Cristina Coc Says Commission Release is Disingenuous

According to Coc, it is not the first time the Toledo Alcaldes Association had sought an audience with Alamilla.  She says that several attempts have been made verbally, as well as in writing.  Additionally, Coc maintains that the statement issued by the Toledo Maya Land Rights Commission is disingenuous since it is unclear as to who is being recognized as the village leaders in attendance at that meeting.

On the Phone: Cristina Coc, Spokesperson, MLA

“I do not know which thirty-two leaders she has met with because as far as we can affirm the majority of our Alcaldes were asked to vacate that premises, majority of whom showed up on Monday.  There were one or two Alcaldes who did not show up because it is planting season and they were planting those days and while I recognize that the village council was also invited, some of whom, some chairmen were among our Alcaldes that morning as well.  And so I find it very misleading to read in her statement that a meeting was held and present were thirty-two of thirty-six village leaders.  I don’t know who she is recognizing as the village leaders.  It does not really matter to us, what matters is that for the last three decades it has been the Alcaldes, our traditional chosen representatives, that have led this movement, that have led this defense of our land tenure security and that have won the affirmed rights through the Caribbean Court of Justice.  And so the commission has to come clear as to whether or not it is choosing to disengage with our chosen representatives.  We had and that was not the first time we requested a meeting with the commission, a second meeting, a third meeting, any other meeting.  It is not the first time and we have not done it just verbally, we’ve done it in writing and we continue to affirm that the Maya people are not seeking to close the doors to negotiations with the state.  In fact, we are asking for a real space to do so, for an equal space at the table to do so and we believe that that was what the commission was formed to do, that their mandate was to sit with the Maya people.  It’s to talk with us, it’s to consult with us through meaningful dialogue and through good faith and these are the things that we are calling upon.  These are not new instruments, these are international instruments that our state is obligated to follow and so we ask again that the commission listens to the Alcaldes request, that they give us an audience in good faith and that they continue to recognize that we are the chosen representatives of the Maya communities in southern Belize who have now an affirmed right to our lands and resources.”