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.
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