REPORT #405 July 2001
THE MISSING PART OF DEMOCRACY IN BELIZE AND LATIN AMERICA


Produced by the Belize Development Trust

Democracy = Elected "population representation" balanced by "protection of minorities" from mob rule through "Federalism".

What is missing in most ex-colonies from monarchist governments of 200 years ago are the protection of minorities by equality in government at the national level, through Federalism principles, or geographic checks and balances to population representation.

The Monarchist colonial population representation system, by it's very nature prohibited true democracy. The Colonial rulers had to put APPOINTED positions and appointed COMMITTEES, COUNCILS, GOVERNORS and other similar titled BUFFERS in the control and abuse process between masters and serfs, to protect their authoritarian dictatorship.

While we are intimately interested in the lacks of democracy in the small country of Belize; the same story of Belize is true also in most of the other Caribbean and Latin American countries. The port and old colonial capital of Lima, rules ALL of Peru. Santiago people rule ALL of Chile, there is some balance in Ecuador between the landed aristocracy of Quito and the merchant importer exporters of Guayaquil, but still no federalism to balance population representation mob rule and anarchy. Around the Americas, the story is essentially the same.

In Belize, the TYRANNY of population representation utilizing the political party framework of monarchist inheritence, means that only one town, the old colonial capital port of Belize City, controls the whole country of Belize, through the political party; which is based solely on population representation. All through Latin America, the old colonial capitals control the governments and national affairs of each country. Due to elected population representation without any checks and balances from geographic Federalism and thus protection of minorities in other regions of the country; the political party cliques, or mafia families rule huge nations. Often, less than six families control whole countries. These are often called the mafia oligarchy. Disarming the population, banning the right of a population to own arms and then control of national army and police systems are the standard inherited monarchist method of supplying the corrupt muscle to control the mobs, or political opposition around the country in sole population representation systems. Higher favored political military officers have ties to the political party in power, usually through family but often also through graft.

The intent of true DEMOCRACY is to temper population representation (mob rule) by checks and balances; so that MINORITIES also have an EQUAL say in the national affairs. This check and balance is called Federalism. Or geographic equality, whether by district, state, province, department or whatever name designating other parts of each country.

In Belize, this means the small population of the Toledo District should have equal rights to the heavily populated Belize District, where lies the old ruling merchant and intelligentsia class in any national affairs. For it is not by population representation a national government is formed, but by Federalism, or geographic representation.

This is usually done in the few successful economic working democracies, by having a legislature of elected population representation to make laws for 'rule of law', and an ELECTED SENATE that must approve, or veto legislation done by Federalism, or geographic representation, to temper and balance laws that are favoring population majorities at the expense of minorities. In Belize, it has been suggested that two Senators be elected from each of the six districts, to counter balance the political party population representative controlled legislature.

Another factor is having a limited national Cabinet of independently elected cabinet ministers from each district for three years and a Prime Minister rotated from the cabinet on one year cycles. Staggering the elections of Senate, Legislature, Cabinet and Prime Minister by alternate years is also another check and balance to the concentration and abuse of political power. Term limits, in which Senators, or Legislators can only run for a maxium of two terms in office during their lifetime, is also another check and balance to the abuse and concentration of old time monarchist political party power, or a town based mafia oligarchy.

Belize and most of the Caribbean and Latin countries are still back in Feudal monarchist centralist days. They lack the checks and balances of Federalism. Therein lies the major economic problem why these countries remain bankrupt third world countries. It is the Constitutions that are at fault. The current population representative system of political party government is about graft, greed and bleeding the Treasury for personal gain, while seeming to do the work of government. There are no Federalist checks and balances! Towns rule the rural areas and one town rules the other towns.

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