On Monday, the members of the new PUP City Council slate presented themselves to the media. The group includes Bobby Cadle, the aspiring young politician who as we told you was a former union firebrand on the frontlines of the 2005 dispute between BTL, Government and Michael Ashcroft. And when we paged back through our archives for those images, we found that the story of the night of Sunday April 17, 2005 was one of the most compelling we've ever reported on.
At the time the happenings of that night were big news, and now they are history. With the perspective that the almost 4 intervening years have afforded us, they appear now even more remarkable than they did then. 7NEWS made its bones as the only camera on the frontline and tonight we reprise that story. But first, some context. The events unfolded as Belize was in the middle of a telecommunications crisis as workers had sabotaged BTL's switch as a form of industrial protest; all of Belize was without telephone service.
Because BTL workers had walked off the job in protest, On Sunday April 17, government was trying to get engineers from Mexico into the compound to bring the system back up. And that's what the next story is mostly about; the events of the day, as last ditch meetings were held with the unions while multiple civilian forces were trying to lock down BTL to make sure no foreign engineers got into the building – to prolong the phone outage and thus force government to buckle. Here's how it all unfolded.
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
At 4:00 pm the Prime Minister and the Attorney General were already waiting and next to arrive were CEO Gaspar Aguilar and BTL Attorney Michael Young. Next to arrive was a clearly defiant Human Resource Manager Dale Trujeque. And then came the union representatives chauffeured by their Attorney Dean Barrow, Mark Usher, Dwight Gentle, Christine and Paul Perriot to be joined by Barrow. By 6:15 pm their meeting had concluded and the communication workers were outside consulting with PSU leader Jackie Willoughby. Government's Information Director Vaughan Gill was next to leave and then the Prime Minister and the Attorney General rolled out with an obligatory wave to the camera. There would be no wave from the dead serious union leaders who were last to leave They went to meet at the PSU headquarters on Kut Avenue.
Jules Vasquez,
What was the result of the meeting with the Prime Minister?
Paul Perriot, BCWU President
"Well nothing as usual. We got agreement on the four last points but the first one we noh got no agreement pon so basically the 37% we di ask them fi assist we with the loan or procuring the loan and they point blank say that they cannot."
Jules Vasquez,
And so without that first point which is the 37%, you all are not moving?
Paul Perriot,
"Basically no. There is no discussion but we told them for them to drop whatever security at BTL and let the workers go back in and we will try our best to get the system back up."
Jules Vasquez,
Should you all lose the national shutdown of telecom services, you all lose the leverage we can just fire you.
Paul Perriot,
"Okay Jules I think it's going even further than that. I don't know if you got the letter that we sent from the Prime Minister. The unions collectively decided that we're calling on the resignation of the Prime Minister so that letter is strong and we have commitment from all the unions that we will go in that direction."
Jules Vasquez,
So was this told to him in the meeting that you all want him to resign?
Paul Perriot,
"No I just received the letter and I handed it to him."
Jules Vasquez,
Realistically do you expect that the Prime Minister of Belize will resign because you ask him to?
Paul Perriot,
"Belizeans will tell him to do that."
And while that's what they told the union membership, chaos erupted when Vaughan Gill showed up in the area. Our camera was there for the end of it as Rufus X had just saved Gill from a mob and was trying to get him in his vehicle as Gill had his hand on his personal firearm in his waist. Though the audio never picked it up a very emotional Gill railed against the mob even as projectiles were hurled at his vehicle.
Jules Vasquez,
Rufus when I came here I saw you were restraining Vaughn Gill. Explain to me what happened.
Rufus X,
"Well I was restraining him because I was right next to him and he seemed to be going for a gun so I just grabbed him and held his hand tight against his body along with his gun to avoid an incident here because the only thing I could do being that close is either kill a man that is going to take out a gun or prevent him by some means and that's typically what you were seeing there. It wasn't any hassle at all, I was just trying to protect him because other than that the crowd out here would have eaten him alive as you have seen."
Jules Vasquez,
So explain to me how you saw the situation unfold Vaughn came here and I understand he was by one of the media vehicles.
Rufus X,
"Well somebody spared him from an attack there by leading him to the KREM broadcasting van. So I went over there and inquired why is he being brought to the van and the crowd tried to attack him again and there he went for his gun and I just held his hand and his body together because I didn't want him to pull out a gun in a crowded area like this."
Jules Vasquez,
If he had gone for that gun what do you think would have happened?
Rufus X,
"Well he would have maybe hurt a couple of people but definitely they would have eaten him alive. This is not the place for Vaughn to have come to tamper with an angry crowd. We are talking about national interests here, national interests involved, and Vaughn is a man that is being taken to the defense of his Prime Minister very seriously, I don't know for what reason, but that's the way I see it and to avoid him getting hurt out here we just had to restrain him."
After that very serious confrontation, the workers went back to their meeting with Communication Workers Union for the plan.
Paul Perriot,
"Everybody go to Saint Thomas and if they move we fah deh then dah City Center after dat."
