Crime and Punishment (revised)

I've been meaning to write about the crime in Belize, and was stirred to do so by an e-mail I received recently from someone who has been reading my blog and is planning to visit. I understand that The Economist magazine recently labeled Belize the murder capital of the world, based on the number of murders relative to the country's population. The label is similar to the label Mexico got when it was called on the border of being a failed state because of the ongoing struggle between the drug gangs and police/army.

There is no question about it, Belize does have a crime problem, particularly murders, in Belize City. Many of them are in Belize City, but occasionally it will spill out of that community into the communities west of it. I think there are several causes. The country of Belize has a small population, and Belize City is the only even moderately large city, so the crime there skews the numbers for the country as a whole.

First, there is a big community of Belizeans in Los Angeles, California, and another in New York.There are people who travel between those cities and Belize, bringing elements of culture of those cities. As I read about the senseless killings in the paper, I occasionally see references to gangs, specifically the Bloods and the Crips (?), which are notorious gangs in LA. There are a lot of young men in Belize City who are un(der)educated, un(der)employed and are fodder for gangs. So I think there are gang against gang killings, and there may be initiation killings.

There is a growing sense of frustration in Belize City about it, even this weekend there was a “peace march” there to protest the violence. In the meanwhile, although the police frequently catch the perpetrators, they rely heavily on eye witnesses. But Belize is small country (see below), and it’s said everyone knows everyone, and witnesses often fail to appear at the trials, presumably because they have been threatened or just intimidated, so the murderers go free.
Although, I my view, alcoholism is rampant in the whole country (except, I believe, among the Mayans), Belize City is also the center of hard drugs. So armed robberies are not uncommon, frequently drug related, but if there is anything different about Belize from the western world, it seems to be a willingness to shoot.
Belize has a very small military, unlike other Central American countries, and they don't get involved in law enforcement. (Having traveled in Mexico and Guatemala, I don’t mind not having trucks with mounted machine guns patrolling the roads.) Belize is not a wealthy country by a long shot, and outside of the “cities”, the police are hired and trained, and answer to, the national government. There are not nearly enough of them to deal with the problem, nor are they given the resources they need. The Judiciary seems competent, but they can't do much without evidence or eye witnesses.

(A word about the population of Belize and the impact on national resources. Belize is the size of New Jersey, which is the most densely populated state in the US at 452 persons per square mile. Belize, on the other hand, ranks 170 in a list of population density of 192 countries, with a density of 31 persons per sq. mile. For comparison, neighboring Honduras has 161 p/sq/mi, Guatemala has 348 p/sq/mi, and Mexico 139 p/sq/mi. This means there is a small population base to provide taxes to support the government. Although wages in Belize tend to be higher than surrounding countries, they are still low. We attract and keep good workers on our construction crews because we pay well – masons earn $75/day. With a generally poor local population, there is not a strong base to support the government, so programs like police protection are not supported as much as they need to be. In fact, we had a spate of boat motor thefts here in Placencia, and the local police came to our Rotary club asking for funds to fix their boat so they could patrol and pursue.

20% of the country’s population lives in Belize City. The most significant crime belt is from Belize City west through Belmopan, Cayo and Benque Viejo del Carmen. Those four communities have 35% of the population and probably in excess of 50% of the violent crime.

Before I came to Belize, people who had come here would tell me they didn't like it. I would ask them if they had come on a cruise ship, and they would answer yes, which is all I needed to hear. The cruise ships stopped at Belize City, and people who did not take excursions by bus to attractions in the country, but stayed and wandered around in Belize City, saw the worst of Belize. People here in Placencia express fear that when the road is paved all the way to the Southern Highway that thugs will come down from B.C. I tend to doubt it - it is a 3 hour drive, but the improved road will make a difference.

I should also note that the violence tends to be among people in certain neighborhoods, and you rarely hear of any tourists or expats being targeted. In fact, there is a division of the police called the Tourism Police, and they not only look out for tourists, but also insure that tour operators are qualified and licensed to provide the services they offer. So tourists and expats are safe provided they don’t walk around bad areas of Belize City at night – and that can be said for many, many cities around the world.

The most rampant crime in our area is petty theft of opportunity. I always lock my truck, even if I'm going into the bank or a store for a minute, but I did that in Maine, too. Most people with items of value in their homes will have bars that go over windows, and metal gates at their doors, to prevent break-ins. People leaving their Belize homes for extended periods will often find someone they trust to stay at their house.

Fraud is so common it is almost taken for granted. The previous national government left office in disgrace, with millions of dollars missing or unaccounted for. The current mayor of Belize City, as well as other local officials, has been arraigned on charges related to $275,000 missing as a result of a practice they called “underdepositing of funds”. This stuff is in the news constantly, and it doesn’t seem that anyone goes to jail for it, and I think it filters down the food chain so to speak. It is not unusual for tradesmen to request full payment for a job before completion, and then disappear. Would you go along with that wherever you are now? Probably not, and there is no reason to do so here.

