National Garifuna Council Warns Against Divide and Conquer Tactics

As government efforts continue to define and formalize borders between communities such as Hopkins and Sittee River, as well as Placencia and Seine Bight, concerns are growing that political interests and powerful investors could benefit at the expense of Indigenous land rights. Tonight, Garifuna leaders are urging Belizeans not to fall into what they describe as a divide-and-conquer strategy, warning that the fight is not between ethnic groups, but between ordinary Belizeans and forces they say are steadily pushing communities off their ancestral lands. NGC President Alex Nolberto and Assistant Treasurer Ifasina Efunyemi explain.

 

Alex Nolberto, President, National Garifuna Council

“This process, in my view, is taking somewhat of a political line because we know how the village councils have gone from being non-partis-non-partisan to very polarized and very political. So hence the reason why it is important that the NGC leads this charge, is in the front of these conversations to ensure that Garifuna rights are protected and that they don’t try to score a win using the established political system.”

 

Ifasina Efunyemi, Assistant Treasurer, National Garifuna Council

“Don’t be fooled. I’ll tell every Belizean really and truly of all those traditional ethnic groups that call themselves Belizeans, please don’t fool yourself into thinking that this is an us versus them situation. It- you need to be clear who are the us and who are the them, because the us and the them is not Garifuna versus Maya or Maya versus Mestizo or Creole versus Garifuna. The… We have to recognize who the common enemy is in, in what has been transpiring in our country and the systematic disenfranchisement of the regular Belizean. That is important for all Belizeans to understand.”

 

The Independent Commission on Village Boundary Disputes began its consultations in the southern villages in October of 2025 and is anticipating to complete the work by September of this year.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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