On Monday, June 28 Belize's supreme court affirmed Maya's communal property rights in a landmark case.
Greg Ch'oc, SATIIM's executive director and a prominent Maya leader since 1994, commented:
"Words can't describe my emotions. Fifteen years of work, it's an overwhelming joy to know that the justice system in this country finally begins to render the justice that those seek and I can only be extremely happy that a group like the Maya community have mustered the courage to seek justice, to seek a space, to seek a voice, in their future and the future of this country."
" I want to start off with the word that the chief justice used today in court: this is the time for reconciliation , this is the time to put the issues that have divided us apart and to sit with our government and pave a way to concretize the fundamental values that every Belizean in this country ought to enjoy. I believe that the honorable prime minister believes in those fundamental values as well and we are hoping, as the Chief Justice articulated today, that a process is established to begin to identify and develop a legislation for the protection of these lands."
very interesting
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately the Belize government did not like it, as expected, so it is appealing. Another five years or so the government is going to act as if the Maya lands belonged to it, not to the Mayas. But = sooner or later - we shall overcome, no matter how bad governments we have to endure.
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