I've recently read some good stuff about the prison at Hattieville. Seems that they have a good program for training inmates in making crafts that are in demand, and so the recidivism among that group is very low. When Bob and I went to Belize City to go shopping, we stopped at the prison store. There was very little there, but there were some amazing carved doors and other large carvings.

If you have read this blog from the beginning, including my drive through Mexico, you know I don't speak Spanish, and that I was led through that country by a Mennonite driving a truck that attracted the attention of the police. They would pull him over, and I would pull in behind him. He would speak/argue with them in Spanish, and usually one or two would come speak to me. I led off the conversation with, "No habla espanol." End of converstation. If I had gotten into trouble requiring police protection or assistance, the language barrier would have been a real problem. Belize is an English speaking country, but Spanish is also spoken widely. So English and Spanish speakers have a definite advantage in any contact with the police.

Finally, I don't mean to create a negative impression of Belize, but the reality is that crime exists here as it does everywhere. I live in a resort area, adjacent to a village marked by poverty. On almost every trip to and from Placencia village there are people looking for a ride. I have no hesitation to offer rides, and if there is room, they ride in the cab of my truck with me. I know several by name. I feel perfectly safe, but I do lock the doors to my apartment and truck when I am not in them, but that was true in Maine as well.

So if you come to Belize to visit, don't go to Belize City, there is very little to see. You are safe if you take the same precautions you would take anywhere you travel.

Entertainment options

This post probably falls under the category of “lifestyle”. Visitors come to Belize for the many recreational opportunities it offers. Where I am, that includes hanging out on the beach, snorkeling or diving at the barrier reef just off-shore, or sport fishing. In the evening there are many fine restaurants (although most are closed as I write this during the rainy season), and multiple watering holes. You can also take day trips to Mayan ruins or jungle preserves. For someone coming for a week or two, there is plenty to do.
For longer trips, Guatemala and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula border Belize.

For those of us who live here, and who have limited budgets, and especially for those who work, entertainment options are more limited. There are no movie theaters, no lectures, no bookstores. The only nightlife is the bars, which I do not frequent. That leaves internet, TV, or early to bed.

Internet here is high speed DSL, which means not nearly as fast as broadband cable. It can also be somewhat problematic – my connection here at the house has been erratic for several days – so erratic I am composing this post in Word, and will copy and paste it into the blog when I can get on line.

TV is via the local cable company (which has been promising internet for a long time). I think their cable signal is from a Direct TV satellite(s), and the channel lineup can be pretty “interesting”. My biggest disappointment is that it does not include a U.S. PBS link, since most of my limited viewing in the US was of PBS news and documentaries. What do we get? Well we have about 10 kids channels, and then standard ones like Discovery, History, Food, Travel, HGTV, TV Land, ESPN and ESPN2. There are channels for each of the broadcast networks: ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. There are the cable news channels: CNN, HLN, C-SPAN, MSNBC and CNBC. Lots of movie channels, you know what they all are, so I won’t list them. The oddities to me are channels like GSN – the Game Show Network, which is nothing but game shows. And SOAP, nothing but soap operas. The 4 local channels all have their slots, but aren’t necessarily on the air at any given time. As I’ve mentioned before, the English version of Al Jezeera is a good source of international news, much less sensational in its approach than the US networks.
There is a channel called RFD, which has shows like “Cattleman to Cattleman” dealing with livestock issues. There is an International Soccer channel, followed by GOLTV, which is also soccer 24/7. MTV, VH1 and CMT are all there, as well as several channels that actually show music videos. There is a fitness channel. Then we climb into the regional channels and beyond. There are Mexican, Guatemalan, and Honduran channels (all in Spanish, of course), including music video channels, and CNN Espanol, which has different stories from the US CNN. There is also Fox Sports Latino, and movie channels with Spanish language films. Then there is CCTV4, a channel from China that is programmed for Chinese living in other parts of the world. There is also a channel from Taiwan, as well as two from India. The Indian channels have movies with lavish sets and weeping women.

One of these 115 channels is the local cable’s channel, which lists local coming events, death notices, and what the channels are. There is no channel telling the viewer what programs are being broadcast. No way to know what movie is coming up. No way to know who the soccer teams are that are playing or will be. The Spanish channels seem to have more attractive women wearing sexy clothes than the US channels.

I am glad I brought a variety of DVDs, my music collection, and a lot of books. I did not catch on to The Office or 30 Rock until the last weeks I was in Maine, so I brought with me one season of each on DVDs, and have since gotten more. I’ve really been enjoying them, and haven’t yet resorted to seeing what DVDs local vendors are offering.

