Last night we told you about the name of the first Commissioner of Indigenous Peoples' Affairs, Greg Ch'oc. It's an interesting assignment for former NGO leader and now trained attorney. For over a decade - starting from the early 2000's - Ch'oc led the fight to have the communal land rights of Mayan communities recognised. He escalated that to international pressure in 2004 with a scathing report from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights which urged government to redress wrongs committed against the Maya of Belize.
We outline a brief portion of this history to show that Greg Ch'oc has bona-fides - FOR DAYS! so, that can't be questioned, but now is he playing for the other team as he is in charge of implementing the 2015 CCJ consent order and judgement? That's what we asked him today via zoom. He spoke from his attorney chambers in Punta Gorda Town:
Jules Vasquez- Reporter
"I have seen you in that struggle from the early 2000s at least of the struggle for the rights of indigenous people. That really has been, to an extent, your life's work. And now, suddenly, you are on the other side of the power equation."
Greg Choc- Commissioner of Indigenous People's Affairs
"I would not have taken this post had I not had the commitment of the Prime Minister of Belize and my Minister, Minister Dolores Balderamos Garcia. I believe there is a genuine intention to move forward. Where I am now, I think that it gives me an opportunity to provide a path that allows me and the communities and of course the Government too, to complete the work that I've started. I think we've been too long in this chapter and I think the time has come for us to close the chapter and move on with the community benefitting from the judgement of the court and the government benefiting from the development that I expect and I hope the community will be involved in."
Jules Vasquez
"One immediately has to ask the question, have you sold out? Often time there is a push and pull between what the state has to do for all its citizens and what the indigenous community seeks for its membership."
Greg Choc
"It has always been that what the indigenous people want to achieve is what the government of Belize seeks to achieve for indigenous people. The difficulty has been that there has not been able to find the right formula, to move past the differences that seem to have consumed the time that we have been able to engage. My view on this is that I can create this process of reconciliation. I don't think that the leadership of the Maya communities, the Kechi Council of Belize, the Toledo Maya Cultural Council, the Toledo Alcaldes Association, the Toledo Maya Women's Council and the Chairpersons of Toledo village council sees it as a sell out but rather as an opportunity."
Jules Vasquez
"Is it that you are to oversee the full implementation of the judgement or is it that you are to ensure that the states interests are preserved while also protecting the wisdom and the directives of the ruling?"
Greg Choc
"It's all of the above Jules."
Jules Vasquez
"Is it that some in your community with the Maya land rights struggle may view you with distrust now as an agent of the state."
Greg Choc
"Jules, the many calls that I have received from many leaders and ordinary maya from the community have been overwhelmingly in support of the decision to take up this appointment."
As Choc alluded to, the well wishes and endorsements have been flowing in from Indigenous groups, including the Toledo Maya Cultural Council, the Maya Leaders Alliance, and the Ketchi Council of Belize.
And while they support Ch'oc, those indigenous groups certainly do not support a word that the Minister of Indigenous People's Affairs used just two months ago. It's the word Balkanization - an ugly word for the Mayas, because it refers to fragmentation of the nation state into smaller regions or states, based on ethnicity.
The Mayas take that as a disrespect - and we asked Ch'oc about its repeated use by PUP leaders over many years:
Hon. Said Musa- Former Prime Minister (December 2003)
"I must state this very categorically as Prime Minister of Belize, that I will not preside over the balkanization of Belize. I will not create a homeland just for Maya, or a homeland just for Garifuna, or a homeland just for Creole. All of Belize belongs to all Belizeans. That is the number one and the first principle."
Hon. John Briceno- former Minister of Natural Resources (June 2005)
"We recognize those rights but it does not have to be at the expense of the balkanization of this country. We have one country, we have one Belize and we are all Belizeans."
Hon. Dolores Balderamos- Minister of Human Development, Families and Indeginous People Affair (November 2020)
"There must be no balkanization of Belize."
Jules Vasquez- Reporter
"That word is a word that historically has caused great indignation or disquietude in the Maya communities. How do you square yourself against, you are with a government now that has gone on record many times in two decades saying there will be no balkanization of Belize. How do you square that with your people?"
Greg Choc- Commissioner of Indigenous People's Affairs
"Well, I cannot speak for why the former Prime Minister Said Musa said those words and also why the new Prime Minister said those words in the past but I am not looking at the past I am looking at the present. It has always been my belief over the last 20 years when I was leading the Maya land rights struggle that there is no such thing as balkanization. And I want to be able to, in this new position, demonstrate that whoever considered that there is and can be a balkanization that there is no such thing. The Maya community just want certainty over their rights. The record is there, it is not me saying it, but the record is there that the Rt. Hon. Said Musa's government was the one that negotiated the 10 points of agreement that for the first time recognized the rights of the Maya people to their land. It was the government of the Rt. Hon. Said Musa that did not appeal the 2007 landmark judgement. So, the evidence is to the contrary Jules. And I would like to believe that this time around this government of the Hon. John Briceno wants to finish that work."
Jules Vasquez
"But I will just read a quote from your minister, on November 24th of this year, she said there must be no balkanization of the country of Belize but at the same time, the consent order of the court having recognized that there are customary land rights in terms of communal land and individual land we have to find a way to work together."
Greg Choc
"Jules, the constitution of Belize is the supreme law of the land. I understand what is required of the consent order. It is really not there or here for me. I am in this position now, I have taken up this appointment and it is for me to provide that advice and to demonstrate that the government and the community can build a partnership."
Ch'oc will be taking up the job full time - and taking a break from his work as an attorney.
