And switching gears now, we're taking you back to Blancaneaux Lodge and the Belize 2022: Conservation symposium for one of the more passionate moments of the NGO gathering.
Here's what happened when Flora and Fauna's Ambassador for Central America publicly clashed with the spokesperson for the Maya Leaders Association and the Toledo Alcades Association. It happened in the middle of the Ambassador's presentation and Cherisse Halsall was right there to capture it on her cell phone's camera.
Yesterday marked the end of the Belize 2022 Conservation Symposium and while we've given you the low down on the presentations, we didn't show you this moment, where things got slightly contentious between the spokesperson for the MLA and TAA Cristina Coc and the Central American Ambassador for Flora and Fauna International, Lisel Alamilla.
It happened during the Ambassador's presentation on FFI's most recent land purchase in the Toledo District when Coc decided that she couldn't hold back her opinion anymore:
Cristina Coc:
"It is gonna become volatile. We can't wait until that time. We have to do something about it in the interim. So we have to think about the short term, what happens now before we think about the long term, who ends up being the owner of this land at the end of the day. And in the short term right now, Yo Creek getting these types of tensions because on the one hand, yes you have avoided the banana farmers but on the other hand what is the fear? Maya people use that land for their livelihoods, the dry season is upon us and they will go ahead and farm and that is an issue that Flora and Fauna will have to contend with. It can't be that you completely ignore the CCJ consent order and the affirmed rights that exist over them."
Lisel Alamilla:
"I agree with you that we have to sit down and dialogue with the Maya people but Cristina you are not the Maya people, you are one of them but you are not the Maya people."
Lisel Alamilla, Ambassador for Central America, FFI
"I said to her, well Christina Coc, you are not the Maya people."
Cherisse Halsall:
"And I want to give you an opportunity to provide some clarity because that's the part of the exchange that some would find, forgive me, a bit offensive, how do you rationalize it?"
Lisel Alamilla, Ambassador for Central America, FFI
"Well, it's clear she is not the Maya people not all Maya people think alike and agree with her opinions and the opinions and beliefs she holds. First of all it is my understanding that Christina is a technical officer for one of the Maya organizations, she is not even an Alcalde, so is she speaking does she have greater authority than the Alcaldes of this community? Does she have greater authority than the decision-making of these communities? So that really was the question, you are not the Maya people, yes you're a Maya woman, yes you're a Maya activist, yes to all of those claims or not claims because she is an activist, she is a leader in the space in which she works but she cannot be speaking for all Maya people."
Cristina Coc, Spokesperson, TAA, MLA
"I think FFI could have taken a different approach, I think with the right people in place they could have taken a different approach."
"I don't know if this is the position of FFI. I know that this is the position of the former commissioner, I know that is very personal for Lisell and it's unfortunate, today you heard her say you're not the Maya people, that is very true. I never claim to be the Maya people but I am the spokesperson for the traditional governance institutions of the maya people. So, what I have to say is also important but if you want to go to the people directly I have not seen you go to indian Creek to try and talk to Indian Creek in a respectful and meaningful way and so that is very important I think to ask FFI is this your mandate, is this what you want to do are you a conservation organization that is going globally and buying off indigenous people's lands."
"You had many years to really do good, to really implement in addition to the fact that you should have been fully aware of paragraph four of the consent order which is that says the government would be in contempt of court if it facilitated the sale of that land because there is an interim measure in place, and interim safeguard under paragraph four which says that the government should seize and desist from any further sales of land right, and so that is really important information that was shared today. It's critical it's very important and certainly it will be something that will be reported back to the Caribbean court of Justice."
And while we wait to see whether this issue is indeed settled in court, Alamilla says they may have more common ground than they realize.
Lisel Alamilla
"I just want to say that sometimes we actually coincide but we aren't listening to one another and we're talking a different language when actually we want the same thing, so that is my opening to say, actually you might find an ally in us and in fact the MLA, TAA and whoever else is interested might find that engaging FFI in a friendly and approachable manner might in fact reap greater benefits than wasting your time going to court and filing reports."
