But, the MLA and the TAA are now under attack by other organizations that also make their business championing Maya rights.
This evening, a joint press release was sent out, which says, quote, "The Kekchi Council of Belize and the Toledo Maya Cultural Council - founding members of the Maya Leaders Alliance, along with the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous hold that... they must be held to account... The Julian Cho Society and the Toledo Alcaldes Association have usurped the Maya Leaders Alliance...
For seven years, the JCS has called the TAA the 'collective governance institution' of the Maya people.' Shockingly, they perpetuated this misleading concept of 'Alcaldes ' as supreme leaders in Maya villages. Yet the TAA is not a Maya customary organization. And the MLA is simply a membership association. The collective governance of the Maya people rests in each individual community. We, members of the Maya Leaders Alliance (MLA), call on the Julian Cho Society and the Toledo Alcalde Association to refrain from issuing any position without full consultation - and consent - of its membership..." End quote.
This evening, we got a chance to speak with the Executive Director of SATIIM, and later on, we'll share that with you, but there's also another late evening press release from the Government of Belize.
This one responds to the grievances raised by the MLA and TAA in their press conference from this morning. It says, quote, "MLA leadership continues to claim that the TAA is the 'collective governance institution of the Maya people.' However, we do not believe that there is such 'collective governance system' of the Maya people. Customary governance is based at the village level, and as such, the authority to make decisions resides solely in meetings convened by village members, and not a collective or association. Furthermore, the FPIC recognizes this principle of Maya customary law: that village members at a village meeting, and not only the leaders, are the supreme decision-making authority."
We have reached out to Pablo Mis, a representative of the MLA, and the person who acted master of ceremonies for their press virtual press conference.
Mis told us via text, quote, "It is not the place of the government what is and is not the Maya governance system. Their belief is irrelevant to the question on this matter On the SATIIM, TMCC, and KCB, what we are seeing is really SATIIM taking a position against the Alcaldes, joining the government. Alcaldes have called them out on this. KCB and TMCC are not functional entities, not the same organizations that legitimately stood with the Maya people in the first Maya land rights case in 2007." End quote.
