Barrow is bogus

By glenntillett@yahoo.com

I had the opportunity to travel with PUP Party Leader Johnny Briceno on a meet and greet trip through several villages in western Toledo, southern Belize a few weeks ago. It was an opportunity to observe the interaction between Johnny and ordinary Belizeans away from the media-centric urban centers and yes, I was curious.

As the fourth leader of the grand old party and at this point a likely next prime minister I was more than interested. In the old capital the PUP is overtly divided and the factionalism has tended to define both the party and Johnny’s image.  During the course of a single day I may get as many different opinions on Johnny’s leadership as the individuals I meet. It is a tireless subject for some.

I hardly know Johnny on a personal level, and I am certainly better acquainted with former Party Leader Said Musa who I will always be personally fond of. I have also known Dean Barrow longer and our personal relationship is at this point negligible. The antipathetic feeling may be, as they say, mutual.

It could be argued that under Said Musa’s administration Belize ended up being more polarized than at any other time but I would argue it was hardly mostly his fault. It could be argued also that the PUP that Johnny Briceno inherited was already factionalized and whether it is more so or less so depends on your point of view.

I had no idea what kind of reception Johnny would get from the villagers of what are some of the most remote villages in Belize. I did not even know how to even create a construct from which to anticipate so I just put it aside and decided to just watch.

My first observation is that Johnny was hardly recognized visually, and half the time when he was introduced and identified, he still drew blank looks while the villager assimilated the information. For context I tried to ask a couple of villagers if they knew who George Price, Said Musa or Dean Barrow was. I had a language problem with the three men and one woman I asked in the first village of Dolores.

All four seemed to know who George Price was while two of the men and the woman appeared to know who was Said Musa. Incredibly none of them gave any indication that they knew who I was talking about when I asked in first broken Spanish and then in Kriol if they knew who Dean Barrow or El Primer Ministro was.

In another village I asked a young man who spoke fairly good English, wore more modern clothes, (boots, baggy jeans and a too large T-shirt advertizing a European soccer team), and who rode a motorcycle, the same questions and he knew all three. He also had an opinion on all three.

He thought Mr. Price was a good man, and remembered seeing him in the village when he was a child. He remembered meeting Said Musa 10-12 years ago when he visited the village, and was impressed that he had come all that way. He said that both men were humble and attentive when they visited.

He had never met Dean Barrow but thought that he was a very proud man from what he had seen and heard, and doubted very much that he would ever visit his village.

He described Barrow as having taken over from Manuel Esquivel whom he said he had seen in person in Punta Gorda Town once.

He was hesitant, reluctant even to offer an opinion on Johnny at first but in the meeting with the villagers he was very attentive and asked a couple of good questions.

Johnny, he finally offered, he had heard of and knew he was the Leader of the Opposition. He would wait to hear what he had to say before he formed an opinion.

Most good politicians know how to carry on conversations with complete strangers in an easy amicable fashion. It is difficult to tell whether it comes naturally or it is something they had to learn. In Johnny’s case it is clear that being out in the villages and rural areas, talking to the people; particularly farmers, is something he enjoys.

He is very comfortable and after the initial awkwardness that follows the introduction the people respond to him easily. This facility transcends ethnicity, age, gender and from what I saw, even social status.

He is normally good tempered and easy going and it shows. He is approachable and he listens well. And on that day some people who appeared uneasy and even distrustful of the strangers at their gates opened up and invited him in.

That night the party was invited to a traditional Maya meal of Caldo at a home. To reach the home we had to walk in the dark up hill and down gully and ford two streams.

Our hosts never hesitated to invite Johnny and when we got to the streams it was only then we were told we would have to wade in bare feet through cold running (and rising water) and over rocks that were either slippery or had sharp edges.

They seemed to have presumed that there wouldn’t be any objections and while a few of the City folks in the party balked, Johnny B simply rolled up his pants, took off his shoes and socks and took off across the water and rocks in the dark.

Our hosts and guides didn’t blink or comment. At the time I had to pause and decide whether or not it was wise for me to do the same. Even though I hardly wore shoes as a child, since then I am nearly always shod even when I am at home.

The prospect of wandering around in the dark in a strange place was definitely not appealing but I figured, what the heck, if he could I would.

The meal was delicious and well worth the adventure (I did end up with two small cuts on my feet and a few times I almost fell). Johnny B seemed totally unperturbed by the entire episode and predictably was the last one to leave our hosts’ cottage.

Somehow I can’t imagine Barrow doing the same.

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