That St. Thomas plan would set the stage for this workers, pedestrians, civilians coming out to BTL at 8:00 in the evening. The plan was to block foreign technicians secured by the PUC from entering and reactivating the switch. That meant physically blocking the gates, which led to close quarters with police and strong words.
[People trying to get into gate]
And from the St. Thomas Street gate to the gate on Princess Margaret Drive where the mob had overheard on the police radio that the foreign expert was coming in a.
[Man Shouting: 'White Polo Shirt and Jeans Pants']
The uproar continued as Broaster and his team reasserted control of the fence, but not to Christine Perriot who stood defiant at her company's gates Broaster and his team did advance to push the mob back. All this in view of a growing crowd with very vocal sentiments but Jeffries held the front until it was time to move, then in a bizarre play by play introduced us to the officer who had just taken a pounding.
[Jeffries showing PC Teck to camera]
An ID card in a flurry of chaos, Teck was obviously being used as a decoy to distract the mob as the police tried to get in the imported switch specialists through another entrance. About half an hour later, this now about 10:00 pm, police had another showdown and their guns were on the ready. Jeffries collected pints and rocks that were accumulating on the median and those were carted away. But on the civilian side, when the bullhorn got involved, that's when the crowd mobilized on a protest with the chant:
[Chanting: 'Musa and Ralph Haftu Go]
That continued throughout King's Park all this occurring 11:00 at night. That continued unto F Street then unto Princess Margaret Drive where projectiles about 8 of them were thrown at the Prime Minister's House. But the police pulled up and Chester Williams put an end to it
ASP Chester Williams,
"Yo! Yo! Stop you fool! Stop it!"
Now the crowd swarmed across the street with a chorus of horns and a small but boisterous and vocal mob holding their ground across the street from the Prime Minister's residence.
[Protestor: 'Enough is enough. We noh wah sleep tonight, you noh wah sleep tonight.']
But despite the rage and broken glass on the street ASP Williams secured the area and the crowd went back to the Princess Margaret Drive entrance where after Jeffries decided to move the crowd from the fence area which is when Lascelle Arnold planned a sit-in.
The 60 or so remained locked together and slid in front of the gate.
Crispin Jeffries, Assistant Commissioner of Police
[Speaking to protestor] "Young man I want you to move away from there."
After that there would be no more warnings with M-16's on the ready Jeffries moved the sitting protesters out. And after Jeffries shoved me out of the way the stones and projectiles kept coming in with the police having to huddle behind the vehicle for cover.
That did clear the area and Jeffries, rifle in hand made sure everyone got on the move. The sweep continued on to Saint Thomas Street while the stones kept coming in. Jeffries cleared the area block by block and while the crowd continued to protest the sweep was effective and the wily Lascelle Arnold was part of the hard to move crowd.
Jules Vasquez,
Lascelle you neva get arrested?
Lascelle Arnold,
"Boy they arrest me two times but they say it cause problems if they hold me so they let me go."
But the stones kept coming in. But Jeffries continued even with the tough cases the confrontations would continue and while Jeffries continued to talk with an angry crowd, they had their own differences to settle.
[Unruly protestor approaching and appealing to armed officer.]
As the scowl showed, this officer was serious and moments later it would be gunshots at near midnight in a residential neighborhood. Later there would be arrests and police detaining two women in the very same crowd. But at that time our camera was at the Princess Margaret Drive gate where blackout had engulfed the roadway and Home Affairs Minister Ralph Fonseca pulled in with the Chairman of the PUC as his passenger. He drove right past a guard hut which had turned into a detention cell for three of the sitters.
Detainee,
"Jules the man got me fi nothing. I noh do nothing. Mr. Jeffries bring me yah and tell me dah yah I fi stay. I ready fi go home big man. Serious. I really ready fi go home now."
They would only be released after a request by Union Lawyer Dean Barrow who was pulled out at 1:00 in the morning to ask officer in charge of the gate Melicio Uck to let them out. David Lealcock was released as was Allan Sharpe. It would be another four hours for this young man a BTL employee who this morning told us how it upset him to be locked up in his own company's guard hut.
Detainee,
"Mr. Jeffries just accosted me, choke me up fi nothing, had me under house arrest inna mi own work place. He had me incarcerated for like 4,5 hours."
Jules Vasquez,
How did that feel being locked up in the guardhouse for your own company where you work?
Detainee,
"That dah one ah di ugliest feelings in a DI world fi know that fi 11 years I DI work dah this place and the man have MI locked up like a prisoner inna MI own workplace. Dah wah very ugly feeling and I hate fi see dis dah whe Belize come to now."
In fact Barrow and the BTL crew couldn't wait to get him out, they then had to go to the Queen Street Station where another staffer had been detained. When we left at 2:00 am they were still there waiting.
Again, that was a news item that first aired on April 18, 2005. And for all that fire and fury out there on Saint Thomas Street And Princess Margaret Drive that night, not much changed. Government was able to get the system back up; Ashcroft maintains his standing in BTL and the government managed to avert a full fledged crisis of governance.
