A historic action was filed in the Supreme Court this morning: the Mayan communities of Conejo and Santa Cruz in the Toledo District are asking the Supreme Court to force the government of Belize to recognize Maya customary land right. Those customary rights refer to lands for which the Mayans have no formal title, but claim as communal property that they have occupied from a time before land was administered by a title system.
It’s called indigenous ownership and it’s a thorny matter for any modern government, and even more so for one already at odds with Mayan communities over an oil concession granted within their national park.
So today, Greg Choq, the Mayan Leaders Alliance – known as the MLA – and hundreds of Mayans from Toledo descended with numbers on the country’s judicial center in Belize City to demonstrate that this time they are posing a serious challenge to government’s system of land administration. They came by the busload, six to be exact, into the heart of Belize City – blocking traffic in the crush of morning traffic. Most of these folks, families really, had been traveling since two or three on the morning from countless communities in the south namely Conejo and Santa Cruz, Pueblo Viejo, Santa Elena, San Jose, San Antonio, Midway, Sundaywod, Crique Carco, Aguacata, Blue Creek and Santa Ana.
They came here into Belize City into the Battlefield Park before the Supreme Court before the Tony Soberanis Bust to invoke the name of their own heroes like Julian Cho and their own slogans for their own struggle. They stood before the high court as their lawyers were inside, making a filing in their names.
And after taking that stand, they marched unto the streets, heading to the Radisson Fort George for a press conference. About 300 strong, they walked over the Swing Bridge carrying placards of protest, and Belizean flags; some with infants two at a time, some barefooted, and some carrying candles.
An unusual show in the middle of the morning in the heart of the city, but still,by-standers could be heard shouting support. At the front, an elder from Santa Cruz carried a Mayehak – a copal incense burner used for spiritual ceremonies, the smoke and the fire they believe invokes blessings from their Gods. When they reached the Radisson on Cork Street, the Mayehak was left to burn out.
And they crowded into the Radisson Villa Wing up the elevators and trooping up the stairs. They gathered in the Caracol Room – renting a space that carries a name freely appropriated from their own culture. In there it was standing room only.
And while they waited an hour for the press conference to start as lawyers were still filing the constitutional motion, they were entertained by marimba players from Pueblo Viejo. When the press conference did start – the leaders of the villages and the MLA made it clear what they are fighting for and who they are fighting against.
