Anarchy in the Jewel…

By: Mike Rudon Jr.

I was talking to a friend over the weekend and that fool dared to use the word ‘anarchy’ while speaking about our precious little jewel in the Caribbean/Central America. Anarchy, said I – you’re out of your mind…not Belize, never, UNTHINKABLE! Eager to prove my point I turned to Mr. Webster for help – something I haven’t done since college days – and found out to my chagrin that I was the fool. My friend was absolutely right. According to Mr. Webster, anarchy is the absence of any form of political authority – CHECK; political disorder or confusion – CHECK; the absence of any cohesive principle – CHECK or the absence or non-recognition of authority and order in any given sphere – CHECK AGAIN. Well, hell. There is anarchy in the jewel, no doubt about it. Who’d have thunk it?

As I write this, citizens of this previously pristine gem are being told that a spate of brazen and violent robberies in the past weeks was orchestrated by several of those who swore an oath to protect and serve. We are being told that in the next few days more policemen involved in this criminal undertaking will be punished. Imagine that. This shocking revelation comes on the heels of serious and very credible allegations that other members of the police department were trigger-men in at least two murders recently. And all this at a time when the department is being rocked by scandal after scandal! How can we be asked to trust any member of the police department after this? There is utter and absolute lawlessness within the police department. Anarchy for sure!

There is lawlessness on our streets. Killers walk among us with apparent impunity. Bloody murders are no more a thing of the dark hours between dusk and dawn. Our people are being gunned down in broad daylight on busy streets on almost a daily basis – no worries in the world. When the police do turn up a gunman or two, they sit in the system until their day in the limelight when they more often than not walk grinning down the steps of the court. Either the scene appeared to have been processed by kindergarten kids with a science play-kit, or the chain of evidence is bumbled by our own local keystone kops or the prosecution is hopelessly ill-prepared and inadequate or the witnesses are suddenly struck mute. You take your pick – the end result is the same and the cycle is never ending. Our justice system is in shambles. Total anarchy!

The signs are everywhere, if you choose to see them. I’m not a cycling fanatic or enthusiast and believe it or not had no clue who had won the Cross-Country Cycling Classic. In fact, if you ask me (and even if you don’t I’ll tell you anyway) I’d say that cyclists are nothing more than an inconvenience on the highway and a hazard to motorists. But anyway, this morning I heard that the winning cyclist, a Guatemalan I believe, was stoned with a bottle as he circled the roundabout entering the city. What kind of s#@t is that? Seems like we don’t give a damn anymore about law and order or even right and wrong.

Over the weekend I stopped at a grocery store in Hattieville. The parking lot was jam-packed with motorists stocking up for the days of revelry. Liquor was flowing off the shelves like manna to a damned soul. I stood there for a while (reveling in my fledgling sobriety) and watched quite a few people staggering to their cars with beer bottles clutched in their hands or already lifted to their lips. The thing is that nobody bothered to hide what they were doing, despite the fact that drinking and driving should be taboo and some of them were clearly past their rational thought and coordination threshold. Did I mention that the Hattieville Police Station is located right across the street from this store? And did I mention that there were a couple police officers in uniform in said parking lot at the time doing their own thing? Nobody seems to give a damn anymore.

A couple weeks ago weeks ago I was on the Northern Highway and drove past a roadside bar/restaurant. A Customs & Immigration vehicle was parked outside and a Customs officer was sitting on a bench outside drinking a beer. I passed back a couple hours after and the same guy was sitting there drinking a beer, not a care in the world. The only difference this time around was that there were about six empty beer bottles in front of him. He didn’t give a damn, and nobody else seemed to either.

It’s the same everywhere you look, from the bottom to the top. There is a general sense of lawlessness, an absence of any cohesive principle and sure as hell there is no political authority. Mr. Barrow is proof positive of that. As the leader of this country he should provide a sterling example for all to follow. He does provide an example of sorts – like standing up in the House of Representatives and calling a member of the opposite bench a jackass, or hurling insults across the floor like a petulant schoolchild. Hey, if the leader of the nation can behave like a common thug, then obviously it’s okay, right?

So that’s where we stand today? With all that’s been happening, I think it’s safe to say that we’re a nation not on the brink of anarchy, but a nation cowering in the grips of full-blown anarchy. It’s in the streets and in our homes and in the hallowed halls of Belmopan. Faced with the lack of political guidance and a nation lost in disorder and confusion, there is a general sense of lawlessness. Nobody seems to give a damn about law and order – from the child riding up-stop to the drunk splashing his way to his vehicle in front of the Police to the criminals emptying their clips into human flesh in broad daylight to the politicians behaving like our nation is their personal fiefdom to Mr. Barrow flouncing like a menopausal fishwife. We’re in serious trouble here, Jack. Nobody seems to give a damn anymore.

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