They do offer the kids programs from PBS during the day, and when I first got here they had the PBS News Hour. However, they lost the signal so frequently that I gave up watching it, and now it is no longer offered. As I write this, the cable system has dropped the signals from about 15 stations across the spectrum.

A last option I should mention is Sirius satellite radio. I have it hooked into my stereo system, and it has a couple of NPR talk stations, so I can listen to Prairie Home Companion and other programming I enjoy.

I’ve linked into the community through my membership in the local Rotary Club, and the Volunteer Fire Dept. I’ve also started a “dinner group” to go to the local restaurants every month, although we have yet to do so.

So that’s the entertainment side of “lifestyle” here in Placencia – questions?

A free press

During this long spell of infrequent posts, I’ve been thinking about this blog, and topics I could write about. So although I posted yesterday (Saturday), here’s another. This time it is about the print and television news media here in Belize.

I’ll start by noting that I have a subscription to the online version of the New York Times, which includes every page of the newspaper, 7 days a week. Over my morning coffee I read what interests me on the front page, and follow those stories on the inside, check the highlighted stories on the next couple of pages, and then read the op-ed page. That’s my source of U.S. and international news.

Here in Belize there are no daily papers, and the best paper, Amandala, comes out Tuesdays and Fridays. It is the most widely circulated paper, and was started in 1969 by a local Creole when he returned after graduating from Dartmouth College. From his editorials, I’ve learned he was a black power advocate, although he has tempered with age. That said, everything he writes ends with the phrase, “All power to the people.” The paper has no reservations about ferreting out corruption, regardless of the political affiliation of the culprit. The last government made some secret deals with a British Lord who has extensive business interests in the country, notably with the telephone company, which he owned. They promised him a guaranteed rate of return, and permission to block VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). The then Attorney General signed the documents. The new government uncovered these shenanigans, and the former A.G. claimed he knew nothing about them. So Amandala published the documents, with his signature.

Here’s a scan of the top of the front page of the current issue, with a headline about $275,000 in unaccounted for funds from the Belize City City Council (CitCo). This type of wrong doing is exposed constantly, but there are times I feel like it pervades all levels of society, so it is not unexpected, and as a result the culprits don’t slink away, but defend themselves with explanations like the mayor’s in this case – that the supporting documents to prove the legitimacy of the expenses are in a file that was stolen from the office occupied by the auditors, although it was the only thing stolen and the theft was not reported. There is a certain entertainment value to reading these stories.

Amadala has also published books as serials about the history of the Cuban revolution, and about the influence of the Guatemalan military on the government and culture there, among others. The current issue has an article reprinted from the Miami Herald about Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, who recently served a term as President of the U.N. General Assembly. He is a devoted Sandinista. While the paper is not necessarily anti-US, it will point up inconsistencies in US policies as they relate to Belize.

There are also several other papers, one independent, and one each affiliated with the two political parties. When I can I buy the other independent paper, The Reporter, because they sometimes have local news the Amandala doesn’t.

The papers are all produced in Belize City, and getting them in Placencia can be hard. Amandala used to be sold at a small insurance office I pass on my way to work, but they discontinued it because they did not sell enough of them. So now the only source is to get them from Mr. Brown, who rides his bike through the village selling them. It took some doing, but now he remembers to bring them up to our office. He charges $1.65 for the $1.35 paper, but it is well worth it. I spend more time reading one Amandala than seven New York Times.

The closest printed matter to a news source in Placencia is the monthly Placencia Breeze put out by the local tourism bureau. Other local news is more on the order of announcements that the TV cable company puts on the channel they use to show which cable channels are at which numbers, and their shut off date for late pays.

Belize national news is also available from the three Belize TV channels. One was recently purchased by that British Lord mentioned above in relationship to the phone company, another I also don’t watch, and the third, Channel 7, has a fairly good presentation of the news. It is an hour long, and stories tend to go on and on when they have done on site reporting. Reports are broken by death notices, during which funereal music is played while a photo of the deceased is on the screen, and many of the relatives, both in Belize and in the US are listed. Sometimes, the deceased, and almost all the relatives, are in the U.S., primarily in Los Angeles or New York. When they end their newscast, which is only broadcast Monday through Friday, they switch on NBC national news. They replay their broadcast later in the evening.

There are links to the online versions of print media and radio and TV news at www.belizenews.com. I referred to those links for several years before moving here.

I started this post with a reference to a free press. I wonder if the press in other countries in this region are as free to expose wrongdoing by government officials and business interests as the press here in Belize. I would guess not, and for that I’m grateful to be in Belize.

