are giving something to them. If you stop giving them things, then that can become a huge problem, too. I am a physician, and I looked at the problems from many standpoints–but try as I might–I could not resolve the crime problem there on my own and had to leave. And don’t get me started about how they treat their dogs there–it is acutely inhumane–and most dogs are skin and bones and starving to death. Usually, they regularly throw out poisoned meat to rid them from tourist view. I found many unsatisfied Americans there, yet most are reluctant to admit the real truth of Belize–lest their “dream in paradise” be shattered. I was one of them for a little while…until the obvious truth kept rearing its ugly head. BTW, crime is basically NOT reported in Belize. I was told many times that if I reported that they robbed me, that they would return and kill me. It was just terrible living with that fear. Oh, and the cost of doing business is known as “a boat a year”. Meaning, if Americans want to make money off of “their country and their waters”, then be prepared to pay up with some of your possessions. Which leads me to the biggest bitch about Belize–that you absolutely cannot leave your home unattended for even five minutes–as in to walk around in the woods near your house–because they watch you and wait until you are not looking to steal. You cannot go to town, out to the reef, or anywhere without someone staying in your home to oversee it. This does not mean you won’t get “jacked” (robbed) anyway. They actually robbed me while I was giving them money and work–at the very moment I was handing them money for working (at much higher than they are used to getting), they had their children running around ripping me off. It is dreadful. I would never, ever suggest to anyone that they retire in Belize. They have massive social, political, and criminal problems that will need a lot of work to improve. No offense to anyone who lives there now–but I spent many years there and you know what I am saying is the truth.
Make your offer for 60 MINUTES interview. That will gain the most credibility.