BELIZE, OH SO BRITISH & OH SO MUCH MORE
Jul 12 '02 (Updated May 09 '05)
The Bottom Line A Belize primer
Belize is not a Central American country, not really. Before you start reaching for the atlas or map to prove me wrong allow me to explain. Sure the country is located in Central America wedged south of Mexico and east of Guatemala with its magnificent Caribbean coastline, but that's just the location.
In all other respect's Belize differs in so many ways from it immediate neighbours, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador Costa Rica, Panama, and Nicaragua. All of them have a common history and heritage. Belize is the proverbial exception to the rule.
There were indigenous peoples living in the region that would become Belize long before Europeans arrived. For the most part they were Mayan, as the remains of the structures at Altun Ha and elsewhere show us. As elsewhere in Central America Mayan civilisation peaked and began to decline long before the Spaniards came. By the 16th century their presence in the region that would later become Belize was no more than that of small isolated groups.
The first Europeans to settle all of these nations was of course the Spanish and their influence is still evident today. Spanish is the dominant language and Spanish culture permeates through all aspects of their society, their laws, their Government. Even the population includes percentages of either peoples of Spanish descent or as most often the case those of mixed heritage, Spanish and indigenous peoples, mainly Mayan.
The lands that would eventually become Belize though were never really settled or conquered by the Spanish. Aside form the original aboriginal inhabitants, it would remain a fairly lawless and undeveloped territory through much of the 16th and 17th Century. The mountains and jungles made westward and northward expansion from Guatemala and Honduras impractical. The massive barrier reef off of the Caribbean coast also prevented easy access from this quarter.
While cities, Churches and governments were formed as part of the Spanish empire elsewhere in this isthmus, Belize was a place where pirates thrived in its many coves. Taking advantage of the fact that there were both excellent hidden harbours and that they provided easy access to the rich sea borne traffic between Mexico, Panama and Cuba, more than one buccaneer and/or privateer made their bases here. Most of them were of English descent.
When the pickings on the open seas were slim the erstwhile pirates turned to other sources of income. The one most profitable was logging the ample supplies of hardwood in the region. It was valued by the merchants of England for the excellent dyes that could be made from it.
Logging led to more permanent settlements. The most prominent becoming Belize Town (later Belize City). It also lead to immigration of a sort. Vast numbers of slaves of African descent were imported from other British Caribbean islands to do this back breaking labour. They would later add the to the cultural mix of the new colony forming.
The Spanish of course objected to this British incursion as they still claimed the area even though they had chose not to colonise it. More than one punitive expedition was mounted to drive out the British pirates. Some degree of argument as to whether the region was under the jurisdiction of the Colonial Government in Guatemala or in Mexico ensured these attempts were often less than a full effort. Often the British pirates would fade away only to return when the Spaniards inevitably left.
In 1795 the issue of which European power would dominate the region was settled once and for all. At the Battle of George's Caye the English ex pirates turned loggers supported by the Royal Navy wrested control of the region from Spain.
In 1862 England took advantage of the fact that the United States was preoccupied with its civil war to violate the Monroe Doctrine and formally annexed the region as a crown colony. It then became British Honduras in 1880.
British institutions, laws, churches and an English style of Parliamentary Government were soon entrenched in the colony. Most of these institutions remained in effect after Belize was granted partial independence in 1964 and later full independence in 1981.
After independence, various trade and other political ties to both Britain and other commonwealth nations in the Caribbean were either continued or established. Belize is a full member of Caricom, the Caribbean Community.
These ties have included a mutual defence pact between Britain and Belize. Guatemala technically does recognise it's neighbour's independence, but most Government maps there still show Belice as an integral part of that nation. Relations in the past between the two nations have often been tense, and British troops until recently have ensured that Belize remains, Belize and not Belice.
The British influence language aside, was and remains strong in Belize. In comparison to some of its neighbours the Government is both stable and elected. Literacy rates are much higher than elsewhere in central America as is the standard of health care.
While poverty and other social ills do exist the per capita income is one of the highest in Central America. Across the border the local policeman wears camouflage and totes an automatic weapon. In Belize City he carries only a night stick and an impeccable "English" sense of right and wrong.
In addition to being "British", Belize is also multicultural, perhaps the most multicultural nation in the region. The British encouraged immigration to the colony. The largest groups to arrive were the Creoles from the Caribbean islands. As noted earlier they were initially brought in as slaves. Now they make up the majority of the population.
They would be joined by the Garifuna who were resettled in the region from St. Vincent in 1798. The Garifuna were descendants from Caribe Indians and West African slaves who had staged a revolt on that island. After it was put down had to be removed. Belize and the Carribean coastlines of Guatemala and northern Honduras became their place of exile.
As elsewhere in British colonies, scores of Chinese and Indian immigrants were imported initially as cheap sources of labour. They soon would become a thriving merchant class in the new colony and later the nation. Later Mennonites arrived from North America and established farming communities in the south of the country.
More recently expats and retirees both from England, other parts of Europe and North America have arrived. Attracted here both by friendly government policies and the investment opportunities in tourism and other growth industries.
Finally in recent years Mayans and Metzios always present have seen their numbers grow substantially. Many recent immigrants and refugees mainly from Guatemala have settled in Belize mainly in the south and west of the country. They now account for 10% of the population. Spanish has in fact become the unofficial second language of the country.
As one can see Belize may technically be part of Central America, but it is so much more and oh so different.
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