A trip to Spanish Lookout

I took Thursday off, and my friend Bob and I drove up to Spanish Lookout, a settlement about 2-1/2 hours north of us. I went with several objectives, the most important to get new tires for the back of my truck, and to get a kit and tank to convert my truck to burn butane instead of gasoline. My existing rear tires were 9 years old, and had developed cracks on the sidewalls and between the treads. Not too much of an issue in my local driving where I rarely go over 40 MPH, but could be a problem on trips to Dangriga or further. So I but the bullet, and went where they have a modern facility and also can balance them, which is unheard of locally. In fact, it was the most pleasant tire buying experience I’ve had – I pulled up and was waved into an open bay (they had 8). An attendant asked what I wanted, I told him the brand and type , we went and looked at the options and prices, I selected what I wanted and they went to work. Chatted for a while with the attendant, who had never seen snow. Process took about 30 minutes, went into the showroom and paid the cashier. Tires were Hankook brand, which from the internet and conversations with locals, seems to be a good brand, and the tires, balancing etc cost $262.75 ea., plus 10% GST (General Sales Tax) Those are Belize dollars – US would be half of that.


I should note before rambling on that Spanish Lookout is a Mennonite community. It is very prosperous, clean, and largely agricultural. There is one oil well in Belize, and it’s in
Spanish Lookout. We saw a few horsedrawn buckboards, so there is even diversity within the Mennonites, since we saw just as many all terrain vehicles being driven on the roads. Many women store clerks wear a black headpiece on the backs of their heads. It is probably the greatest concentration of white people in the country, although there were many Mestizos and a lesser number of Creoles mixed in.


We left there and went to a business that supplies equipment to the butane gas industry. Bought some valves for our butane distributorship, and a kit to convert my truck. Why convert? The price of gasoline here is $8.73 BZD a gallon, so the 260 mile round trip cost slightly more than $150 for gas. If I paid retail for butane, it would cost me $5.75/gal., but it actually costs me less because one of our businesses is a butane distributorship. I’ll get about 20% less miles per gallon, and the setup will allow me to burn butane or gasoline with the flip of a switch. It will be installed by the mechanic for the butane business. It’s also cleaner burning than gasoline. I also got a 30 gallon used tank, and with our company discount, the whole rig cost a little less than $1000 BZD. I’ll save that in the first year.


We then went to the local “Farmers Trading Post”, which is the best supermarket in the community. Was still a disappointment compared to Brodies in Belize City. Just the same, they had the kind of chocolate pudding that has to be cooked, so I bought 8 boxes. Had not found that kind anywhere else in the country, so it was a great find. From there we went to a health food store Bob had heard about – he takes lots of supplements. In addition to hundreds of supplements, they had maple syrup from Canada, Tom’s of Maine toothpaste, and Arrowhead Mills Rye flour. I had brought a supply of maple syrup with me, but bought the latter two. When we left I took a picture of their store:

And then took pictures of the landscape looking east

South...

And west toward the hills in Guatemala...

From there we went to lunch at the Golden Corral restaurant, which contained a microcosm of Belizean ethnic groups. Then on the Western Dairies ice cream stand. They are the supplier of dairy products in the country, and I got a 2 scoop cup of butter crunch with chocolate sauce for $3 BZD. A good deal! Met our employee Keila there, with her baby, baby sitter, and boyfriend’s mother. Then followed her back to their house, where the mother has a pet spider monkey. That’s another story.

Then we headed back home, with an errand stop in the capitol “city”, Belmopan. The drive from Belmopan south along what is called the Hummingbird Highway is really quite beautiful, although there are no turnouts to stop and take pictures. You pass through mountainous jungle country, with steep sided hills with dense growth falling down to the road

.

In all, a good trip through some beautiful country. Of course, I can't end without mentioning the sky - clouds here tend to be the big cumulous clouds, and on the way north at 6:30 AM they were backlit by the rising sun. Later on an otherwise sunny day we saw a partial rainbow formed below a cloud in the distance. The late afternoon light in the mountains made them even more spectacular.

Made my first box of chocolate pudding that night.

Still alive...and well.

Geeeeeeez! It's been too long since I've posted here, and it has reached a point of embarrasment...it's not that I've been especially busy - although in fact I have been with end of the month stuff and bus company issues, all of which I'll write about within a few days. Most notable perhaps is in the last week we have had over 9" of rain on two separate nights, and this wasn't whole nights of rain - it was very heavy rain for an hour or two. Last one was 2 nights ago, and there is still standing water in lots of places, even though the local soil is basically sand.

Tonight I have to use a tutorial disk to learn the program that the local Rotary website has now been converted into. It is supposed to be easy to use so we'll see.

Tomorrow morning I'll be helping to present dictionaries to kids in the Seine Bight School. for many it will be the first book they've owned. I'll be photo documenting it, and will post here within the next night or two. Now, the tutorial...