It's been over 24 hours since Indian Creek Village alcalde, Marcus Canti, was reported missing. Canti was last seen around 3:20 yesterday afternoon at his milpa, but by 3:42, the villagers received a disturbing voice message indicating he had been harmed. In the message, he says he needs help in Q'eqchi. Search parties were immediately deployed - but tonight, there has still been no trace of him.
But with his disappearance, there is further tension in an already divided village. Canti was the Alcalde defiantly issuing those communal rights land titles - much to the consternation of government and the private landowners. Because of that his loved ones suspect that restive land issues - made more contentious by the government's delay in implementing the CCJ Consent Order - have now culminated in an extreme act of violence.
Now, multiple villages are on the hunt for Canti, with no idea if he is dead or alive. Courtney Menzies travelled south today and has this story.
This is the last message that the villagers of Indian Creek received from their Alcalde, Marcus Canti, at 3:42 yesterday evening. Since then they haven't been able to find him, and they believe the worst has happened.
Cristina Coc, Spokesperson, TAA
"We have very strong suspicions that Mr Canti was kidnapped and that he is being tortured."
"Our primary objective and our goal today is the preservation of life. We are deeply concerned, the community is deeply concerned that their alcalde, their traditional leader is missing, has been missing since about 4pm yesterday afternoon. The community is tireless searching for him, they searched all night and they are tired, they continued to search today, they're trying to take advantage of the daylight to maximize the amount of area that they can cover."
Coc, who was also acting as a spokesperson on behalf of the village, explained that Canti was at his milpa before he went missing. They later found his bicycle, his cuxtal, his scabbard, and his machete.
And while the villagers were out searching from last night, today they got support from the BDF and the police department. However, according to Coc, it wasn't easy to get their assistance. In fact, she told us that the milpa was not processed by the police until this morning, after a night of rain. But still, she believes their presence is still vital to the search.
Cristina Coc, Spokesperson, TAA
"I want to also say here that we appreciate the support of the Belize Defense Force, they came today. We would have liked that this search and this support arrived earlier yesterday during the day right when it was reported to the authorities. There was a lot of reluctance to come and support the community. I want to put that on the record, I want to say that I'm happy that with the insistence of the community, the authorities have now arrived and have now joined the search parties. The police and BDF are here because we don't want to be accused of damaging anybody's property."
This precaution, along with this request by the BDF:
BDF Personell
"I want you to focus on the life of the alcalde at this pinnacle of time. Anything else I ask of you, reserve your energy, reserve your temper, pump all of that, let's try to find the Alcalde first."
...follows reports that the villagers had lit a fire in the village and were threatening to burn down the Ya'axche Field Station in Golden Stream. But Coc believes it is counterproductive.
Cristina Coc, Spokesperson, TAA
"I want to say that it does not help when there is a lot of speculation, there is a lot of misrepresentation on social media including some media houses who have not helped to deescalate the tension. This is a very sensitive matter, this is a matter of life and death. And I want to encourage all of Belize to understand that these conflicts are not isolated, that this a historical conflict of interest, there's a competing interest on the customary lands of Indian Creek. The state has failed to resolve this issue in due time and due process. I hope and I call upon the state to not fail Indian Creek one more time. The state needs to establish and needs to investigate what has happened with our Alcalde."
"If they have the evidence of those threats, they should come forward with it, that is what I would say. Because it's not just about saying so and so has happened, it is about showing with evidence that something has happened, we have shown with evidence that the missing alcalde is under distress, we know, we heard the audio, that is the kind of evidence that we want. If you make those allegations you have to come forthright with your evidence."
But regardless of those reports, Canti remains missing and his wife and two children remain in distress. Residents of surrounding villages have joined the search, which has extended past Indian Creek. For now, all they can do is wait and hope.
Cristina Coc, Spokesperson, TAA
"We have had many other village leaders, many villages have joined us in this search effort, neighboring communities, San Marcus, Medina Bank, Golden Stream, all the way from Jalacte, many of our chairpersons have joined us in this search and they looking all over, any feeder road any place that he may have been taken, that the body might have been dumped, we don't know, we can't speculate, we don't know, we are hoping for the best and we are hoping that life has been preserved and that we will find this alcalde alive."
