Manuel Lizarraga is the grandson of the legendary Gwen Lizarraga - who is political royalty in Belize. But whatever royal credentials he could claim have been burnt up in the past few years, as he's been in a bitter and protracted battle with the DFC to hold unto his house. Well now, Manuel Lizarraga has lost that battle, and it's left him on the streets and in one heck of a mess. But even in the teeth of adversity and the jaws of defeat, this father and teacher is determined to somehow beat back the DFC. Here's where we found him today.
Manuel Lizarraga, Evicted from Home By DFC
"You don't even treat dogs this way. Dogs are treated better than this."
Manuel Lizarraga is bitter and angry because on Saturday morning he was forcefully evicted from his home.
Manuel Lizarraga,
"I was evicted from my home, midday this Saturday, and despite all pleas to give me a break, the people who work with the courts were adamant and very cruel."
The order came from the DFC. The home was mortgaged to that institution in 1999 when Lizarraga made a $300,000 loan. And now after years of public bickering with the DFC - he has been put out of the house. But he tells us he's not going anywhere.
Manuel Lizarraga,
"I sleep in my vehicle and I have some good neighbors in the front. Miss Choco offered for me to use the bathroom facilities right. I have decided, I called in on KREM this morning, to go on hunger strike. Beginning today I will be liquids until such time that I get a phone call from a lawyer or a legal person that they will assist me to get me reinstated into my home."
Now this UB teacher has told the school he's not coming in as he maintains
watch over his home.
Jules Vasquez,
So you will continue to live out here, you say on a hunger strike as a form of protest?
Manuel Lizarraga,
"Exactly. I will pursue this indefinitely. I don't know what will happen. I have called in my work, I teach at UB, I have called them already and told them that I don't know if I will be able to go back to UB. So sorry students, I love to teach, but this issue is important to me."
And while Lizarraga makes his point on Caladium Street - strangely apt because "caladium" is the scientific name for the bleeding heart plant - the fact is that while it's easy to sympathize - there is a little more to the issue.
Jules Vasquez,
You didn't pay your loan and that's why you are out here. That's what a cynic to your cause would say.
Manuel Lizarraga,
"I will answer this, at the time that my home was sold, I was paying DFC $1,300. Is that paying or not paying? You answer the question."
Jules Vasquez,
You were paying...
Manuel Lizarraga,
"$1,300 a month."
Jules Vasquez,
How much were you required to pay?
Manuel Lizarraga,
"That is not the point."
Jules Vasquez,
You made a contract, you made a commitment and until the letter and the word of that contract and commitment are changed, you have no standing.
Manuel Lizarraga
"The contract has, like any other law that's imposed, there's what you call human dignity, you have due process."
And until he gets that, Lizarraga says he'll stay here keeping watch over his personal possessions, his daughter's toys, and his life - the scattered remains of a life thrown into ruin. Among those remains are the pictures of his 7-year-old daughter - who has leukemia and is currently receiving chemotherapy treatment. He shares custody of her and she was to have come and spend the weekend with him. But now that has been indefinitely postponed.
Jules Vasquez,
How do you explain all this to your daughter?
Manuel Lizarraga,
"I can't. I hope she doesn't come around here to see this and that is why I am motivated, self-motivated to go all the way to give my life, if needs be, in protest in the hunger strike."
Lizarraga's residence is just a few houses from the imperious U.S. Embassy. And while it's not nearly as palatial as those that have come up around him, the proximity to the embassy makes his property super-prime real estate and far more valuable then when he first built it 17 years ago.
