Indian Creek Dispute Draws Maya Leader’s Response

Earlier today, News Five caught up with Christina Coc, spokesperson for the Maya Leaders Alliance, to talk about a recent press release on conservation efforts. But while we had her with us, we couldn’t pass up the chance to ask about the growing tensions in Indian Creek. As you may know, the village has been rocked by conflict stemming from a clash between traditional governance and the village council. So, we asked Christina for her take on the situation, and how these differing views are impacting community unity.

 

Christina Coc, Spokesperson, MLA/TAA

“Without having been in the community for that particular incident I will not speak on that incident, but suffice to say that whenever there is an imposition of a system within an existing governance system, one has to know there will be conflicts. There is a poor understanding of the traditional governance systems that exist in may communities that long predated the village council system. But the introduction of the village council system came at as an imposition and came to undermine the existing governance system in Maya communities in southern Belize. We have seen where many communities, even the Garifuna communities adopted the alcalde system at some point in our history and we saw the erosion of those systems throughout the years. the Maya people have maintained their governance system, but we always have to come to realize that as a Maya people what important is our collective unity, the community meetings where decisions are collectively made by a majority not a select few. When you begin to go against the decision of the collective then you begin to introduce division in the communities. There has been a lot of imposition in Indian Creek among many of our Maya communities and yet indeed it is a complex issue, so you cant go by what you hear, see or what is sensationalized. One has to look at the root cause of the problem, the consistent and concerted attempt to erode and undermine traditional governance institutions, traditional forms of decision-making.”