Could Belize be on its way to establishing some kind of Mayan Homeland? Current Prime Minister Said Musa has said he will never preside over the balkanization of Belize, but a new move has raised some question. NICH, the National Institute of Culture and History today announced that it is in full support of the ratification and implementation of the ILO Convention 169 for indigenous and tribal peoples.
The convention which was passed in 1989 seeks to right the injustices imposed on indigenous and tribal peoples by asserting their human dignity, rights to land, rights to employment, vocational training local government and other issues. For Belize this theoretically means an increased inclusion of the Maya and Garifuna peoples who are deemed as indigenous.
We however say theoretical because previously government had signed on to a similar accord known as the 10 point agreement with the Maya in Toledo. But the Mayas complain that very little work has been done to achieve betterment for the Maya.
Commenting on today's release Maya rights activist Greg Choc told us that he welcomes the position of NICH however he says the release is misdirected. He says it would have better served that NICH address the position to the government of Belize rather than the media. He adds that the release does show other institutions' concerns of issues affecting indigenous peoples. Notable the government has not ratified the convention.
We do note that the issue has been raised in Cabinet and caused a deep rift between social progressives and capitalist conservatives.
